Christmas Sweetness

What an amazing day this has been! Merry Christmas friends!

It's nearing the end of Christmas day and since I have a new computer :), I can update my blog!

It's been a wonderfully amazing day and I am filled to the top with gratefulness and love for the Author of my life! After stockings, gifts, and a delectable breakfast with my family this morning, Joe and I went to his church to worship the One who's birthday we celebrate. I really enjoyed the service (in both English and Korean!) and found it to be a precious way to center my heart on the Lord. During the congregational Christmas carol singing, I could not keep the tears away; I stood in awe and gratefulness for God's rich blessings in my life, most particularly the miraculous, humble birth of the King of Kings!

Yes, my heart is very full today.

It was a super special treat to spend this Christmas with Joe. He was a champ traveling to three different family celebrations, and spending time at my parents' home on Christmas morning. Have I told you how much I dig this guy? I am blessed "immeasurably more than I could ask or imagine"!

I'm hoping New Years will be a little more quiet and relaxed. Not only have the last several weeks been pretty crazy, but we now turn our attention to Joe's move this week into a new townhome. We are praising the Lord for his provision and also looking to Him for our rest.

Finally, I'll leave you with a sweet story about my nieces. We drove to Jacksonville last Saturday to celebrate Christmas with them. Ella (6) opened a small Mickey Mouse snow globe from her Nana that she absolutely adored. In fact, she wouldn't let the snow globe out of her hands, not even to open another present. The juggling of both the snow globe and the other gift was too much, though, and the snow globe dropped on the wood floor into a million pieces. A now tear-filled Ella left the rest of us so sad for her and also wondering how in the world we were going to clean up this messy spill in the midst of paper and ribbon and boxes and gifts. In the meantime, Emily (4) had found her snow globe (two girls...everything comes in pairs) and was just opening it up. She saw Ella's tears and didn't miss a beat. To every adult's astonishment, we heard a sweet small voice call out over the crying, "Ella, you can have mine!" This story makes me tear-up as I retell it! Emily was so quick to share in a way that would bless her sister Ella. May I also find that same joy in blessing others! What a sweet story I'll never forget.

Well, that's all I have tonight. My heart just felt so full that I wanted to give our God the praise! Join me in thanking Him again for His incredible love in our lives - Come, let us adore Him!

What's happening?

Hello friends! I'm not even sure if I have any readers anymore, but here's an update of what's been going on around here the last few weeks.

I went to Jacksonville to celebrate my niece's Ella's 6th birthday! (6 going on 16) She's such a sweet girl whose personality is strikingly similar to her aunt's! :) Here she is (with Emily) wearing her new apron from Aunt Becky - her PINK spatulas are tucked in the pockets, if you can see them. She got right to work making cookies that night! She loves helping Mom in the kitchen.
Ella is a die-hard Florida Gators fan like you've never seen in a 6 year old. So I made her a bulletin board for her room. She can be a sports fan...but notice the girlyness here. :)

Skeet shooting! It's hard to see here, but this is Joe taking out a bird for dinner.

I know my form looks terrible here, but that gun was soo~ heavy! And look at my face..i'm scared to even pull the trigger! :) But I did hit my target several times...so, have no fear! If we need to shoot some dinner, I'm your woman.

Last Thursday night, we went to the RTS Christmas concert - which is becoming a tradition for Joe and me! Last year, this was one of the first things we did together - a small group from work planned on going to the concert. My roommates, particularly Ashley (below), were both excited to meet this guy they had been hearing about.

After last year's concert, Ashley, Joe and I went to grab something to eat at Houlihans. As we sat in the booth and I heard Ashley laugh and laugh at Joe, I knew he had passed the "roommate test." Sure enough, we said goodbye in the parking lot and walked to the car together and she exclaimed, "Becky! I want you to love him forever and ever!" "Shhh!!" I freaked out. "Ashley, he'll hear you! ...And I think that's your martini speaking."

Well.
She called it.
So we went back to Houlihans after this year's RTS concert to celebrate together. :)

Zoe Kim turned 3! She's so precious; we were glad to celebrate with her! (Joe's boss at Pioneers and my boss at Pioneers are married. This is their middle daughter - #2 of 3).

