See you on the other side?

We made it to Edmonton, Su Jin too! Thanks for all your prayers.

Due to some complications Su Jin could not fly with us. Our flights were on 2 different airlines but leaving at the same time. Su Jin was connecting in Calgary and arriving earlier. The girls and I were changing planes in Denver.

I was calling Su Jin after checking in to see if she was allowed to board. They gave her her tickets and we would just have to wait as she arrived in Calgary. Would the green card be enough? As we were boarding we called one last time and said that we would hopefully see each other in Edmonton.

On the lay over in Denver I left a message with Su Jin to see if she cleared customs. Our layover was about 2 hours. She called right before our boarding and everything was fine.

We landed and we cleared customs without any problem. We cleard the doors and there she was waiting for us.

Thank you Lord, for making this trip possible.

Happy Easter everyone!

Leaving for Edmonton

Despite not getting Su Jin's passport renewed our family will be travelling to Edmonton tomorrow. We found out that Su Jin's green card will be enough to allow her in and out of the U.S. Please pray that she is allowed to fly and clears customs!

Looking back...

CPC Memories

This will be our first Sunday away from CPC-EM. It's sad but it helped me to remember all the memories that I have of everyone. I was recently reorganizing my pictures on my home computer and came across a bunch of pics from the past. Lots of things have changed over 4 1/2 years. Click on the link above to take a stroll down memory lane with me.

If you have any pictures or videos of me send me a link or email me. And yes, I have seen the video of me dunking and falling off the rim. I don't think our college guys will ever let me live that memory down.

Cliche I know but... thanks for the memories! Our prayers will be with you tomorrow CPC.

New office space

So this is a picture of my new office space. As some of you know I resigned from my position at Cerritos Presbyterian Church (CPC). The office was pretty nice - spacious, had all my books right there, a nice big desk, and pretty comfortable. Now, I have a computer in a cabinet in my living room. It's not bad at all. In fact, it feels pretty good.

I'm beginning the preparations for the church plant. You should see some information and postings on the Hallelujah Christian Fellowship blog some time soon. I would greatly appreciate all your prayers.

Oh, you're probably wondering what that fuzzy thing is in the foreground of the picture. It's my head. Yeah, I've been having this weird/eccentric desire to shave my head. I was considering going all the way down to the skin but Su Jin wouldn't have it. I actually misinterpreted what she was thinking cause she didn't even want me to shave my head at all. Whoops. So, on tuesday I went to the barber and asked him to give me a "high and tight" - military jargon for a good ol' buzz. I'm glad that I did it. It is quite a refreshing feeling but you can feel the slightest breeze. I actually had trouble sleeping the first night cause it was a little chilly that night. There is something strange about your body being toasty under the covers while you're head is feeling slightly cool. I'll post a full pic later. Just want to present more mystery for the time being.

Spring is a good time to plant.

Our presbytery finished meeting last night. I was approved to be a church planter in Edmonton, Alberta CANADA.

Two more weeks and I am finished here at Cerritos Presbtyerian Church - English Ministry. I really can't believe it. What a great experience I had here!

Please keep us in prayer. If you would like more details about the church plant, I'll be working on it real soon. Let me know if you would like to pray and/or support us.

Here's a new blog where you can go for updates on the church plant. HallelujahChristianFellowshipBlog (click on link)

Eeek!

We are OK! This past Saturday, I was taking my girls to gymnastics class. On the way we got into an accident (as you can see). I was travelling in the right lane and the left lane was backed up. A guy in a truck, travelling in the opposite direction was making a left turn across traffic. Apparently a car in the left lane created space for him to cross. He crossed right in front of me and tried to beat me. There was not much time to react and all I remember is my tires screeching and hitting the back of the truck. It was a little frightening and our girls were crying. But, we walked away with scratches from our seat belts.

The thing that gets me is that the other driver is an immigrant. Nothing wrong with immigrants, I was one at one point. I say this because he did not have a drivers license nor any insurance. His vehicle was impounded because of those reasons. The immigrant population is extremely high here in CA and for obvious and natural reasons. The debate on immigration policies is hotly debated but I am now more convicted that immigration should be more strictly enforced.

