semylee
Testifying to the impossibilities that were made possible through Jesus:
(Updating these as I look through past journals and as they come)
October l 2004 l A New Beginning
My baptism day. I officially gave my life to Jesus on October 10th, at 10:00AM at New River. The start of new beginnings and a two-week campaign of shower-free days to testify to how new i felt. My best friend did not appreciate this campaign of mine and basically commanded me to take a shower :)
March l 2005 l He’s really real
Confirmation. Jesus was real. How? It was on a trip to a retreat. For months and months previous this trip, I felt the Lord tugging at my heart to forgive my father for our estranged relationship and endured pains. Months and months I refused. He hurt me, he abused me, he abandoned me, so it didn’t make sense for me to make the initiative. Then on this car ride to the retreat, I guess God wanted to the drive the message home hard. I bought my favorite Jones Cream Soda drink. I popped open the cap to read the message inside every Jones cap. You would never guess what it said. “Talk to your father.” A few things happened after that. One, I stopped believing in coincidences. Two, I got in contact with my father and found true forgiveness. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
August l 2005 l No smoking please
For the longest time, if there’s anything i’ve really hated and despised with all my heart is the act of smoking. I just hated everything about it. I hated the way it made the people around me smell. I hated the way it made people come back to it time and time again in a shackled dependence. My dad was one of those people who participated in this. When i got saved, in childlike faith, i just asked my papa in heaven to make sure my daddy on earth stopped destroying his body in this way. Over 30+ years of being a chain smoker, was there any hope? With Jesus, yes there was and plenty of it. So, after six months of on and off prayer for my dad, i get an email from him (from Korea) telling me that he’s quit. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it. I asked him what happened. He replied that one day he woke up and couldn’t stand the smell of it. I was shocked. God said, “Why are you so shocked? You prayed for it.” After 6 years of being smoke-free, my dad still complains whenever he smells the smoke of cigarettes and makes it known to those around him that he doesn’t appreciate it one bit :)
March l 2007 l He heals?
Yes, Jesus heals. I can personally testify to this even when i didn’t really believe in it myself. I remember for nearly three months previous to this i had what i found out later to most likely be a yeast infection. So get this, afraid that it was something serious like an STD, i actually didn’t go to the doctor because i knew i didn’t have health insurance and i didn’t want my mom to know. Some nights, i could barely go to bed due to the pain and discomfort. Eventually, I had enough. At the ccf retreat in march, as the student leaders gathered for a meeting, i told them straight out about my pain and asked them to pray for me. Though i didn’t really believe in healing, i had to. The situation was getting seriously ugly. Literally, the day after they prayed for me, all the pain and discomfort gone 100% bye bye. So now when people ask me if Jesus still heals, my answer is umm yes he does.
December - January l 2009-2010 l Angels
During this period, I took my first ever backpacking trip through SE Asia. A treasured friend and I literally packed a bag each to trek through the major cities of Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia in a mere 17 days. A few people advised against it, but despite their good intentions, we embarked on our journey. Now, let’s get real for a sec. Common sense knows it’s unsafe for two inexperienced sojourners, especially girls, to travel together. Still, I knew in my heart my good Daddy in Heaven would protect us. So, get this. Throughout the trip, I would overhear conversations of other travelers talking about getting beat up, getting something stolen, getting cheated, the works basically. Their stories couldn’t be further from the story that Wheatie and I shared. We went throughout those 17 days completely protected and favored. We never got touched, got something stolen, or got cheated. In fact, we met some of the most helpful people. A guy named Trang took off the day so he could show me and Wheatie around beautiful Nha Trang on a sweet coastline scooter escapade. When Wheatie accidentally broke the brakes, he didn’t even charge us. We got a room upgrade for a night in an awesome suite. We even had the blessings to meet one of the greatest couples on earth, Seetha and Ravi. We shared stories and life together as if we were family. We met them in Vietnam and met them back at the end of our journey in Malaysia. Get this. Wheatie and I were nearly broke by the time we got there and didn’t have a place to stay. Seetha and Ravi waited nearly 2 hours at the bus station to pick us up, took us out to every meal we had together all expenses paid, paid for our nights stay at the nicest hotel we’ve stayed at during our trip, took their days off to show us around Kuala Lumpur the next day, and even drove us to the bus station to say their farewells. The 17-day trip was one filled with God’s complete protection and utter favor. After returning to Korea, a good friend who can see angels told me that I have a ten-foot tall angel tagging along with me. I’m pretty sure that my Daddy sent my angel to protect me :) Thanks Dad :)
June l 2010 l Lust-free
From some of my most earliest memories, there was one that was deeply repressed due to its shameful nature. This memory didn’t resurface until a week before my healing and deliverance session in ‘08. The memory involved me, a family member, and lust if you get my drift. Ever since the age of 4, I was in bondage to lust. When boys got involved, it got messier. I lived this way even after I became a Christian. However in 2008, I moved to Korea to meet some of the people that would change my life of whom included people at my church and Jesus. Through confession and accountability, I was on my way to walking out my freedom from lust, but it didn’t come easy. For nearly two years I continued to struggle deeply with lust, but in June of 2010, it broke. Completely. Night after night I would go to sleep with no such desires. Morning after morning I would wake up with no such desires. This didn’t last just a week or a month .. but almost two years now. As they would in AA, I’m proud to say that I’ve been sober from lust for two years and going strong. Praise you Jesus.
January l 2011 l Dreamlyn
I traveled to Baguio, Philippines for my second new philly missions. My expectations were greater and my confidence to see greater were upped. There were many amazing things that happened on this trip from amazing team unity to multiplication of time to hundreds of salvation, but my heart remembers dreamlyn the most. Dreamlyn is the name of a girl i ministered to for a mere 2 minutes. I remember seeing her limping slightly as she approached. I asked her what she needed prayer for though I knew I didn’t need her to tell me. She pointed to her left ankle. I bent down and looked to see that she had a fair amount of swelling compared to her right side. I gently touched her swollen ankle and prayed a simple prayer of God’s love and healing over her. As i prayed for her, i could physically feel the swelling reduce under my own fingers. When I finished my prayer, I looked up and asked how she was feeling and she started moving her ankle around and around and around and then she burst into tears. I quickly rose to embrace her and just tell her how much Jesus loves her. Once ministry time was over, I saw her running back to her class. Can i get a ‘GLORY’?
February l 2012 l Biking Accident
Being a biker, I biked to work daily. At least in my now old job. I’m fairly good behind the wheel .. or handles. On my last day at my now old job, I got into my first car-bike collision. The driver came from nowhere bashed into my back wheel causing me and my bike to fishtail. Thankfully, I’ve learned how to do emergency bike jump-offs. The incredible part was that I left the accident scene with only a bruise on my knee and amazing peace. Also, the guy that hit me was very apologetic and offered me a ride to the hospital. To add onto that, a friend of mine told me awhile back that I had an angel. But my angel was big like he was meant to protect me. I really felt that God sent my angel to protect me that morning. Thank you Jesus.