Yay for sweaters! This picture was taken yesterday, December 17th. It was the coldest weather we've had yet this season and the first real day we've been able to wear sweaters! Joe was particularly excited as he's really missing snowy Maryland right now.

That's about it, folks. Joe is staying here in Orlando for Christmas, so we're excited to spending our first holiday season together! And we'll be celebrating our Lord's birth with my family as well. What a blessing this year has been! Thank you Lord!

Merry Christmas to you all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

5 things I'm thankful for this year: (in no particular order)

1. Joe -- falling in love with Joe has been the greatest, most amazing thing this year! I'm so thankful for the Lord's blessing in that relationship. I'm thankful for how Joe teaches me about my Lord and leads me into His presence each day. I'm so, so grateful for Joseph Yoon.

2. My parents -- my parents have graciously reopened their home to me this year and piled blessing upon blessing as I moved back in. This is an amazing time to be home with them and has allowed me to pay for life and study for my Masters degrees at the same time.

3. Friends, old & new -- I'm so grateful that God has not only ordained for us to live in community, but He has blessed me with great friends to walk through life with. With all the craziness of this year's transitions, I'm especially grateful for those who have invested in me.

4. Cruise! -- the cruise to the Bahamas in February was an awesome gift from Pioneers. It was relaxing, adventurous, and a special blessing of a vacation when I really needed it!

5. The Presence of the Lord -- This has been a huge growth year as the Lord draws me further out of my own sense of strength and deeper into a heart that fully trusts Him. I am so incredibly thankful to know a more real sense of His presence during this time, knowing that He walks with me through every challenge, every fear, every insecurity, and every joy. It's not just in the big picture that I can see His hand with me, but through every little detail in the midst of the struggles of life in a fallen world.

I was encouraged this week in a devotional to not just think about what you're thankful for - and isn't that such a wonderful thing to do? - but to also write it down. A thanksgiving journal is a precious way to review year after year how our Faithful God takes care of us and blesses us as His covenant children. So, I pass that along to you as well.

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!

Pumpkin Time!

Joe's Birthday Fun!

One of Joe's birthday gifts was a day at Universal's Islands of Adventure! This guy LOVES roller coasters, and I knew he'd be so excited, so I had a hard time keeping it a secret. Because of other stuff going on, we planned to take a day off work for this shindig, which was even better! :)



Let the adventure begin!











Behind this magnificent display is the Dueling Dragons roller coaster - two coasters, Fire and Ice, which are completely different but intertwine to give you quite a thrill. And this is where the story goes sour. :( Let me precede by saying I seriously prayed all the way to the park that God would keep my stomach calm and allow me to bless Joe by riding all these coasters with Him.

So the first one? Fire. Check. Felt great. No line. Lets go on Ice.
Second one? Noooooot so great. Scared the people around me. I'll spare you the details.

It took me two hours to get over that. I was really bummed out for Joe and had to send him on some other coasters by himself. :( Oh well. It's the thought that counts, right?

So we headed out early and enjoyed a meal at Hard Rock.

September Birthdays

September was is a month full of birthdays in my family.

Emily Hansen turned 4 on the 12th
Joe Yoon turned (guess) on the 21st
and Mama Hansen turned (never telling) on the 29th

So we had 3 weekends back-to-back of celebrations!



We went to the beach for the weekend of the 14th to celebrate Emily's birthday. It was so refreshing to get away from suburbia and relax - reading, napping, playing in the ocean, and catching up on life with my siblings. Joe and I had a great time! Here's a pic of my brother Rich, my sister-in-law Ashlee, and my Joey hanging out on the deck.



Emily was absolutely adorable! She was all too happy to make it HER day. She's quite the morning person, so I had a tap on my shoulder at 7am on Saturday, the day of the party. It was time to get up! She was anxious to get this party started! She's so funny. But when it came to 20 people gathered around her singing "happy birthday to you", she got embarrassed! I snapped the above picture and thought it was just too cute! I'm thankful for this precious girl.

I volunteered to make the cake of her choice, which was chocolate with chocolate frosting. It was my first time making a chocolate cake from scratch. It was a treat for me!

more pics to come

uh....sorry....again...

