Coincidence – Maybe, Maybe Not

My Wood Boiler Keeping Me Warm and Toasty on a snowy day

I wasn’t going to write anything today, but I got a little teary-eyed at my wood boiler this evening.

Let me explain.

It started this morning as I was flipping through youtube videos and came across this short version of Promise:

And while I was playing it, my Bible App sent me the verse of the day:

Psalm 119:105 Christian Standard Bible

נ Nun

¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp for my feet
and a light on my path.

시편 119:105Korean Living Bible

¹⁰⁵ 주의 말씀은
나를 안내하는 등불이며
내 길을 비춰 주는 빛입니다.

Maybe to remind me where to find the light.

And then at my wood boiler tonight, I had my playlist on shuffle and Speak Life by TobyMac started playing.

I like the message of that song, so I was singing along while I loaded wood into an empty firebox. There was just a tiny coal left, but I had hope that the fire would start once I added the wood. I had the firebox nearly full when that little spark ignited to a flame at the exact same time TobyMac was singing “spread the love like fire”.

I remembered my early morning message and got a little emotional.

Maybe God doesn’t talk to me in a audible voice, but he sends me messages. I titled the post Coincidences, but some call them Godincidence. Yep. A Godincidence.

Matthew 5:15-17 Christian Standard Bible

¹⁵ No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

마태복음 5:15-16Korean Living Bible

¹⁵ 등불을 켜서 그릇으로 덮어 둘 사람은 아무도 없다. 오히려 그것을 등잔대 위에 올려놓아 집 안에 있는 모든 사람에게 비치게 하지 않겠느냐?

¹⁶ 이와 같이 너희 빛을 사람들 앞에 비추게 하라. 그래서 사람들이 너희 착한 행실을 보고 하늘에 계신 너희 아버지를 찬양하게 하라.

John 8:12 Christian Standard Bible

The Light of the World

¹² Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”

요한복음 8:12 Korean Living Bible

¹² 후에 예수님은 사람들에게 다시 말씀하셨다. “나는 세상의 빛이다. 나를 따르는 사람은 어두움에 다니지 않고 생명의 빛을 받을 것이다.”

I think my word for the Year is “Light”.

An oldie but goodie song I remember from my childhood. It only takes a spark to get a fire going.

Pandemic Pastime

Let me Interrupt this 2020 Pandemic to bring you . . .

BTS

Why is a 50+ year old listening to BTS?

Too much time on my hands.

Working from home has freed up time that used to be spent driving to and from work.

Almost 2 hours a day.

Several YEARS ago in a virtual (yeah, virtual as in video conferencing) writing critique group we were challenged to step outside our normal genre comfort zone and experience something new.

One very young and very brilliant writer from a distant part of the country recommended Korean Drama.

And I fell in love.  The South Koreans have captured the essence of what I crave in a story.

Fast Forward to Pandemic.

I ignored the Netflix suggestion of Crash Landing on You(CLOY) at first, because I don’t like to think about North Korea. But when I had exhausted my other choices, I watched the first episode and then the next and the next until I had finished the last episode(not all in one day, mind you). I cried because I already missed the characters. That has never happened to me before. Ever.

I convinced my husband to watch it and I watched it with him. Then he decided to watch it again. So I’ve watched Crash Landing on You 3 times during the Pandemic. I used to like Hallmark movies, but after CLOY I’m not interested in them anymore.

I love Korean Dramas so much that I decided to learn the Korean language and signed up for a class through Coursera and Yonsei University.

I’m pleased that I can now read Hangul at a pre-K slow-laboring level. My vocabulary is so lacking that even though I can read the words, I don’t know what I’m reading. I have a lot of studying to do.

I decided to add more Korean Culture to my learning experience and chose to check out K-Pop— Korean pop music. The only name I had heard was BTS (mentioned in episode 7 of Crash Landing on You), so I typed in BTS in youtube and lo and behold it was the SAME DAY they had released their new single, Dynamite.

I listened.

And listened again.

And again.

It was all in English so no subtitles were needed. I had to make sure that a few of the lines were clean and was happy to find out they were.

There were no boy bands back in my teenage years. The Beatles and Beach Boys (though they had some new songs out during my day) came before those informative years and other boy bands came after my teenage years. I never had the experience of going crazy over a boy band. I had Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Prince, Rod Stewart and I’m sure more that I can’t remember because I’m old.

But now, for the first time, I’m listening to the music of a boy band.

And crying.

My husband of almost 32 years says now he knows how it feels to live in a house with a teenage girl.

My son thinks I’ve gone crazy and has threatened to institutionalize me. I think he is jealous because I call BTS my sons. They are my son’s age.

I try to bring others down to my depravity, but they aren’t stooping to my level. I text Youtube videos to my sister and her daughters, but they aren’t impressed. My nieces are dancers, so I was hoping they would enjoy the videos. Sadly, they don’t listen to that kind of music. They’re into Country music. I’ll keep trying though.

This song makes me cry. I’m not sure why. Please turn on the closed captions for the English Subtitles.

This makes me think of the Newsboys song call Shine. I hope you enjoy.

And Lights Shine Bright by TobyMac

This is a special song I dedicate to Bangtan Sonyeondan—Bulletproof Boy Scouts—BTS.

Matthew 4: 16 says:

the people who sat in darkness
    have seen a great light.
And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow,
    a light has shined.”^[a]

Matthew 5 says

¹⁵ No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

John 12 says:

⁴⁵ For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. ⁴⁷ I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it.

Psalm 147 says:

³ He heals the brokenhearted
    and bandages their wounds.
⁴ He counts the stars
    and calls them all by name.
⁵ How great is our Lord! His power is absolute!
    His understanding is beyond comprehension!