I love this time of the year, the cool crisp air, the leaves changing colors.  It encourages me to stop and contemplate God’s beauty reflected in nature, enjoy the transition as it happens while realizing that it is part of God’s plan and design.  As I do so, I can’t help but think as our church navigates through our own season of change, that this too is part of God’s greater plan and design.  I am most hopeful in our Lord and am grateful for how HE has and continues to fulfill his promises to us corporately and individually. 
One of those promises is the promise God gives in Jeremiah 3:15 “And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.”  Isn’t this so true?  I am so encouraged when I see our pastors passionately seeking after God’s heart and sacrificially serving us through the good times and tough times.  They are truly heroes and prove it to us each and every day!  
As October is Pastor’s Appreciation month, I encourage you to take time today and say thanks in your own way.  Exercise the power you have to bless…
- Elder Michael J. Park

Like every year, the EC Elders, Deacons and Oikos Leaders have prepared gift cards and flowers to demonstrate our appreciation toward our EC pastors.  As I was going through the same routine of “collecting resources” from our EC Elders, Deacons and Oikos Leaders to purchase gift cards and flowers, I could not help but wonder if we truly understand the meaning of the word “Appreciation.” So I looked it up via an online dictionary.  Appreciation means “an ability to understand the worth, quality, or importance of something”.
Although gift cards and flowers are nice, I believe our pastors feel the most appreciated when we take time to get to know them, to thank them, to pray with and pray for them…you get the picture. 
Please bless our pastors today and any other day by delivering your “thank you” personally.
To our pastors:  Thank you from our hearts!
- Elder Alex Guo

From the Hearts of our EC Elders
October 20, 2013

Recently I went on a cruise, my first ever, to the Bahamas with a few family members -Elder Frank and I, two of his sisters and their husbands, my father, and my mother-in-law.  Since my father and my mother-in-law could not share one bedroom, and since we were too cheap to put them separately in their own rooms, Elder Frank and I decided to ‘sacrifice’ by each sharing the room with the parent-in-law:  I with my mother-in-law and Elder Frank with his father-in-law.  The biggest concern we had for the cruise, besides how to avoid gaining too much weight from non-stop eating, was for the safety and well-being of our elderly parents.  We’ve heard horror stories about elderly parents falling on the slippery deck and being confined to bed or getting ill during the cruise and incurring high medical bills for a mediocre treatment at a foreign hospital .  
So even though Elder Frank “suffered” from a week-long sleep-deprivation (you don’t understand how loud my father’s snoring is!) and I had to endure being woken up at 3 AM every morning (yes, my godly mother-in-law kept up her daily morning prayer routine even on the cruise ship, certainly more faithful than her pastor daughter-in-law!), we were both so thankful that our parents remained healthy, ate well, and overall enjoyed the time they got to spend with their children.   Our only regret was that we hadn’t done it sooner when both sets of parents were still alive.  We saw many elderly couples on the cruise, holding hands, talking, and eating together, and generally enjoying each other’s company.  Though neither of our parents verbalized it, probably not to make their children feel sad, I could sense that they each had some regrets for enjoying the cruise alone.    Sure my husband and I had talked about taking our parents on a cruise and had every intention to do that someday, but we were too caught up in the busyness of life and it never materialized until now.   This was truly the case of “the tyranny of the urgent.”  
Part of the problem was that our parents did not demand attention or express disappointments ever. They said they understood how busy we were raising our family and doing ministry for the Lord.  And we thought once our kids grew up, we would have more time for our parents.   It turned out to be true, but by then it was too late.  I want to encourage all of you whose parents are still living to take the time now to express how much you love and appreciate them through words and actions.   Your parents may be gone sooner than you anticipate.  I wouldn’t want anyone to have the same regrets as I do.
And one benefit from being on this cruise was that the truth, “we are in the world, but not of the world,” was solidified.  All the activities the majority of the people were enjoying - drinking, dancing, singing karaoke, gambling, partying, shopping, enjoying comedies, etc. - were not enjoyable to me (okay, I confess. I did gamble once: I played Bingo and wasted $20).  So if I could, I would like to go on a Christian cruise (is there such a thing?) next time.  It would be awesome to have teaching sessions throughout the day and have evening worship with renowned worship bands and speakers.  Only then not only my physical hunger, but also my spiritual hunger will be satisfied to my heart’s content.  Now that would be my dream come true!

From Pastor Sara’s Heart
October 27, 2013