becka lippy

I can't believe we have already made it to March 30th. It seems like just yesterday that we were in 2009. This year has flown by. The other day I took some time to read through my journal. I started at New Years and worked through to this week. I'm usually a very diligent journaler. I started journaling when I was about 12 and it has been a consistent part of my life since. But 2010 has been moving too quickly to keep up. The days drag on as I'm at work, but the weeks fly by. I hope all of 2010 will be this way. I'm happy enough with my life situation now, I don't love my job, but it's not miserable. I don't love this culture, but it's livable. And I do love what I have seen the Lord doing in my life. I have seen Him restoring what I lost (hope, joy, love) and I realize how desperate I am for His grace in my life. I have felt His redemption in a real way over the last year. I have been overwhelmed recently by how broken we all are. I am good at pretendin

Sunyoung and I went to Suwon for the day on Saturday. It's a town about an hour south of Seoul where there is a fortress. I'll post more on the trip, but here is a little "taste" of the trip. :) We ate Galbi (BBQ) for lunch.

Passover is here! I've begun preparing for the seder I'll be hosting. I love this holiday, probably more than any other Jewish holiday. In fact, I think it might be my favorite holiday ever. There is something deep in my soul that stirs when we sit around the table retelling the story that has been passed down generation after generation, when we sings songs, asking the God of the universe to bring us into Peace, and when we reflect upon the past redemption and future redemption. The songs are my favorite part. Such simplicity and depth. This year as I prepare for passover, I'm praying for a deeper understanding of God's redemption. This is the time of year last year when the ex and I started dating. How do I know? Well, I spent all last year's passover seder completely distracted (and slightly insane) thinking about him and the possibility of us being together. Sounds silly now a year later when I know how that story ended. But I've seen the mighty redemptive h

My second year in college (wow, that was a whole 8 years ago!) one of my assignments was to take the Myers Briggs Personality test and to find out what kind of personality I have. It's a test that looks at how you interact with the world around you, how you intake information, and how you make decisions. It's really fun to take and when understood appropriately, it can be helpful in understanding relationships. There are four spectrum. Extrovert-Introvert iNtuitive-Sensing Feeling-Thinking Judging-Perceiving So when I originally took the test in college, it said I was an ENFJ (Extroverted,iNtuitive,Feeling, Judging). Its the kind of person who deeply loves people, who lives out of relationships, always thinking about people's needs, etc. But that's not me. :) I took the test again a few years ago (thanks to Carolyne Rohrig) and discovered I am an ENTP. and boy oh boy, am I an ENTP! This means Extrovert iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving. Reading the ENTP profile was like rea

Recently Ive been missing Chile. I think I've missed it since the day I left, but sometimes I miss it more than others. These past few weeks have been filled with longing for Chile. I miss so many things about the country, and I know that if I return it wont be the same (mainly because I wont have my girls with me!), but I still long to return. Its been three years since I left and I still feel very connected to the country. I've found myself talking more in Spanish these days. I have even begun to read my Spanish bible and try to memorize verses in Spanish. I dont know if I will ever be able to live again in a Spanish speaking country, but I hope so. I still dream of returning to Chile. People have asked me about visiting. No. I dont want to visit. I know that if I go back, Im moving for good. If I try to go for just a visit I will end up breaking my heart when it is time to leave. So I just wait and trust that God's goodness reaches far and wide. I'm starting to think

I got these pictures from Edith Valdes Bernal's facebook page (I don't actually know her, she is a friend of a friend). One of my newfound friends is from a town in Chile called Constitucion which was hit pretty hard. Here are some photos from around town. While Santiago is not under such destruction, they are still rolling through the earthquakes (each week there are a few aftershakes and even some more new earthquakes!) Please keep this beautiful country in your prayers. b

One of my favorite things about Sundays is lunch after church. A group of us go out each Sunday after church. It'snever organized and its always a blessing. Its such a sweet time of fellowship and it just might be my favorite part of the week. Anyways, here are some photos from our lunch today. We went out for a special kind of soup that is basically "military soup" since it was originally made with the rations that they gave soliders.

