An Irreversible Decision

At 8:02am on November 13, 2014, Sinae's life and mine were changed forever when our son, Uri Daniel Dirks, was born into this world after 36 hours of labor. Sinae said she's never seen me cry before but I certainly did then. The original due date was November 6th but he was seven days late. We worried about whether he would be okay and if Sinae would be able to give birth to him naturally. We really learned to depend on God through all of this. When we gave God everything and accepted that things might not go the way we wanted things happened. After the first full day of labor Sinae starting asking about getting a C-Section and we decided we'd go that way if nothing happened by morning. But it did. Sometime that night Sinae's water broke (something we thought had already happened) and at 1:20 the next morning Sinae felt pain she'd never felt before. We were both worried that something had happened to Uri but it turned out that he was just preparing to come into this world. We've heard talk of a C-Section and although I wouldn't wish for Sinae to go through all of that again I really treasure the unforgettable experience of doing things the natural way, with an epidural mind you, because it really prepared us for meeting our first child and it forced us to rely on God and once again learn what it means to trust God. My lessons of faith from when I had a ruptured appendicitis were affirmed that when we trust God we do not tell God how to do things or simply believe God is going to do things a certain way but we just trust God that God is going to do things the right way which may not be the way we expect. A word about his name. Originally, we thought about naming him Daniel. This seemed like a good, neutral name between Korea and America but I always had reservations because it is such a common name in America and because I got picked on by a guy named Daniel, though he went by Danny. Meanwhile, Sinae asked her dad to think of a Korean name and he came up with "Uri" as a first name which he matched with "Doe" my Korean family name which means help or willingness. "Uri" alone means us. Frankly, I wasn't all that thrilled with it to begin with just because I didn't get the nuance mentally or emotionally. But as I thought about it more and was assured it's a guy's name I started to like it. I wondered if there might by chance be a similar name in English so I consulted my name book and discovered that "Uri" with similar pronunciation means, "God is my light." At that point I decided this would be the name of Sinae's and my son (I think Sinae had already decided this actually). So there's the story. Any questions?

At Last...My Name in a Book

I submitted something to be published in a book and it looks like it's going to happen. I only submitted one chapter or section or whatever, but at least it's a start. I'll try to give you more information later. Suffice it to say this is a book about "revisioning holiness". For those of you outside the denomination it's a book written by/for Nazarenes to talk about how the language of Wesleyan Holiness can be modified to keep the truth of its theology alive through revising the language as the denomination has become more global in reality. Here is a link if you are interested in buying it. www.renovatingholiness.com

"Jesus Died For This?"

Today I finally finished reading a book that's been on the shelf for way too long. I bought it at a Christian Bookstore thinking the title was good but I suspected that it would not be all that intuitive. I was clearly wrong on this. I realized I had made a better decision in buying the book called, "Jesus Died For This? A Satirist's Search For The Risen Christ" written by Becky Garrison when she stated that she was an Anglican. Up to that point I had been thinking this might be a good book to send to a family member who is not speaking to me because of my "liberal" views but as I read it more and became greatly interested in the content, I remembered that what is grace for one person is just the opposite for another person. Nonetheless, I think Garrison does well in underscoring the importance of the resurrection of Christ and her style of literally going to the ends of the earth to find the resurrected Christ. She talks about going to the Middle East and finding more commercialization in places and yet she still managed to find Christ. Even in Europe where it is stated the Christian faith is irrelevant to the people. She even states that if she can find these genuine communities in other countries perhaps she can find them in America and she does. Garrison's perspective of growing up in the Anglican Church combined with her involvement in the emerging church and monastic communities makes for an interesting perspective that gives her an open mind beyond her own tradition. At the same time, I like her honesty about finding grace in her own tradition while also recognizing that not all people find God's grace in the same way she does. I recommend this book especially to people who are wondering where God is working. One of the greatest resources this book offers is the list of valuable sources consulted for the writing of this book. While the language of the book is simple, the ideas behind the language are deep and reflective. With all that said about recommending this book, I might still send this book as a gift.