Mountain Pictures

Steve left this afternoon to take the youth on a weekend ski trip.  They are going to a resort a few hours away and will ski until about 10pm tonight and then all day tomorrow before heading back tomorrow evening.  Steve worked really hard on this trip....It's a lot of work to figure out a big event in a foreign country and all the little details!  He also put a lot of thought and time and prayer into what to talk about this weekend with the kids.  He decided to talk about hope and what we are putting our hope in.  He created a study that he plans to do at various intervals throughout this evening and tomorrow.  He even made me an extra copy so I could to it "along with him" and we could talk about it when he gets back.  I'm excited for it and would love for your prayers for this weekend!  Please pray that everyone stays safe, pray that Steve will have a great time bonding with the youth and forming deeper relationships, and pray for him to be a clear and effective communicator of the Gospel and where we are placing our hope.  Pray too for the youth hearing these great truths.  I challenge you too, dear Readers, where are we placing our hope?  If we are placing our hope in anything but Jesus Christ, we will be disappointed and come up empty.  Even as believers, we easily fall into the trap of misplacing our hope.  Where are you placing your hope and where are you looking for hope?

Anyway, since Steve is gone and he has not posted his pictures from his pastors retreat from about a month ago (and I have repeatedly reminded him) I've decided to take matters into my own hands....I figure 1) He's gone skiing on some crazy mountain in Korea right now so he'll be none the wiser, right? and 2) I've given him a month and 3) I've reminded him multiple times so I'm deeming it fair game at this point.  I know ya'll want to see so you'll probably side with me in the event of an argument and so I'm feeling pretty safe and justified right now. =)

Last month Steve went on a pastor's retreat and one of the "bonding" activities they did was to go climb a mountain.  Now climbing moutains and hiking in Korea is a big deal and something I'm pretty excited about doing THIS SUMMER but winter hiking, really?  Doesn't sound appealing to me.  But, to each his own and Steve had a good time climbing the mountain.  He took some pretty pictures too.  Apparently they climbed UP the mountain and went sledding DOWN the mountain. 

Okay, so maybe after seeing his gorgeous pictures I might be a little more interested in this winter hiking idea....maybe next year!  It's been warming up here and I've been told that the worst of Korean winter is behind us and that now it's full force to spring.

And pictured above is the group that climbed the mountain.  Take a look again.  Does anything about this picture strike you as funny?  Maybe if you see the next picture and then compare, you'll catch it.

This is the group that hiked the mountain (Steve not pictured).

And here it is with Steve again....Did you catch it?  Check out everyone's sleek, mostly black, professional, Northface/brand name full out hiking gear -- boots, pants, jackets, facemasks, hiking sticks....And then there is Steve with his maroon Augsburg sweatpants, a random grey sweatshirt, a hat and a striped scarf with tennis shoes.  Yeah, remember when I told you hiking is a big deal in Korea?  It's a really, really big deal.  And Steve kinda sticks out....But that's my husband and I love him.  It didn't bother him and I think everyone just thought it was fun that he was willing to go but we did get a good laugh out of it when we looked at the pictures together!

Tread Carefully, dear one of mine

I had another one of those moments....those mama-moments of wanting to hold on to time, to freeze-frame or hit the pause button as it speeds by and spills all slippery-like through my fingers.  Another realization that baby-boy Caleb will soon be a distant memory. 

It all started because I bought him a pair of shoes.  His first pair!  We didn't think we needed to spend money on shoes before he started walking so we waited....then he started walking and I stalled....but we were well beyond the need for shoes so Michelle took us yesterday to emart and we bought Caleb his first pair of shoes.

Let me tell you, I had one proud little man on my hands!

Do you see that look on his face? He walked all over, pointing his feet all around with a huge smile on his face and he couldn't wait to show daddy when he got home!

It was a gorgeous afternoon so in honor of his new shoes we decided to go for a walk.  But this time we let him down to walk all by himself in his new shoes.

And there was the moment:  watching him walk away on his own two feet in his own new pair of shoes, walk all by himself off into the big, wide, waiting world.  I tried to take his hand but he would have nothing of the kind...He wanted to walk

All.

By.

Himself.

There's mama, trying to hold on, grasping at the back of his vest when he pushed away my hand and took off....trying to keep him from falling on the pavement, trying to protect him, my sweet baby boy.

Why do I have the sudden feeling I'll be trying to do this for the rest of my life?

Watch his expressions in some of these pics -- He loved it, eating  up this new found freedom -- they vary from downright determination to absolute elation.

(Sidenote: I love that last picture -- My two men! Not pictured: my heart melting into a sloppy puddle!)

I like this picture above a lot as well...Caleb was so independent, wanting to go all over by himself but I treasured the sweet moments when he'd grab our hand or our pants to steady himself...precious boy!

I'm left watching this little one with his new-found steps of independence, grasping to memorize these sweet moments, in hopes that they will linger.

Tread lightly on these paths of life,

this journey will not last....

Don't ground your feet too hard to earth

rather place your hope only in your second birth. 

Your blip in life brief will be,

secure your heart in eternity.

b'mama

Chapel

Steve was asked to speak at a school this morning during their morning chapel and Caleb and I thought we would tag along too.  It was fun to hear Steve speak and it was fun to get out of the house and visit a new place. 

I thought Steve did a great job.  He talked about imitating and made the point that we are all by nature imitators (using Caleb as an example of how from birth we are soaking everything in and imitating).  We all naturally imitate and that is one reason Paul says to "imitate him, has he imitates Christ."  It is important that we are aware of who (and what) we are imitating and that we have Godly people in our lives that we are looking up to and trying to imitate and that ultimately we are trying to imitate and be like Christ. 

Caleb really enjoyed meeting everyone and being the center of attention (does that surprise you at all? If it does, you don't frequent this blog enough!).  He walked all over, making new friends.

Speaking of imitating, on the way home he found my cell phone in my purse, flipped it open, put it up to his ear and started "talking" (making all his noises that sound like a conversation but aren't yet real words).  I have never shown him how to do that (he isn't allowed to have our  phones) and I have never seen him do it before....He's learning!

Don Pablos Korean Style!

Some friends of ours (Josh and Marcia) recently left and moved to Ohio.  Josh was stationed here in Korea, met Marcia, fell in love and they got married this fall (shortly before we arrived).  Steve started hanging out with Josh on a consistent basis and they were able to get some good times and good talks in these past few months.  Steve and I were able to hang out with both of them as a couple a few times and really enjoyed getting to know this young couple.  We were sad to see them leave!  Before they left they took us around and showed us some of their favorite restaurants in the area.  We were thrilled to be shown a burger place, an Italian place and a Mexican place! Wow! The other day Steve took me and Caleb out for Mexican and we really enjoyed it.  It very much reminded us of Don Pablos back in the States.  It was a fun dinner and I loved spending it with my two favorite guys in the whole world! 

(Note:  Since Korea is so cramped for space, everything is built UP on top of each other -- I've posted about this before -- and this restaurant was no different....it is build up on top of several shops, but it makes for a fun view and we enjoyed our window table with a look out into the Ville).

As Caleb would say "num, num, num!" 

And Caleb even got to sample a few chips, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

If anyone can make my day, it'd be these two handsome guys (pictured above)!