As a matter of perspective, I am thankful that we are all safe. This kind of throws a wrench into our life but this too works out. As we transition from our church ministry and prepare our move to Canada we were planning to sell our car anyways. Now, we will just get insurance money for it. I found out yesterday that the car will not be able to be repaired.

Where are you?

Just wanted to see what kind of hits we're getting on our family site.

SOME ANTICIPATED HITS

Family locations:
Edmonton
Seattle
Ottawa, Ontario
Philadelphia (but parents can't surf the web).

Friends:
Cerritos, CA
Philadelphia, PA
Cherokee, NC
Boston, MA
NYC, NY

Thank you for all your prayers!

I want to thank all of you who were in prayer for the announcement of my resignation at CPC. It went relatively well - mostly shock and sadness. The transition time was and is being handled well by our leaders. They are moving quickly to fill the position. Please continue to lift up this ministry.

For the rest of you who are just hearing for the first time, I announced my resignation this past Sunday. I have been here for four and a half years. I can't believe it has gone by so quickly. There has been so many memories here. The support and encouragement that I have received has been overwhelming. Many have expressed just in the matter of days their sadness to see me go. I simply reply that I am sad too. Please continue to pray that I would complete this ministry well.

New prayer request:
I shared with the the EM here that I have accepted an invitation to plant a church with a small group in Edmonton, Alberta CANADA. That's right, you heard correctly. We're going back to Su Jin's home town. I'll be sharing more about this opportunity with you all in the future. My last Sunday will be March 25th. Su Jin has to complete her contract to teach until the end of June. Starting in April I will be taking some time to pray and prepare for this effort. Please pray for me. I would greatly appreciate it. I hope to share with many of you the vision and plan.

Memorial of Pastor Al Groves

I thought I was challenged by Prof Groves and his families testimony as they anticipated his passing.

I found out today that he wrote a personal letter to be read at his own memorial service.

I was challenged and blessed to read his letter. It made me think of Psalm 112. Click on Prof Groves picture if you want to read the letter.

Ok, now that's FAITH!

Friends of Al Groves

Click here if you want to be stretched in faith.

CJ's first tooth

OK, it's Chloe's turn to start loosing her teeth. I think she's losing them faster than Pb b/c as soon as this tooth was loose she was wiggling that tooth every chance she had. She lost it today after school when she was jumping rope. Her day care teacher put it in a nice little container. But, as soon as we got home she was playing with it and it rolled into the cushions of one of our chairs. The problem is that it's the kind of chair that doesn't have removeable cushions. I tried as hard as I could to find it. CJ tried to be as brave as she could but it was too much to bear. She started balling! I tried to look for it some more but it was in the chair for good. She was looking forward to putting it under her pillow.

I'll still put the quarter under her pillow tonight... or was it a dollar?

Reunion - Pastoral Style

The English Ministry Pastor's Conference was held at Sarang Community Church this past week. Since it was so close I decided to go. I was blessed and challenged by the speakers.

It was also a time to catch up and reminisce about the past. Here's a list of the peeps I ran into:

Pastor Daniel Kim - former senior pastor of KUC and now sr. pastor of Sarang.
OK, everyone is a pastor so I'll leave that out. You have to call Pastor Daniel pastor cause I just respect the guy. But, that doesn't mean I don't respect the following people.

Joe Myung - used to be in Houston but now in San Diego
Paul "Hooch" Lee - formerly at KUC but in the Phila area
Paul Kim - still at Emmanuel (he still looks young but he's going grey... weird), and Man, can he preach!
Min Chung - still in Urbana (wow, he's changed... much more calm and wise; I was blessed by him)
Hyung Kim - older brother that graduated WTS before me, served at Emmanuel and now somewhere in Cleveland
Young Choi - served in IV at Swarthmore, then studied at U of Wisconsin, and now in Atlanta
Duk Jin - younger brother that graduated after me and is currently serving at Sarang
Pastor Steve Park - another man I respect quite a bit
Fuji - what a dear brother
Michael Oh - what is he doing at an EM conference?!
Rick Kim - I met up with him right after we moved to CA.
Iron Kim - We met up after he moved down from San Fran but been to busy to meet up with him.
Bruce Lim - Now, that's an oldy from the past... served at KUC with his wife Susan. I think they were in NY. He moved to CA a year ago and I had no idea that he was here.

