Nyack Testimony

I'm SO blessed to be part of an AMAZING team at work. They bless me so much.

Yesterday, at the SFS appreciation day, the director had asked for me to share my testimony. Here it goes.

Since enrolling into Nyack College, my life has changed. God has directed my path and brought me to what I feel is where I am supposed to be in this moment of my life. About three years ago, I knew nothing about Nyack College except the fact that it was a Christian school. During that time of my life, I was in a transition out of college crisis. I had graduated from Baruch College with a marketing degree and I was determined and excited to find a position in the marketing field.  Fast forward a year later, that didn't happen, and all the jobs I was looking for didn't seem to suit me.  As I was looking through job postings, the only jobs that stuck out to me were non profit organizations with the mission to reduce extreme poverty, promote social justice, or things of that nature. I saw myself being in the front lines and helping those type of people rather than being in the back making marketing advertisements for the organization. To me, I felt more value in serving and interacting with people face to face. During that time, I had a couple of close friends who knew me very well. All at different times in different conversations, they had suggested for me to look into counseling and possibly enroll back in school for further education. I responded to all of them kindly and said, "Thanks but no thanks. I graduated with a business major and that's what I want to stick to." Not knowing God had bigger and better plans for me, I wanted to take control of my own life. Not too long after, a non Christian friend had told me to go look into Nyack College, she heard it had a counseling masters program. I decided to look at Nyack's Website, I browsed through all the masters programs that Nyack offered, particularly the MBA, but the counseling program stuck out to me the most. I attended an open house, was actually totally turned off by Nyack and didn't think about Nyack until three months later, I was catching up with an old friend who was already working in the business field for years. She had told me she was in the process for applying at the mental health counseling program at Nyack college and she's having a great experience going through the application process. I asked her who she spoke to and contacted that admissions counselor myself.  She was amazing, I felt like she actually cared for my situation and so I decided to apply. There were some prerequisite class that I needed to take because I didn't major in psychology in college, and a week later, thank God, I was accepted. Since that day, my life changed. A friend from college whom I met at Intervarsity christian fellowship started working in graduate admissions part time, she heard I was Interested in being more involved in Nyack college and so she referred me to a part time position that was available in undergrad admissions. There, God was able to use both my business and administrative skills as well as my people friendly skills for the position i was in. I felt so thankful to God for doing so. I got the job, and the first week I started the job, I was asked to do a task that was not in my initial job description. That's where I met my husband whom I just got married to two weeks ago. During the engagement process with my fiance at the time, I was going through a lot of anxiety I had to trust God with in regards to my future. Right after I let that go and cast my cares upon God, God spoke through someone in Nyack college while she was seeking the Lord. In my four semesters of working at Nyack College, I've probably only shared one sentence with this woman, so one day she pulled me to the side and encouraged me to apply for the financial aid position at Nyack College. I was shocked and didn't know what to say because I was having an amazing time in the undergrad admissions office. I loved the team I was working with and wasn't ready to consider anything else. Anyway, after reflecting, I felt like this might have been a prayer to my anxiety and my fiance encouraged me to trust God with the situation. Though circumstances didn't seem possible for me to obtain the financial aid counselor position, I trusted God to make a way if this was what he was leading me to. Well God made a way and I'm here today. Not only that, I had anxiety over not being able to find an internship position that would be suitable for the full time job position as a financial aid counselor. Well, God made a way for that as well because God ended up giving me the internship position at Nyack College NYC campus which is just a couple of steps away from the SFS office in the new building. All this to say that God has been working in my life miraculously and it is all in a way which I least expect it. This is not how I imagined life to be after I graduated college but I couldn't have asked for a better experience. God has plans for us and all he requires for us is to be faithful to the task given to us. One verse that really stands out to me during this season of my life is Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your way acknowledge him and he will make your path straight. God is SO good, and through all the ups and downs, he makes a way. During my honeymoon, a song that stuck out to my husband was: "Great is the Lord."

