My trip to Toccoa was pretty good.  I went and ate lunch with Nana at the hospital.  Sitting with her in the cafeteria was cool, I got to meet some of the other residents going through physical therapy.  These two “younger” guys were telling me how Nana has been literally running up and down the halls and just so energetic.  She is a strong woman.  Anywho, they wanted whatever she was on.  After lunch I drove down to Toccoa and it was deserted as Mrs. Freeze had foreseen (Christmas break).  Being alone in Williams’ chapel was just awesome, the peace and quiet brought back many good memories of quiet times spent there… however this time it wasn’t interrupted by a bunch of seniors wanting to hold band practice.  I took some pics but they can’t be uploaded right now, I’ll try later.  My new camera is freakin’ awesome with its zoom, can’t wait to show my pic of the falls.

My time at Toccoa was short by the fact that I had to haul back to Anderson to have dinner with Nana.  I really like the hospital she’s at, the staff are very friendly (I guess they want a good impression since her relative shows up twice a day).  Nana and I had a good little talk about the future and what will happen this summer when I get back.  She’s a dear lady and I’m thankful she’s my Nana (say “Awwww”).  Night y’all. 

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WHAT I LEARNED TODAY:  First, wait for ‘Animal House to come on TBS or something because the movie/unedited version is definitely not appropriate.  Secondly, John Belushi is hysterical. 

Today I got to drive around Clemson and soak up some of the atmosphere and relax a little.  I bought Creed’s Greatest Hits and listened to “With Arms Wide Open” about 50 times.  Its about the lead singer’s joy about finding out that he is going to be a dad.  I don’t know it sparked something in me thinking about John and how proud he was of me.  Nana and I had a good talk about John over dinner at the hospital, she’s so incredibly strong.  God is good.

I talked with the health care case worker for Nana and it looks like Nana is slated to be out of the hospital on the 3rd, but it sounds like she could get out earlier.  We’ll see tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, after I have lunch with Nana at the hospital I think I’ll drive down to ol’ Toccoa and see how much the school has changed/stayed the same.  Thanks for the prayers everyone.

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It looks like Nana will be coming home within the next couple of days, Lord willing.  There’s a chance she could come home tomorrow, but we’ll have to see what the doctor has to say about that.  Mom had to head back to home to be at work, her job was very gracious to let her have 2 weeks off.  So I’m here at Nana’s house by myself, trying to decompress all that’s been bouncing around my head which is good.  I am taking a break to watch National Lampoon’s Animal House… ah, old time John Belushi stuff.  Hope the dorm staff in Thailand/Malaysia are doing well.  I got a brand-spankin’ new camera that I hope to upload some pics soon enough.

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With New Year’s coming up, what’s the resolutions going to be?  Mine is to do the Bible through the year.  I plan on making prayer a bigger part of my life as well.  Yes, 05 will be a super-spiritual year for me [happy happy joy joy] but I can live w/o the super part

Well, I’ve been back in the States for almost 2 weeks.  Nana (my grandma) is out of the hospital and now in a physical therapy rehab hospital to get back her strength.  She had some sort of heart failure but is doing better by the day.  She’s hoping to come home sometime this week but we’ll wait to see what the physical therapist has to say. 

Honestly I don’t know how to “feel” right now, I’m glad that Nana’s doing better and that has given me alot of hope, however I do not want to fly back to Korea to leave her by herself.  Yes, she’ll have tons of people around to help her in any small way but I guess I am struggling with a tinge of guilt of not being here.  I know my family would think that’s crazy talk… but they’re not me.  My mom has been here for 2 weeks as well, she’s going back to NC to work tomorrow and will return Friday evening.  I will be staying down here to visit with Nana to make sure she’s taken care of and not lonely.  I know that the grief will come soon enough.  Right now I keep hoping that this week does not fly by, I do not want to fly back to Korea like this.  I fly out next Wednesday.  At one point I didn’t want to fly back at all (don’t worry Drew, I’ll be there, simmer).

If that’s not bad enough, there’s only a 9.something earthquake that sends a tsunami into Thailand where half the boarding staff are for vacation…  Thankfully Drew and Virginia are safe (so that must mean the other RAs are as well… but I don’t know about the dorm parents).  I know I should feel worried, but when I say I can’t “feel”, I don’t feel numb but just a sense of shock from my grandfather’s death that hasn’t passed yet… so my prayers go out to the peoples in the afflicted counties.

Even though I’m sitting on Nana and John’s bed typing this out, I fully anticipate John to walk in and get ready to go to bed… so weird…  I try to think about the funeral, I didn’t get to see John (he was already cremated), we had the internment and proceeded to the church for the eulogy.  I read Isaiah 61 and a passage from 1 John… then it was over (very fast).  I remember having said goodbye to him and having good closure (in person) in August and the various phone calls I made to him over the course of the semester.  What am I struggling with?  We’ll see….  sorry to ramble, just needed to write to get my head clear. 