I met some new faces. Still meeting some other pastors in the CA area. It's weird but pastors have to network too.

If you're reading this try to take out some time to pray for your pastors regularly.

thanks for your prayers!

WOW...37!

37 is OLD! I turned one year older today. I'm thankful for my health, my family, and my ministry. I told Su Jin today that I don't look forward to my birthdays anymore. Not b/c I'm sad for aging but b/c the festivities; the cake, the presents don't mean much to me.

I am reminded that I am loved by my family. This picture means way more to me than the cake or the recognition that I get on this day. I am encouraged by my wife who is so supportive.

Thank you everyone!

Principal Award x's 2

PB and CJ were supposed to get the Principal's Achievement Award before the break but it rained on their last assembly day.

They received their awards this past Friday. I was so proud! It was so neat to see how surprised they were when their names were called. CJ was so excited she was hopping when she received the certificate.

PB got student of the month last year but what a treat it was this year to see both of my daughters get recognized on the same day.


I must say it was a proud moment for me. It is too much to expect them to do well academically this early? CJ promises us that she will become a doctor some day. She also says in the same breath that she doesn't plan to marry. Her plan is to make lots of money so that we can live with her. She says that she's going to buy me an SUV.

I'm writing this down so that it is documented somewhere so I can prove to her that she said it.

PB has some dreams that she wants to accomplish too. Her dreams tend to be more on the creative side. She says that she wants to be a teacher or an author. She has also thought of being a nurse (for a while she thought doctors were only men). Unlike CJ, she does plan to marry but she reassures me it won't be too soon (she knows that it's a sensitive issue for me).

Happy New Year everyone!

Introducing...

Piper Su Jung Koehn born Jan 3, 2007.

My sister had her 2nd baby this past week. That makes 2 daughters for the Koehns and 2 daughters for the Chongs. I wonder how my parents are taking the news of two sets of 2 daughters? They say that Korean parents always prize their sons. Well as for me, I treasure my daughters.

Piper and her sister, Audrey, were born with this greyish tint in their eyes. Their eyes get darker as they get older. I look at her and can't help but feel that she will have a personality like Chloe's. Audrey, the older sister, is very gentle, affectionate, and a bit shy. It should be interesting to see how her personality will start coming out. I can't wait to meet you face to face.

Lord, bless her and her family!

Christmas 2006

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas celebration! We miss you all. God bless you in the New Year!

Gingerbread house - Christmas 2006

The making of Christmas card 2006

It's harder than it looks. Click on pic to see all our shots. You can see that our girls look tired by the end of the shoot.

Thanksgiving 06

Thanksgiving for us is always a time to get away! 2 years ago we visited Santa Barbara. It was beautiful and a great place to visit. I could have prepared for that trip a little better.

Last year we were not able to take our annual adventure to explore CA. We spent last year moving into our house. That was crazy!! We got the key at the last possible moment right before Thanksgiving (5 0r 6 pm the day before). We spent Thanksgiving at a local restaurant and went back to packing/unpacking into our new house.

OK, now to Thanksgiving 06... we went to the mountains. Big Bear is the equivalent of the Poconos out east. I haven't gone skiing yet, so I can't actually compare how the slopes are but the level of difficulty seems about the same. I was googling for things to do up there and found that there was a tubing place that was open and had man-made snow out already. OK, get ready... I had to pay $20/person to go tubing! Can you believe that?? I never ever remember having to pay to go tubing. If you're from Canada, you know you would never pay that amount to go tubing. But, I guess that's what Californians think if they ever go to NJ/NY to go to the beach and you have to pay for beach tags. We got our moneys worth. We arrived early around 9:30 and we tubed until 1:30. They closed at 4 pm and people were still coming (and I am assuming that they were still paying the $20!!).