Wedding Day

We've been married for about 20 days. Life hasn't settled down since then because I have school work school work constantly. Haven't got to take the chance to breathe and just reflect on how great God is.

BUT, praise report:

Days leading to the wedding day:

• I had work and school and had no time to plan for the wedding
• I was completely stressed out
• It was raining cats and downs for days
• I was afraid to take off work because I took days off work for Cuba already
• I got extremely sick and had to stay at home and be extremely unproductive.
• I had to miss work
• I also had to miss class
• It was horrible.

The day of the wedding:

• The sun came out at 5AM
• My health restored, I was able to speak again
• If I didn't get sick, I wouldn't have taken off three days of work and I wouldn't have been able to catch up on wedding planning things. Praise God that I got sick to be forced to take off work.
• Both he and I felt at so much peace about being together for the rest of our lives, no cold feet!

God is good. He confirms things to me in so many different ways, all I have to do is trust Him. Sounds easy but not always but worth it.

Eating Healthy

I have a tendency of going through a day without eating anything or being hungry for the sake of other tasks at work, school or whatever it is. This summer, Wednesdays are my busiest day and I don't create room for eating in my schedule. 10-6PM is work. In between work time, I have class from 2-3:30, which is supposed to be my lunch break. And from 6-9, I have class. I try to get food, but I'm always running (literally) from one place to the other that I don't have the time to stop and just grab a bite.

Yesterday, I told the other half that I didn't get a chance to eat.

He: I'm going to punch you in the face! (Joking)
Me: Please punch me.
He: But seriously, you're not single anymore. I eat healthy for you, and me. You need to eat healthy for me too.
Me: Yeah, you're right, I'll try my best to take the time out to eat.

It was a short conversation, but he's right. I'm not single anymore so I shouldn't just think for myself. It'll worry him when I'm constantly starving and losing weight, so I need to start eating and doing other things not just for the sake of myself but for him as well.

Ten Year Letter

I thought this was an amazing activity for my life coaching class.

Instructions: Write a letter to a close friend. Date in ten years from today. Assume that everything has gone according to your dreams and wishes. Give a summary of the prior ten years going back to today. Be specific. Include promotions, achievements, accomplishments, areas of growth, an spiritual changes. Keep in mind your gifts, values, passions, and visions as you write. 

When you are finished with this letter, read the letter to another person, preferably the one you wrote to. Discuss:

- your friends reactions

- how you felt about sharing what you have written

- what seemed most important to you, judging from the letter

- what you like best about what you wrote

- what things disappointed you

- what the letter said about your relationship with God

- how the exercise helped clarify your future direction

- what you can do to make your letters come true in reality

- what the letter says about your purpose for living

I propose that everyone should do this exercise! It's so fun! Write your own before you read mine.

My letter below: 

Written SP13.

Dear __________,

The past ten years have been such a journey! God has done great things and once again, He has proven himself to be faithful even when I am faithless. I look back and I'm so encouraged, I know that none of this was out of my own strength because Lord knows how weak I am, but God definitely did it again. 

Remember those times when I used to talk about how I wished that I could just be in my thirties already so that I don't have to go through the dreadful process of so many major life transitions in my twenties? I wanted life to just hand me what it needed to and start a stable life already. Well, I'm so glad that God brought me through the process because its only in this process that I get to taste Gods faithfulness. I must say it wasn't easy to get there but it was well worth the journey. 

Exactly ten years ago, I was experiencing the craziest transitions of my life. Right after getting accepted into AGSC, my whole life changed. I started off with a part time job in the admissions office and its at the job where I met my husband. Since then, I reconnected with amazing people along the way that I never thought to cross paths with again. After four semesters of AGSC and working part time in the admissions office at Nyack College, I went through some financial anxiety because I was engaged to my husband but didn't have the resources to start a future with him. God then blessed me with a full time job as a financial aid counselor at Nyack College working with a great team as well as allowing me to use both my business administrative skills and my counseling and coaching skills to help the students. During that time, I was also in the process of looking for an internship and three weeks after attaining the full time job, God blessed me with a part time internship at the counseling center in Nyack College as well. How crazy is that? 