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To give everyone the heads up, I didn’t go to Thailand, I was planning on flying back to the states to surprise my fam for Christmas.  I found out right before I flew out that Sunday night/Monday morning my grandfather (John) passed away.  I didn’t get to see John before he died but I made it for the funeral.  It was well done.  Then on Thursday Nana was very lathargic and could hardly move, we rushed her to the ER for an erratic heartbeat, it was 150 beats per minute (70 is normal).  By Saturday she was doing alot better and my parents were there with her I was able to go to an evangelist conference that I already planned to attend in Asheville.  The doctor said she was suffering from congestive heart failure and we all know that the shock and grief were ontop of all this.  Anywho, that’s why I haven’t updated in awhile.  The doctor says that there will be a good chance that by tomorrow she can go to the physical therapy center to rehabilitate and get her strength back.  Please keep her in prayer, as well as my parents who have to arrange all the legal stuff with John’s death plus with Nana’s health on their minds its been tough for mom especially.  Pray for me to learn how to deal and process the grief. 

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What I am learning today:  Pizza Hut makes a mighty fine pie, if I do say so myself.  Currently I am thinking alot about the whole gay marriage and gay rights issues and though I do not have a solution I have been pondering alot about it.  Its easy to quote Romans 2 and just say homosexuals are living in sin and package it up as wrong and pay no heed to any other voice, but hearing arguments for and against have prompted me to look into this issue a bit.

Question:  What makes people lazy?  Why do we struggle with a propensity to let others do work that we could do?

Peanut butter jelly… with a baseball bat:  Last night our dorm celebrated ‘Family Night’, this is the special night in the quarter where we take our guys out to a nice(r) restaurant.  We went to Pizza Hut (where they make a might fine pie).  Korean Pizza Huts are almost identical to the US-based versions except they offer pizzas that you won’t find in the US like sweet potato pizza… don’t ask.

Drew hates to be distracted from his ‘precious’… fo shizzy!

Jaedoo enjoys his silverware while I don’t really know what happened to Brian’s head.

In Conclusion:  This is the final week before Christmas break.  The guys are getting very very anxious and ready to be finished with homework.  Yep, Friday’s the day we ship them (i.e. kick them out) all home and enjoy 3 weeks of break.  I’ll be heading to Thailand for break to celebrate Christmas on the tropical beaches with balmy 82 degree weather.  Keep seeking!

De Colores,
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What I learned today:  I was sitting in church listening to the pastor and one of his points is what are you celebrating for this Christmas… and well the obvious good little Christian answer that I had was “Jesus”, right?  Well… for some reason “College football bowl games” came to mind.  Conviction… Ouch, it hurts enough that Clemson isn’t going to a bowl game.  Anywho, I’m feeling lots better today… ever have one of those I’m-sorry-I screwed-up-Lord,-please-forgive-me-but-why-do-I-still-feel-guilty?  I thought that the staff football game down on the soccer field would help take my mind off matters but I didn’t know I was so out of shape to constantly get burned by an old man *sigh*.  Yeah I played DB covering man-to-man against Larry Smith and he torched me almost every play!!  Who would’ve stinkin’ thought the man could move so fast???  I’ll never be able to show my face round my teammates again.  Its a good thing he and I get along.  Of course it doesn’t help that I drop almost every pass that comes my way *sigh*.  I emailed a good friend of mine and he reminded me about one cannot focus one’s mind entirely on his own problems otherwise he is consumed by them… Be consumed with Jesus and then help others by carrying their burdens. 

Question:  So how does one help others and deal with one’s own issues at the same time?  Its not good to ignore your own plight or deny that something is amiss.  More seeking is called for. 

Totally unrelated shoutout:  Concord High School (my alma mater) won the NC 3A football state championship!!!  27-0 over Wilson Hunt this past Saturday afternoon.  Go Spiders

PS.  Sorry no updates on the shirts yet… I need to make sure everythings kosher between God and me before I go and break into Chris’ apartment and steal a ’Napoleon Dynamite’ shirt. 

…brokeness is a good thing, the smaller the pieces the more God has to work with…

Quote of the semester as said by one of my dorm guys: “Don’t feel sorry that I’m a MK, that doesn’t make my life harder… it makes it better.”

Amen to that!

Chris’ new ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ shirts were easy enough to find, but as sneaky as I was, he’s sneakier and laid an insidius trap to catch me trying to steal his precious T-shirts.

Well, I almost got away with it if it hadn’t been for those snooping kids… ah who am I kidding. I will try again tomorrow *hehe*

Here’s an interesting article about raising kids… I wonder if we would be allowed to do it here? I’d be up for it  

Happy Birthday to one of the awesomest women in all of Korea, Virginia.

TCIS Varsity girls and boys basketball teams lost to Osan American bad