We had a light lunch early but we started getting hungry at 3:00. We had reservations at 5:30 but dropped in early at the restaurant to see if they would seat us. Our girls had a wonderful turkey dinner. I broke tradition and had a wonderful cowboy cut (16 oz) prime rib. We drove back early... the girls fell asleep and when we got home (7 pm) they went straight to bed. OK, this is a family tradition that I could get used to! Su Jin and I had a relaxing evening to ourselves where we just sat and watched TV together (did you catch Survivor?!).

Where will we go next year? Joshua Tree National park, San Diego, Baja Mexico, Catalina... the possibilities are endless. Just say no to turkey! Start a new family Thanksgiving tradition!

Click on pic below to view our Thanksgiving album.

Thanksgiving 2006

Through a father's eyes

We had some ladies over this past weekend. I was the designated babysitter. It's always neat seeing our kids play together. We have a handful of kids around PB and CJ's age. They're all good friends. The parents always joke about them someday potentially (*note emphasis upon potential) marrying one another. That has always been the case for me. Who knows even if they will be friends when they get older and go away to college.

But, this blog is about being a father of daughters. The special relationship that a father has with his daughter is something special. I always get the question if Su Jin and I will have more children. That question is usually followed up with the question if I wish I could have a son. Obviously I don't know what it is to have a son but I'm pretty sure it would be pretty different. I think I would be a buddy/mentor with a son. But as a father of daughters it is so different. I am a father, role model, protector, teacher, leader, parent. I am sure that if some stranger came across this site and read this they may perceive me to be sexist. I am not saying that my daughters are weak or "needy". My daughters are just my daughters. You are (excuse me for my directness) nothing in comparison to me, as their father. I am DAD and you are NOT! So remember that when you enter into a relationship with my daughters. Hahahaha!!

So, I saw PB and CJ playing with our friend Jonathan. And the thought crossed my mind - someday they will find someone. Who could it be? How will I be able to make sure that he's a genuine guy? Will I be able to lead them to choose good men? And, then I settle myself down and pray for a couple more years to prepare for that day. I think it's just around the corner (our girls already share about boys and girls calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend by 1st grade - scary!).

The other day CJ came home saying that a boy asked her for her name. After she told him, he puckered his lips at her. She shared in a shy way but also in a way that she liked the attention. I told her to tell boys who do that to call them stupid or to smack them (literally). Su Jin doesn't like my counsel b/c she thinks that I will get them into trouble. I don't care if our girls get in trouble for that. The boys (and their parents) should be getting in trouble for putting girls (especially my girls) in awkward positions!

So, to answer the question -- No, we are not planning to have any more children.

To answer the 2nd question -- Sure, I would like to have a son but I would be more eager to have more girls!

Off to school!!

Some of you know how it feels to send off your child to school, but it's a whole different story sending your wife to school. She started her first day at work/school today. We are both still in a state of shock (maybe even denial) that she got the job.

It should be ok, even though we are into the 3rd week of school. The classroom is already decorated. This week she is only shadowing the teacher and assisting. It won't be until next week that she will have to run the classroom by herself. She will have to organize parent-teacher meetings soon.

We had our last "free" day together yesterday. It was my day off yesterday and the girls were in school. Su Jin decided to go to B & N to read up and get some resources. I thought it would be nice to grab lunch out together. So after taking care of some house chores, I met up with her at a local food court.

It was nice to sit and chat. She had to go in to sign the "official" contract. When we sat down to eat she said that she didn't have an appetite. She was still nervous that she had gotten the job and that she was in shock that she would be starting tomorrow. She was also in a state of shock that she would be getting paid for it. Ha ha... I cherished yesterday. All my girls are growing up. They're all off to school. So, I'll be home alone on Mondays!

Please keep Su Jin in your prayers as she back to being a career woman!