Since that season on, God has just been doing some miraculous things in my life. I've been married ten years now, how time flies. My relationship with my husband has been better than ever before. Now we hold marriage workshops focusing on keeping God at the center of our relationships. Our four kids are still young, but they are cute as always. We bring them everywhere with us as they are a living testimony about how faithful God is in our lives.

In the past ten years, I've grown a lot at Nyack College and though I don't work full time there anymore, I'm still affiliated with Nyack College as an adjunct professor in the AGSC program. I had to give back to what was given to me! I've also had the opportunity to travel different places around the world with my husband to share the gospel and bless people. We go back every so often to visit where we left off to see how much God has worked through the believers there and to encourage our brothers and sisters abroad that our hope and our joy continues to be built on Jesus Christ alone.

My husband started a church when we first got married. Through much prayer and support with a core team of members, our church has been blossoming like no tomorrow. God has been sending people who are seeking after God and has been already moving in their hearts to make a personal commitment to him. Whats even more crazy is that a lot of our core team members were our long time friends who had recently given their life over to Christ. I cried tears of joy when that happened because its been a lifelong prayer of mine. Their drive and passion far exceeds mine and they are impacting the community like no tomorrow. The young people who met Christ in church have grown to be in positions of leadership where they have been loving God and loving people in their daily lives being devoted to fellowship and prayer just like the Acts 2 church. God always provides more than enough for us and I am so grateful that we have been called to be part of His story. I'm grateful to be part of an encouraging community that are living out their transformed lives and changing our culture in a God honoring way in their schools and work places. Week after week, encouraging testimonies are shared.

A couple of years ago, my husband and I had also started a counseling and coaching ministry since that was where my heart was. Though taboo in our culture, many other Asian American churches are seeing the value in doing something like this because hurt people do hurt people and nobody does nothing for no reason. Through Gods help, clients are taking steps to improve their lives and the clients in coaching have been the ones who take an active leadership role in their communities! It's been so inspiring to see their drive and ambition at such a young age. 

My family has been doing great. After the youngest graduated from HS, my parents decided to move into a smaller and more comfortable setting because they no longer needed the big house. My parents have been joyfully traveling around the world doing ministry together. The eldest finally graduated and got his MD-PHD, he's now in the neuroscience research field and he's been so blessed that he can't help but to be a blessing to others. The middle ended up starting his own business with a couple of his close friends from college. And the youngest graduated and actually is in the field he was always longing to be in - acoustical engineering. What I find so cool about my family is that we all are so unique in our own way, everyone has different gifts and talents and when we come together, it's like a bomb, it impacts. My family and my others family all live around the same neighborhood now so our relationships have been amazing, it's convenient to see each other often, and we are always there for each other. When we have free time, we walk around the neighborhood and befriend our neighbors. I thank God for such an amazing family. 

My close friends, it's funny because we've known each other for years now, and just a couple of years ago, we were reflecting on how crazy it was that we are all married. Now, we are laughing about that because we all have little kids running around. They live around the neighborhood as well so I can't for our kids to all be good friends when they grow up, they are already getting along so well. Back then, I felt like it was almost impossible with our busy schedule to meet each other and catch up and just share life together, but in rent years, either time has been slowing down or there have been more hours in the day, because now we still have the same crazy schedule as we used to, but we are able to do so much in a span of one day! And all the other friends from back then, they've all grown so much in The Lord, God has been just continuously answering all our prayers.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, did I tell you I learned to speak Korean and my husband learned to speak Chinese? Both of us were so adamant about being able to communicate with each other in our native languages that we've been actively practicing and taking initiative to learn. We are getting there! 