For my faithful readers who have been wondering if I would ever write about heart issues again, here you go. I've been working through some things and I was waiting for a good time to write on the things going on. I've learned in the past that blogging about personal matters is always complicated and when it involves other people, it is nearly impossible. So today, on White Day, I'd like to share with you some reflections about my romantic life (or lack thereof). In a recent conversation with a friend about relationships, I confessed that as I have gotten older, I have gotten pickier. I'm not sure pickier is the right word, but as I've gotten older, I've gotten to know myself better. I'll try not to get too new ageish with this, but honestly I have learned about the things that matter to me, and things that don't. Boys who I would have died to be with in college, I now have the hindsight, and foresight, to see that we would not be good together. Many of

I am smiling for a thousand and one reasons. Tonight I came home to an unexpected email. Someone found this blog because they were googling one of my favorite theologians (brownie points to whoever can guess who Im talking about). This week has been really good. As I wrote about earlier, I got to hang with an amazing woman named Hannah, I had lunch today with another awesome woman named Becky, and I got to see a TON of joyful things going on in the lives of people around me. I am getting to see the Lord work great merciful things in the lives of my loved ones. I have had some incredible conversations this week. And I have learned a lot about myself, my limitations, and how God's grace covers me even when I desire things outside of Him. I've been working through some things these past few weeks, but today as I walked around downtown Seoul doing some shopping, I popped in my ipod to listen to some worship music. I was overwhelmed with peace. I have no clue what my future holds, a

I got home from work today, exhausted, only to face the horrible whining of the neighborhood cats outside my window. They used to be really loud, and then in the cold of the winter they disappeared. But now they seem to have returned in full force. I sure hope I can sleep tonight!

This morning my pastor's wife Hannah came over to chat over some chai tea (sent to me by my amazing Grandma!!!). Hannah is first off just plain beautiful. I mean, her smile lights up anyone who is having a bad day. But her heart matches her face. She has a sweet and gentle spirit. She laughs easily and is filled with compassion. Add all these traits to the fact that she went to Reformed Theological Seminary and got her masters in Biblical Theology (my FAVORITE subject) and you have an awesome coffee date. There wasn't anything necessarily on the plate to talk about, but have no fear, we never lacked for conversation. In fact, all the major issues I wanted to hit up with Hannah were covered. Im really grateful for her soft wisdom and honesty with me.

I feel a little dizzy. Not really, but I feel like I should. I honestly barely recognize myself yet I know that the person that is staring at me in the mirror is just the new Becka. She is something similar to the Becka of 2008, but somehow older and wiser. I am reading a book called A Grace Disguised (by Jerry Sittser) that talks about how to deal with loss. Some of the sentences in this book I have to read 3 or 4 times beforeI can move on. They are so deep. I wish I could just sit in them for hours. One of the quotes that caught me today, "The soul is elastic, like a balloon. It can grow larger through suffering. Loss can enlarge its capacity for anger, depression, despair, and anguish, all natural and legitimate emotions whenever we experience loss. Once enlarged, the soul is also capable of experiencing greater joy, strength, peace, and love." (p.48) In case youre tempted to throw this guy's words aside as fluffy, this author wrote this book out of his pain of losing

As some of you remember, I went to a wedding here in Korea a while ago. It was a friend of Sunyoung and it was such a cool experience. Well, last week I got to go to another wedding, this time of a friend! My friend Jinhee (who is Korean) married John (who is American). A bunch of us from my school went to the wedding together. Brittany, Carter and I Olivia, Erin, and Maggie (I think the Koreans think they are all the same person!) Maggie and I Here are the two moms lighting the candles at the beginning of the ceremony. Note the big dress, its the traditional dress of Korea called hanbok .

Boy am I glad that I have already worked through my "single issues. Well, at least my Valentines issues. You see, there is a tendency for your single women in the states to react against the horrible day by throwing "singles awareness" parties or defensively calling each other their valentine. Don't get me wrong, I love showing my affection for my girlfriends with flowers (just ask Ashlee about trying to explain to our church in Santiago why she had flowers from me). But a few years ago I realized that if Im bitter at Valentines Day, its MY problem, not hallmarks. Sure, our society doesn't make it easy, but I dont need to lament my singleness. No, I am not cursed. I have to trust that if I am single, it must be a blessing for me today. Anyways, all this means that the last few Valentines Days have been much easier, almost even enjoyable. I can actually rejoice for my friends who do have relationships without feeling bitterness and jealousy. So you may be wonderin

As my faithful readers may have noticed, I haven't really been blogging much. What few blogs I have posted recently have been focused on my students. The truth is, most of my life revolves around my job and my students (which is clearly reflected in this blog) and the parts that are unrelated to my job have been not really appropriate to blog about. I have seen a radical change in my life over the last month. Nothing in this culture has changed, nothing in my job has changed. I still dont really enjoy either of those nearly as much as I would hope. But I have found a community in which I experience so much joy that my frustration with other parts of my life are faded into the background. I have laughed more in these last few days than ever in Korea. My small group (bible study) is filled with a bunch of awesome guys and one other girl. Kelly, my lone girlfriend in the group, is super chill and somehow our group really gels well. As I posted earlier, my friend Ben came to Korea to t