DELIBERATE

May 9, 2026

Yesterday, my wife and I went to Meijer to buy some grocery items. We found everything we needed, including avocados. We got back home and when we unpacked the bag, Hyemi asked, “Where are the avocados?” “They are in the plastic bag,” I replied. Well, Hyemi came home with a paper bag. It turns out, when we were at the self check out, I put the two avocados in the plastic bag, which Hyemi didn’t see, and she put the rest in the paper bag. We left the avocados there.

I called the store immediately, and told them what we did. The store rep calmly told me that it was no problem and that I could come back to get what I had left. Clearly, this must happen quite often at the grocery stores. One might say, it’s just a couple of avocados. It would cost more gas and my time to go back to grab them. But, I wanted my avocados. So the following morning, I stopped by Meijer after dropping off my girls at school to pick up my avocados. It was deliberate action on my end.

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?” Luke 15:4. It’s only one sheep out of a 100, one might say. Or it would be risky and dangerous for the shepherd to go find that one sheep, others might say. But, the Shepherd always goes back for that one sheep. Deliberate and determined. That is our Jesus, who always comes back for us.

Name

May 2, 2026

“And He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Genesis 32:28

My name is Myoung. Does that sound familiar?

Our family came to the US when I was in second grade. We lived here for about 3.5 years before we moved to the Philippines. While we lived in America, I kind of wanted an English name. Many Korean Americans had English names. My Korean name is difficult for many people (including some of you) to pronounce. It also seemed cool to have an English name, too. But I never got one.

I asked Dad one time, “Why can’t I make an English name?” His reply was simple and clear, “Because I gave you your name.” Dad put a lot into my name. My whole identity, of how I was born and who I am, is all defined in the name that dad gave me. And dad wasn't going to let my identity be tampered with by some random American name just because it looked cooler. That is how important one’s name is. And it was the case for people in the Bible, too.

Jacob lived a life of deception. After many years of running away, he finally surrendered all of himself to God. And God changed his name to Israel. Because Israel now had a new identity. It wasn’t just a simple name change. He became a new person.

Revelation 2:17 writes, “And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” God has a name for us. God has changed us, and we can call Him Father!

So Casual

April 25, 2026

It was after supper, and the girls wanted to go out and play badminton in the driveway. There’s nothing fancy about it, no nets. Just a line drawn on the ground with chalk. There was no wind, and the air was cool. Everything was just right. Hyemi agreed to go out with the girls, and Sejin shouted, “Dad, let’s play badminton!” I had a lot to do and I wasn’t ready to come down. I said, “I’ll pass!” She shouted back, “Dad, this is intergenerational!”

I laughed and came out to play with the family.

I am glad I came out to play with the family. The air was quite refreshing, and there was much laughter as we hit the badminton birdie back and forth with our rackets. It wasn’t like an intense pickleball match, we were just enjoying our time together, and I knew this time was far more valuable than any other work I had to do. So casual, yet so bonding. As we were playing, the young couple that lives right next to us was returning from their evening walk. They seemed to have a good time. A casual evening walk in the midst of their busy day, yet such a precious time.

I wonder if that’s what Enoch did. “And Enoch walked with God.” Genesis 5:24. Such a simple text, but means so much. In each moment, he was in the presence of God. So casual, yet so bonding and precious. We need to be like Enoch.