Honestly ________ , I can go on and on and on about how crazy life has been. It is true that it doesn't get any easier but it does get better! I can't wait to see how the next couple of years unfolds as it will be a new chapter of life again. 

Love,

Joan

Injustice

There are some things that infuriate me but it's so common and part of every day life its hard to escape it. 

Example: Right before the wedding day, the bridal party typically have bachelor/bachelorette parties. One common aspect of these parties are to hire strippers and go all out in these parties because it's the last time in a persons life where they are going to be single so why not make the most out of it. People are excited about this event not realizing that these strippers are actually people. I think it just makes me mad to see how people have fun at other peoples expenses. Although these strippers probably don't mind because they don't see the harm in it, but where's the value in the self? Why do people like to been seen as toys and objects? Where's the respect for a persons body or their own body? It's kind of sickening. I think about how if I had a child and knew that the person grew up to sell their bodies for some cash, I'd be furious. Or maybe they want that cash because they really have no where to sleep and they need some money to continue on for the night. It can be anything, but I just don't like the fact that there's no sense of respect in all that.

Another example: I've been on a cruise all week enjoying myself, relaxing, sleeping, not doing anything productive... All at the expense of these hard working people from third world countries who sign six month contracts at a time to make a living to be away from their families in order to support their families. The work probably 60-80 hour work weeks, they clean for us, they cook for us, they do everything in the background in order for us to sleep well at night. They break their backs just so that we can have fun. And they probably don't get paid a lot for their hard work either. That's real life. People don't just sit in offices all day and work in air conditioned offices on their computers and sitting through meetings. People are killing themselves out there to live and we fortunate people take so much advantage of that. 

Surroundings

This is definitely one of the most awesome moments of my life that are to be cherished day after day. 

I think about my surroundings and I'm so blessed to have all different type of environments where I can constantly grow in. 

Small group - I'm the quiet one in the group, the guys usually talk more and in group therapy terms, I'm a freeloader there because most of the time I'm absorbing all this information but I hardly share and speak. God moves so crazily in this group that no words can describe what kind of group this is. 

EMC - This is the group in which I've spent most of my life in. This is the group where I feel most comfortable and most myself in. Typically, I am the social butterfly in this group, I'm often one of the first to introduce myself to new people. I feel like this place is my home so I'm always going out of my way to make others feel like this is or this can be their home as well. This is the group where everyone is so different but we all fit perfectly together like a dysfunctional family. We know each other all too well. We understand each these jokes. Sometimes we are on the verge of strangling each other but nevertheless, we fit. 

School - This is the environment where I'm constantly reminded to be disciplined and diligent with my work. It's a non stop environment where studying is necessary, there's not much room to slack. There's always a challenge and there's always something new to learn and grow in. In this environment, I'm surrounded by a diverse group of people of all different cultures, ages, and backgrounds. I get to hear from all different types of perspectives and not just be stuck in my Asian American way of thinking and processing. Many times, it's relieving and freeing to be out of the Asian circle in which I'm so engulfed in.

Work - This is an environment where I'm surrounded by people who come from all different walks of life but our common trait is efficiency, organization, administrative duties, and all the work related terms. I thought that there were not many people in the world who can be so detailed and organized but this group of people proved me wrong and I have much to learn from them. Their experience in this field regarding financial aid far exceeds mine and I have a lot of learning to go. I'm often forced to humble  myself and ask for help because I'm still knowledgable in the field I'm in. It's such a challenge, it's tiring but it's rewarding to know the great team I'm surrounded by. 

Childhood friends - Ever since I decided to follow Jesus, many of the non believers I encounter are those that are seeking God and openly to hearing about him. My childhood friends are the main group of people where I'm reminded of what it's like to be in the world. Sometimes, I'm so engrained into the bubble I live in that I forget how the real world looks like. They continue to remind me to put life into perspective. They teach me how much urgency I need to have when it comes to letting others know who Christ is because it makes SUCH a big difference with and without Christ. 

