How to Have Biking Adventures in Korea

Biking is hands-down one of my favorite past times so after being in Korea for a year with no other transportation than walking or taking public buses, trains, and taxis, I decided to purchase a bike! Not only is it great exercise and easy on the knees, but it's also fun and provides some great ways to get together and meet new people. So here's where my biking adventure begins....

Step 1: Buy a new bike

Step 2: Go on a few glorious and fun bike rides with this bike:

 On a morning bike ride to work. It's about an hour and a half ride, but it beats the morning bus ride! 

 Salgu ready for the ride.

 With my original bike.

 Happily taking selfies as we enjoy the beautiful sunrise and calming ride along the river.

 I live in a small town in Korea called Jochiwon and my normal commute to work is about 30 minutes to Sejong City (where my school is located) on a bus plus another 20 minutes of walking. Plus I have to deal with the bus driver's road rage, trying to catch the bus on time, and sometimes standing the whole way. Though I can't do the bike commute every day, it only adds about another 40-50 minutes onto my commute and leaves me feeling refreshed and at peace in the morning. The bike trail from Jochiwon to Sejong is a beautiful path along the river which has a serene feel to it. 

Towards the end of the commute, there are thousands of beautiful wild flowers marking the way and providing a spectacular view! 

A quick stop for more pictures!

Step 3: Your wonderful bike gets stolen and you are in mourning for it for about a month.....

Unfortunately I didn't lock my bike up properly....It was locked, but just the back tire to the frame. In hindsight I should have locked it up to the railing in my building, but that was difficult because of the plethora of bikes already there. Anyway one Saturday while I was up in Seoul, someone apparently came into my building and carried my bike off with them. I was so heartbroken and did everything I could to try and find it to get it back, including going to all the local bike shops and showing them the picture and telling them to call me if they saw it. I never found it, and any leads I had on it didn't pan out.....

Step 4: Buy a new bike so you can go on more biking adventures!!

A friend of mine loaned me some money so I could buy a new bike right away and I did! 

I ended up traveling all the way to Incheon for this bike (took about 2 1/2 hours from my home) because it was a lot cheaper. Definitely not the same quality as my old bike, but certainly worth the money! 

Step 5: Learn to change a flat....

Well only about 3 days after I bought this new bike beauty with the sturdiest chain bike lock I could find, I decided to ride to school. The ride was fine and dandy, but when I came out of school to leave BOTH of my bike tires were completely and totally flat....I was upset and the nearest bike shop was a long ride away. I decided to go by bus and get the proper attachment to put air in my tires, but when that didn't work I was so discouraged I gave up until the next day. The next day came and because I've never changed  a flat before and didn't have the proper equipment, I decided to try to go to the bus, but got thoroughly rejected and had to call a call-van service. They came and picked me up and took me to the bike shop for only ₩5,000 (about 5 dollars) and I got both my tires fixed and got home without a hitch. I still don't know why my bike tires went flat, maybe the quality of tubes they used in the beginning weren't good, but after this incident I have decided not to commute to work by bike until I can buy the proper tools for changing my tires and an extra patch kit.

Step 6: Enjoy biking again.

Well I'm back on my bike and enjoying biking again. I caught some beautiful views and sights on my way home from school with my new tubes.

 Sunset over the rice fields.

 Lotus flower park in Jochiwon.

This park has a beautiful walking path where  you can see the lotus flowers.

And I made it home! This time without any flat tires! I hope you enjoyed reading about my biking adventures. I hope there will be many more to come! :)

Can I Get a Witness?

Can I get a witness?

I don’t want to do something; I want to witness God do something. In this is my purpose. I want to allow God to show Himself strong. I want to rest in Him.

People throughout history and especially today spend so much time being busy, doing things, working, and sometimes I think God is just asking, “Can I get a witness?” We all question God in terms of what He wants us to do. What does God want me to do with my life? What does God want me to do with this person who doesn’t know Him? What does God want me to do with my close friend who is sinning? What does God want me to do with my sinful thoughts and desires? But we forget that the FIRST thing God wants us to do is LOVE HIM. When we love Him we get to be witnesses to what He is doing, to His power, to His goodness. Jesus says to His disciples, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea in Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8

When we receive the Holy Spirit and power, we get to be WITNESSES. It doesn’t say, “you will change people’s hearts,” or “you will change a generation.” It is God who does that. I see far too many people, pastors, leaders, who think that they can change the world, or that they have changed the world or lives, and what happens to them? They either give up on the whole God thing, or they get a god-complex and abuse their positions of power, turning more and more people away from the church and away from knowing the Truth. We can do nothing for God. Only God has the power to do. May we stop doing for God, and start BEING who God wants us to be.

God is not often described by what He does but rather by who He is. When Moses asks for God’s name, God responds with I AM. He is. We need to stop trying to define ourselves by what we do and start defining ourselves by WHO WE ARE. We are not God’s army of working ants, nor can we take credit for anything that God has done, that is HIS GLORY and He will not share His glory with any other. Anytime we say, “I did such-an-such thing for God,” we miss out on the whole point. No, actually you didn’t do anything, God did, and you were a witness. When we believe that we can do things for God, we start to put other people down, or think somehow we are better than them because of what we have done. We want recognition, we want praise. We start comparing ourselves to others, and when we find out we are not “doing” as much for God as someone else we begin to feel down and depressed. We start thinking, “What more could I or should I be doing for God?” We throw ourselves into God’s work and get burned out fast. We end up empty and wondering, “God wasn’t that what you wanted me to do?”

When we see clearly who God calls us to be, or rather, who God made us, only then can we live how God calls us to live. God never started by changing what we do, but by changing who we are. He looked deep into our hearts and instead of telling us to do something about the sin and ugliness in our lives, He called us “righteous,” “child,” and “clean.” He literally spoke a new existence into our hearts, just as he did at the beginning of the creation of the world when He spoke and it became. He made something out of nothing. He did that for me. From that moment and every moment since then I became a witness. I can now testify of what I have seen and felt God do in my heart and life. I did not do it, I have not done anything since then, I have only become a witness again and again to what God has done in me and around me in the lives of others. I’m not the one who is changing lives and people, God is. When I forget that, I lose my way.

We are called to be witnesses to what God can do, not the other way around. God is not waiting for us to do things so He can witness what we can do, God calls us to wait for Him to do, so we can be His witnesses. God changes, we witness, we tell, and God changes all the more.

Yes, I still totally and completely agree that we should do what God says in His Word, but before we do what God says, let us realize that doing what God says does not change anything permanently, only God Himself can bring lasting change, and we can only be witnesses of His immense and awesome power.

Don’t do, rather BE who He has called you to be, who He has made you. Who you are dictates what you do. Be a witness to God’s power and work.