Apologies....again. I hate checking peoples' blogs and finding, alas, the there are still no updates.

Sorry.

Go Knights!

The Knights played a fantastic game last Saturday against 6th ranked University of Texas in our BRAND NEW on-campus stadium! WOW, what an opener!

I'm so proud of my alma mater. It was definitely the best game on TV - close in score with a possible major upset by UCF - and fun to watch.

GO KNIGHTS!

Disney Fun!

Thanks to a friend of a friend, we were given free Disney tickets a couple of weekends ago. We had so much fun! It was exhausting in 100 degree heat, and we were a bit optimistic thinking we could make it to three different parks in one day. But we're so grateful for the tickets and had a lot of fun together galavanting around Walt Disney World. We did make it to Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom.

Freedom from Fear

Disgruntled and disgusted, The Prince of Darkness slinks up to the chalet of bummed-out disciples who have made their home in Jesus and nails a legal document to the door:

EVICTION NOTICE!

You are hereby banished from
the House of Fear forever.
With malice aforethought, you have
flagrantly withheld the monthly rent
of guilt, anxiety, fear, shame
and self-condemnation.

You have adamantly refused to
worry about your salvation.
Already I overheard one dismal tenant say,
"There goes the neighborhood!"
Your freedom from fear is not only
dangerous but contagious.
Real estate values have plummeted;
gullible investors are hard to find.
Why? Your callous and carefree
rejection of slavery!
A pox on you and
all deluded lovers of liberty!

The Prince

from "The Ragamuffin Gospel"

Love 'em, Love 'em

Went to Jax last weekend to celebrate my older brother, Nels', birthday. Happy Birthday Buddie! I scored a few recent pics with both brothers, too. Love these guys!!!

Examing myself: on boasting and bragging

Have you ever known someone who treats people a certain way or whose speech is peppered with comments that seem to deliberately elevate themselves? It's a "puffing up" of oneself; an attempt, I suppose, to combat their own insecurities. But for others, it's hard to find a response to such an interchange.


I was pondering this yesterday and found myself examining my own life. I don't want to be charactized by such an attitude. To start, I must plant all my securites in Christ alone. But I also want my life to be expressed in service to others, in inspiring others, in empowering others to be all they were created to be in Christ. Oh, how I pray to that end!

Don't misunderstand, that certainly goes against the grain of my original self. Don't we all aspire to be great? Don't we all want to be loved, to be known, to be praised, to do something worthwhile, to make a mark on history? Certainly I recognize others' struggles on the ladder of greatness because I myself am also fighting importance. I want to be needed. I want an important job that no one else can do. I want others to think I'm doing an amazing thing.


God has been blessing me lately through a book by Carole Mayhall called "Words that Hurt, Words that Heal." The second chapter highlighted the sins of boasting and bragging. Now, it shouldn't be a surprise how convicted I was about my selfish heart by the end of that short chapter, especially after starting with thoughts about how I don't really struggle with those sins much. Instead, I was deeply struck by some of the following thoughts:

"The difference between sharing information and boasting is who gets the glory." p.31

--Are some of my comments and conversations that I deem normal or just sharing of information (especially in prayer requests, challenges the author) really just an unneccessary elevation of myself? Am I masking my boasting?

"When we boast and brag about ourself, our accomplishments, our importance, or our status, we are not only committing a sin of commission, but two of omission. Bragging draws attention to the "I" of pr-I-de, which is a sin of commission. But we are also failing to give God the glory and failing to edify, or build up, other believers." p.33

--Wow, that actually hit me hard. I knew that boasting and bragging was stealing God's glory, but I never realized how sinful it is also to not edify my family in those words. Remember that the world will know we are His by our love for each other.

(There's more! I heartily recommend this book!)

Oh Lord, please keep me from lifting myself up in place of You. You alone are worthy to be honored and praised! I am forever indebted unto you for choosing me and just making me somebody. I am nothing without you. But true greatness comes from aligning myself with You - your heart - and pointing this world toward You alone. Cultivate in my life a servant's attitude, I pray. And grant me great joy in serving You through serving others. Amen.

I've got visitors!

