Our son, Andrew, is now a little over 2 months old. He loves lots of things. He loves to eat (like daddy). He loves it when we pick him up and walk around the house. When we do that, he just stares at everything. It’s like he is trying to figure out what he is seeing. Just last week, when it snowed a lot, he stared wide-eyed out the window. He was in awe of all the falling white stuff. He also loves to babble. We think he will be quite the talker when he grows up. He and I have had long talks already, and he can babble on for hours. He loves bath time now, but that wasn’t always the case.
I remember the first bath we gave him. He was terrified. He didn’t like the floating feeling he got when he was in that mysterious stuff called water. He curled his toes as if he was trying with all his might to keep his legs from floating up. He looked for things to grasp with his hands. I offered him my finger and he grabbed onto it for dear life while my wife bathed him. As he was crying, I remember saying “It’s okay, daddy’s got you.” over and over again.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago, and bath time is a totally enjoyable experience for him now. He is very relaxed, and water doesn’t scare him anymore. His toes aren’t curled up and he isn’t looking for things to grasp with his hands. He even has a smile on his face.
From Andrew’s perspective, bath time was scary. Being in water, being washed, being dried, it’s all new to him. From our perspective, we knew that Andrew had nothing to be scared about. He was safe and we were watching over him to make sure that nothing happened to him. In the same way, when God calls us out of our comfort zone and into the unknown, we can be scared. We can react like Andrew and curl our toes and look for things to grasp and cry out to God. It’s all new to us so it makes us uncomfortable. But in God’s perspective, He knows that we’re safe. He is in control. He’s holding us the whole time and saying “It’s okay, daddy’s got you.”
As we keep getting placed in the unknown, we eventually learn that it’s okay. There’s no reason to be scared. It took quite a few baths before Andrew realized that bath time was okay. He actually became quite comfortable during bath time. That’s how we realized that he had grown. It will take quite a few unknown situations and circumstances for us to learn that it’s okay and there’s no reason to be scared. In fact, we need to be placed outside of our comfort zone in order to grow. We cannot expect growth if we are always comfortable and avoid the unknown.
So there may be some of you today who are going through situations that you don’t understand. You might be going through tough times at work. You might be dealing with family problems. Whatever the case may be, even though from your perspective, it is scary and doesn’t make much sense, I want to remind you that God is holding you. He is holding you and saying “It’s okay, daddy’s got you.” And when that situation comes to pass, you’ll be able to look back and realize that you’ve grown from it. As we experience many of these situations, maybe one day we’ll be able to truly understand James 1:2-4: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

From Pastor Eugene’s Heart
January 18, 2015

On Tuesday morning, the kids ran into our room and tried to wake us up. My wife and I would’ve already been up getting ready for work on a regular weekday but both of us knew that we had some extra time to sleep in due to the snow. When Reina and Ryan opened the blinds and saw the snow outside, they were jumping and shouting with excitement. Although it was a hectic morning due to the school closing situation not being announced early, the fact that it snowed made everything ok. There’s something about snow that makes everyone feel like a kid again. I really like that. However, I have grown to not like snow that much since living in the States. When I was growing up in Korea, I don’t remember anyone shoveling and getting into accidents. But now that I’m older and have been through a couple of snowstorms by spending many hours shoveling and being stuck at home for days, I don’t really look forward to snow days anymore. I can live without the “hype” of seeing snow, making snowmen and sledding down the hills.  I’m actually more worried about people getting into accidents and small business owners losing business over bad weather. Maybe I need to rediscover my youthfulness and excitement all over again. Or maybe I’m just being too practical. 
It’s been a couple days since it snowed and the kids are still in their “snow mode.” Whenever they see a pile of snow, they want to walk on it and touch the snow. While they are having so much fun, my wife and I are so worried about them slipping and getting the car wet or dirty. You get the picture, right? It happened again this morning at my parents’ house when I picked my kids up to take them to school. Ryan just blatantly disobeyed my instruction and ran around my parents’ front yard covered with snow. I had to carry him out of the snow and put him in the car. Ryan was so upset that I didn’t allow him to play in the snow, he kept on saying he doesn’t like daddy over and over. As I was driving, I thought about my actions and felt that I could’ve allowed Ryan to have some fun in the snow before getting in the car. He was just being a kid being excited but I was more worried about his clothes getting dirty and the car being wet. I don’t think what I did was wrong, any parent would have done the same but Ryan’s reaction made me think about it a little more. 
Usually, I try not to spiritualize every matter, but God made me realize something very important through this incident. There are many of us who have lost the excitement or the youthfulness when it comes to our relationship with God. I’ll be the first one to admit that. Although we are not called to remain “immature” and “child-like” in our faith, the genuine joy of knowing Jesus Christ and worshipping Him are something we need to keep. Many times I use my so called “wisdom” to limit myself from stepping outside my own little comfort zone. It’s not a coincidence that Timothy Winter Retreat’s theme was “Let Go.” I think this year will be a year that God will challenge me and my family to let go of whatever fear we are holding onto so we can fully experience the true freedom we can enjoy in God!    

From Pastor Brian’s Heart
January 11, 2015
4, 2015