glimpses

for what He has in store for us this year :)

sososososooooooooo excited!! you have no idea heh.

just like jennykim has foreshadowed, i will be writing a tumblr post on it. heh. 

ohman there’s so much to say about this, but ultimately, i want to say that He really provided ♥ He knew that I’d need to drive to school because of college advantage; He knew that I’d need to go back and forth between west valley and los gatos high because of yearbook; He knew that my mom was having a hard time driving both me and david around all the time and He knew that we felt bad for always asking others for rides; He knew that my mom wanted to go visit my grandpa in korea because he is not feeling well and she hasn’t seen him in like 3 years and that she couldn’t go because then david and i won’t have rides; && He also knew that I’d need a ride to church every friday and that when second semester I’d want to have fellowship with my fellow keps-erss on sundays rather than going home right away & there’s SO MUCH MORE and He provided for all that. and i am so thankful  so funny how so many things can be changed for the better by one little thing :)

SOOO ANYWAYS, honestly i didn’t really deserve to pass. i could have failed the first minute of the test…. HAHAHHA FAIL. cause when i was exiting the dmv.. i was on the crosswalk when “pedestrians were approaching” as the test person said. sigh. but she let it go :) pheww. seriously when she told me at the end i was like OHMAN THANK YOU GOD. mann i made so many mistakes.. like when i was backing up.. i forgot to turn off the signal light HAHAH OOOPS. and my right turns were wide and all that stuff. ohmy how did i pass. hahaha. OH and the test was shorter cause there were SO MANY PEOPLE today because but WOOW i like truly depended on HIM and HE really showed me that He is in control, you know? :)

but yes, after two permits and almost 2 years? of holding a permit, i am finally licensed. i just need a car and im ready to go! :) 

i have missed you soo soo much, you don’t even understand.  it was hard being away from the place i call my second home. and coming back today made me realize why this was so.  

“I can do everything though him who gives me strength.  
Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles”
-Philippians 4:13-14

WOOOW. when david jundo preached from this, i was just so amazed at how God works, yet again.. heh. as you know, the sermon was about how important it is to belong to a christian community. that it’s not just our relationship with God, but also about our relationship with others. 

ahh the one thing that i have been lacking probably this whole summer. a church community. how ironic that i hear this the day i come back! haha. (it was also ironic that one of the days that i was gone, the sermon topic was to keep that sabbath day holy…. ANYWAYS,) this summer, ive been here and there, but like.. i was here, but not able to go.. and because of that, it was a really difficult season to be in. it’s not that i was going though something emotionally difficult or like going though spiritual doubts. but this whole summer i felt very distant, physically and them spiritually. BUT now im understanding why, and i feel that i am finally, after so long, coming out of that season. just like the passage indicated, church community is super important!  and being forced to not belong in that community was sosooo PAINFUL. hahaha. well, you know what i mean hahaha. but as a result, it was just so much harder to maintain that relationship with HIM while i was away. 

but today when i returned, it was just as if i had come home after being away for a while. you don’t know how thankful i was for everyone who welcomed me back today. and how thankful i am for the people who reached out to me while i was gone too! :) im still going to have to find my place again but still, seriously pg for letting me return!

now that im back, i can feel that i am coming out of that season and into a new one and i even though i really disliked the season that i was in before, i know im coming out with new found knowledge that He has so graciously revealed to me.

there are many little things He has revealed and even more ways that He comforted me along the way, but i feel that most importantly through this He has taught me is how much of a blessing it is to be able to come out to church to worship as well as have fellowship with one another. because before this, i haven’t really understood how lucky we are to be able to gather together for ONE. but being away  has really opened my eyes and has made me so thankful. 

as this school year starts, im not quite sure where He will lead me or what kind of season im running into now, but i enter with faith that whatever happens, it is already in His will! isn’t it kind of comforting to know that He already has a plan for you? heheh. woow, im a senior now and college apps are starting.. my mom is already pushing me super hard and has super high expecations for me… and from here everything’s just going to get even more crajee-er than before and stress levels might rise, but i feel that i’ll be okay.  and everyone else will be okay too! you know why?

because “I can do everything though Him who gives me strength.”

heheheh. wow i loves it. &i truly trust it. but you know, not only will God be there, but i know that i will be able to rely on you, my second family, too ♥ let us pray that this year that we won’t be lost in the chaos but that our hearts as a community will be in HIM.

heh, i don’t know how to end this weird rambling letter, so i’ll just end it awkwardly… hehehehe…. i don’t even know how what i wrote at first relates to what i wrote at the end…. heh.