Family - This group of people is the people I can be most honest with and vent about anything to. We all understand each other whether we want to or not because we grew up in the same household and developed a family culture like no other. These are the people that push my buttons the most, but at the end of the day, I know I always have family to rely on. This is the group I'm amazed at the most because its crazy to see how as we grow up, God is really using each of us as part of his story and I'm just so grateful we are part of it 

GCC - Now that I started a new chapter of life with my other half, a lot of things are in the process of changing. I'm not entirely used to it nor would it currently be my destination of choice. But I know that God has brought me here for a reason and for a purpose. This group actually reminds me of my childhood: the rigid and traditional structure of church and religion. It makes me feel a little bound by structure and lack of freedom to be me. (At least for now as I'm still adjusting.)  It reminds me of how EMC used to be when it first started: There are very few youth and young adults, most congregants are first generation middle-aged Korean Americans who are pretty set in their ways. It reminds me of EMC because there are sporadic spots of diversity and there's room for growth. 

I've been blessed with amazing surroundings and God is moving me into a new chapter of life where I'm moving on from the home I'm most comfortable in and to a brand new environment. Things won't be the same for sure and a piece of my heart is still left at my original home. But if the other does decide to stay here, I see how God can work and use us to magnify his name in this new surrounding. 

The other is great at studying and understanding the word, interceding, preaching and being fervent, passionate, intense about anything he puts his interests into. His passion is Christ, Christ is his everything, and I'm that sense, I'm confident that God is going to mold him, grow him and work through him in a mighty way. I, on the other hand, am a little different from him. I like working with people and I love being part of and doing small groups and making people feel at home. I feel like if we were together to start a ministry, we can both use our God given skills to complement each other in serving in the ministries. 

Anyway, the point of this blog is: I'm blessed to have wonderful surroundings. He's shaped me and grown me so deeply through these groups of people, and the above stated are just a few of the many groups and circles that I'm blessed to be part of. 

"I'm getting used to this."

At small group yesterday, one of the guys said, "I'm getting used to this" in regards to how God and him are on an interesting relationship where he's been testing God over and over again and Gods been proving to him how real he is. It's almost crazy to hear week after week the stories shares about how God would basically call him back to Him. 

In one of our mini conversations, I looked at him and said, "so you're really getting used to this huh?" He said, "yea, you must see this everyday and its like nothing for you." I thought about it and said yeah, actually things like this happen all the time but I'm always amazed; every time it happens, I'm still always so amazed. 

God encounters all of us in such unique and personal ways. What happens to each member in the small group is not alike in anyway. Our personality, character, way of life, hobbies... They are all different but man when we come together, it's really like a church. There's no way to explain the way and the lengths God takes to draw us back to him and cause us to have faith in him. 

The other half says; "this small group just keeps on getting better and better. I know I say this every week but this is the BEST small group we've ever had." It's funny because he says this every week. And it really is the best small group. There's not many meeting times where we walked away and said God was not working. 

Although I wish everyone can experience this goodness with me, I know and have hope that God would still meet everyone where they need to be met in a unique and personal way. 

Waiting on The Lord

Look upon each threatening circumstance as an opportunity to grow in your faith, rather than to retreat. How? Follow David's example.

First: Call to mind what you know to be true about God.
Second: Express what you need boldly.
Third: Wait. Let the fearful circumstance become God's opportunity to strengthen you.

Adapted from Charles R. Swindoll,Living the Psalms: Encouragement for the Daily Grind (Brentwood, Tenn.: Worthy Publishing, a division of Worthy Media, Inc., 2012). Copyright © 2012 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved. Used by permission.

Today, I need a miracle. After missing many days of summer classes and being gone from work for two weeks, I need a miracle to get through this day with the strength that only God can give. God, you know what's been going on in this season of my life, you know where you want to take me, would you take control today and do what you do best!