A true-tale sign of growing up! Ella Marie lost her first tooth recently. When she first showed me, I about freaked out! (apparently my younger brother had the same reaction...we were shocked) She's getting so big!!

One of the girls' favorite things to do with Nana is go the dollar store. :) When I got home from work yesterday, Emily started literally running around the house screaming "where are my sunglasses? where are my sunglasses? I gotta show you my sunglasses." ...they were on top of her head...where they stayed all night.


Emi is a regular entertainer. She cracks me up. Last night, her parents called..and somehow when she gets on the phone, she suddenly inherits a thick southern accent. All we heard was "he-ay daddy-o. aunt backy has cur-raezy ha-yar. gotta go, buy-ay!" I'm not really sure what's going on her head sometimes, but she sure makes me laugh.








A family favorite: eating popsicles in the garage watching the rain come down. For my brothers and I, this was our raining day ritual as kids. And now...a new generation! (notice the glasses on Emily's head..yep..still on.) I think Ella is trying to say "cheese" and still keep licking that darn good popsicle!

Just Because...

...i'm kind of a fan of this guy.


here is me with my best friend at one of my races. he's a good cheerleader. :) and he's a keeper!

My Little Dancers

Joe and I headed to Jacksonville last Saturday to cheer on my nieces Ella and Emily in their first dance recital! OH MY GOODNESS - they just melted my heart!

a little blurry, but cute anyway!












Doing the macarena as the Grand Finale! :)











watching big sis








Yay for my girls!! Great job, beautiful ones!

more pics

I just had a fight with blogger...and I lost. So here are more Baltimore pics that my post below would not accept.


Us at the Museum of Natural History in DC.









Us at the house Joe grew up in. :) (maybe only a girl would like this picture)







And..yay!..us all dressed up for a night at the symphony!!

Memorial Day Weekend

Joe and I headed "home" for Memorial Day weekend to Baltimore, where he's from. It was really nice to get to know him through his family and the place he grew up. We had a great time!

This is Joe's sister and her family - Suzanne and Danny, Jackson (3) and Elizabeth (almost 2). I really enjoyed meeting Danny & Suzanne and getting to know them. And the kids...come on now...SO CUTE. We took them to the park to swing and play, and found there a carousel and a mini-train to ride!

Jackson with his rice and kimchee (I think I heard that's what he lives off of). On Sunday night before we left, we had an a-mazing dinner of steak and MD crab cakes out on the deck!

So cute! And Elizabeth too! :)

The National Cathedral in DC was so incredible! We both enjoyed it so much and agreed it was our favorite touristy thing of the weekend!

Friends

It's time to give a shout-out to some good friends! I've been so blessed by my time in Japan....especially the really fun people that have become a part of my life. Yo! I love ya'll!!


This is dear Sara Beth...love you, friend. We spent a couple of awesome summers in Japan and God really knit our hearts close. I'm so happy for her new motherhood!





Well, hellooooooo beautiful bride! This is Alyssa on her wedding day, together with sister Jodye and mom Paula. One summer, I discipled Alyssa and just had fun hanging out with her in Chiba, Japan. Paula was my Mom-away-from-Mom in Japan. Their family joked that I always mysteriously showed up JUST in time for dinner...



Love Jodye! So glad she moved to Orlando! I'm thankful she made me feel like a part of the family in Japan. But I love that we're in the same small group now, that she's always up for a party, and that we get to hang out more in O-town. Girl, you're a rock star!






awww...the bride and groom, Mr. and Mrs. Carl Fisher...along with Martha, Hopey, and I. Martha! Ma-chan is Sara Beth's sister and a dear, dear friend to us all. My favorite thing about Martha is all her many adventures. :) And Hope, Hopey, Hopey-chan. I love you girl and always will!




This is Andy Hebert, Jodye & Alyssa's 15 year old brother. Apparently, I was picked out for him. Andy, dude, I just couldn't wait any longer. Sorry you're in competition with Joe now. But I still think you're swell!

Happy Easter!

Yes, I'm aware that I'm several weeks late.

Brother Rich, me, and our nieces Ella & Emily

I love my bro!

Almost the whole fam...parents, girls, & brother Nels

Cute little family...Nels & Ashlee, Ella & Emily