:) 

with much love, MIRIAMlee.

heh. holding a camera again in an unfamiliar place is helping me realize again how much i love taking photos, and truly capturing that moment that will never, ever come again in the same way. so i want to share with you a few of my favorites from this trip and why i lovelove them :) they’re not GREAT. but i guess it’s what’s behind them that i love about them hehehe. 

i love this picture first off because of all the texture in the rocks and water and then the lighting. hehe but beyond that it reminds me of when we went to the ausible chasm near lake placid and we went “white water rafting” HAHAHA. yeah it was like maybe 1 minute of white water rafting and then the rest was a ridiculously smooth ride on the raft. LOL SIGH. but it was fun because there was so much to see and it was fun meeting my cool buddy cousin jessica too!

heh. idk why but to me the shadows here look playful, and there’s that unseen interaction between the people on the two lifts that are about to pass each other, you know?

this was just epikk. like how high it was. being up there was so scary. but also so breathtaking in how much you can see! i can’t believe ski jumpers actually jump off of these!

i lovelovelovelove these cool lights :) idk just the the atmosphere at boston was so great! i can’t describe it but it made me feel happy. i am definitely a city person to some extent hahaha. but i wouldn’t mind living in the suburbs too.

this is MIT, and probably the prettiest part of the whole campus.. the rest is.. uhm yeah. hahah. anyways, i love how this kinda looks like los gatos high school :) i think it’s the pillars and that block on top with the name of the school. but it was quite cool!

BOSTON TROLLEY TOUR ♥ wow im so glad that i got in contact with mabelle and she told me to take this tour because it was seriously the best! you can get off and get on any stop you want to for 2 whole days. it is great :) i got to see so much of boston through this and have seen just how beautiful this city is!

i just really liked how the people are caught in motion, going to where they’re going. but also you can see the city life of boston in this shot. so much repetition making it look busier heh. idk. and last one…

probably one of the best things i love about boston is the buildings. ohmy they are so, so beautiful. this once picture can’t do them justice AT ALL. but yess. 

♥ i think i should go back to east coast during january when i have no school.
oh these are also on my photography blog: miriamleephotography heh. 

that is what is says on the back of our family reunion tshirts and it is our family’s theme for this year :) anyways, from this family reunion, which is more like a retreat with family, i truly saw the amajeeing ways He is working in our family and through our family into the nations. hehe. so what exactly am i talking about? let me explain!

so for the first time in eight years, my dad’s family had a reunion. they used to have one like every two years or so but then as time passes they became less frequent. but this summer, 50+ family members gathered to have fellowship with one another. and wooow, i was sooo blessed by this experience. our family is very isolated from the rest of the family most of the time. since most everyone lives in NEW JERSEY and canada and korea, i met cousins that i have never met, and ive met other cousins that remember me but i don’t remember them because i was still a baby. but through everything, i just realized that blood is really thicker than water because there was a unseen connection that was so clear :)

but not only did i have an opportunity to meet my family members but i also was blessed with the opportunity to praise our heavenly Father with them, and also hear their great testimonies and sermons and messages. oh i forgot to mention that my dad’s side has many missionaries and pastors, and im glad that i can truly share that God-glue with them :) but this was even more special because it was the first true praise that i was able to attend in a while. and also, i participated in my second communion of my life, my first having been when i was confirmed 4 months ago. everything was just so overwhelming and His presence so obvious.

heh. i don’t know how to end this cause i could go on&on, but to sum it up, I am so thankful to be within a community where God is truly blessing from generation to generation.

God you are seriously too good to us, thank you ♥

some pictures from the trip here & on my facebook too heh.