Enlightenment

Memories of My Mother

Last winter, my mother came to see me in the U.S. I met her in seven years. I was very happy to do everything with her from morning till night. Three months passed quickly and the day came for us to part. I felt like crying at the airport, and I just waved goodbye to her. When I came back home and saw the empty room without her, I burst into tears. I remembered that she gave me warm water, tomatoes, bananas, and eggs every morning, and that we walked together around the neighborhood for exercise in the evenings. “Look at the buds on the tree that’s seemingly remained dead.” “That house is almost finished.” Even now, when I’m walking,…

Lee So-yeong from Hwaseong, Korea

We Are All Parts of One Body

I went to hospital because I had pain in my neck and shoulder. I was diagnosed with a herniated cervical disc. It was manageable with simple medical treatment, but I had to be careful while working on a computer or doing the housework so that I wouldn’t put pressure on my neck, which in turn caused pressure on my waist. Around the time when I was about to have started to feel less pain in my neck, I even had a lumbar disc herniation. After I received medical treatment for my lower back pain, my whole body became so weak that even my hands and feet began to shake. I had swelling and pain in my legs, which caused aches…

Gu Yeon-hui from Suncheon, Korea

Mother’s Memory

I have an adorable high school son worth ten daughters. He liked to go to sleep in my arms and didn’t ever want to leave my side when he was a little boy. But before I knew, he has grown so tall that now I have to look up at him. Whenever I see him who has grown tall, I’m proud but sad on the other hand because soon he will not need my help any longer. Perhaps this could be the reason I got a strange habit of asking my son whether he remembers his childhood. When he walks up to me, I remember him crawling up to me with his diaper on; when he’s talking, sitting beside me,…

Yun Eun-ju from Goyang, Korea

Light in the Fog

During the last national holidays, my husband went to his parents’ house first to take care of things, and my son and I went there the following day. After spending a good time together, we headed back home. It was early in the morning, and the thick fog caused blurry vision on the highway. Then my husband changed the lane, got in front of us, and turned on the hazard lights. Depending on his lights, I drove slowly and carefully. After driving for quite a while, we finally got out of the foggy area safely. However, my husband’s car which was right in front of us until a moment ago disappeared from sight. Through the side-view mirror, I saw that…

Kim Hyeon-su from Gunpo, Korea

The Sister Who Sings for Her Younger Sister

One day in Zion, I overheard the conversation between two sisters, who were elementary school students, as they were talking to each other in the bathroom. “Sister, please sing a song for me!” As soon as the younger sister finished, the older sister started to sing. I was a little surprised to see her singing with a loud voice, because she usually seemed quiet and calm. Shortly after, I heard their story, which moved me deeply. “I need to sing for my younger sister because she is scared to be in the bathroom alone.” I was proud of her for taking care of her younger sister. It made me look back on myself. I was somewhat ashamed of myself because…

Lee Hye-gyeong from Seongnam, Korea

Ask Myself

My wife plays the piano during worship. One day, she said she was worried because the choir song was too difficult this time. Then I said to her, “Try a hundred times, and if you still can’t, then you can’t help it.” After she heard me say that, she practiced more than a hundred times, and she was able to play the piano in harmony with the beautiful voices of the choir to offer up a gracious song of praise to God in worship. It was nice of her not to give up or give it a lick and a promise, with the excuse that it was difficult. From now on, whenever I face a difficult problem or situation, I…

Jeong Jae-pil from Anyang, Korea

Although God Gives Us Everything We Need On Our Journey of Faith

Last winter, when an extreme cold warning was issued, my wife, said that there was no hot water coming out at all during her shower, and she asked me to check if the boiler was working. When I checked the boiler operating system, the red light was on. I turned the switch off and then on, but it still didn’t work. Thinking what I should do, I went out to the veranda where the boiler was installed and carefully read the instruction manual on how to deal with the problem. It was suggested that I should clean the heating filter. As soon as I located the filter, I took it apart. It was full of small pieces dirt and sand.…

Yeo In-won from Daejeon, Korea

The Right Time for Treatment

At some point in time, one of my teeth started to hurt. The toothache disappeared soon, and I delayed going to the dentist. As time passed by, the pain became unbearable. Finally, I went to the dentist. As I expected, the tooth was severely decayed. Cavities had started to develop in my other teeth as well. So I decided to fix them all. It was easy to fix the slightly decayed teeth, but it was very painful to fix the severely decayed tooth. The doctor said: “The deeper a cavity goes and the longer you delay treatment, the more pain you will experience and the longer it will take to fix.” Due to the bad cavity, I had to go…

Kim Se-hun from Sejong, Korea

The Happiest Moment Is Now

My company invites lecturers once a month to train employees. The lecturer of this month asked a question during his speech on the importance of time: “Do you know when dead people are most envious of us? It is now. If you do not know how happy you are while spending these precious moments, you cannot be happy in the future, either.” His words struck me. God told us to give thanks in all circumstances and be joyful always. It means that we should realize how happy we are as God’s children. However, I didn’t appreciate the present time given by God and I didn’t rejoice in all circumstances, so I couldn’t feel happy. Suddenly, I was scared that I…

Park Geum-ryeong from Busan, Korea

Dew of the Dawn

The Bible likens young adults to the dew of the dawn (Ps 110:3). As I am also a young adult, I have often heard the words “dew of the dawn.” However, I didn’t know what it really meant when I heard it before. I just thought, ‘Does it mean that we should always take the lead in doing something, like the dew that forms early in the morning when everyone is sleeping?’ Then I happened to know the meaning of it. In Israel, the setting of the Bible, the dry season lasts for about six months. Despite no rain during that period, plants can survive thanks to the early morning dew that forms as a result of the temperature difference…

Yeon Bo-ra-mi from Jeju Island, Korea

Something Small and Trivial

My sister-in-law runs a restaurant by herself. When she asked me to help her with wallpapering the hall, I immediately went over to her place with comfortable clothes. “I think we have to tear it down from the upper part,” I said to her. Then she brought out a small ladder from the storage. I climbed up the ladder and moved my arms around to tear down the wallpaper. At that moment, I fell off the ladder and landed on my hip. Surprised, my sister-in-law rushed up to help me stand up. “Are you okay? That’s strange. This ladder isn’t that weak.” As she was sorry about that, I reassured her that I was fine. Then I picked up the…

Kim Im-suk from Daegu, Korea

Mother’s Happiness

On my way home, I got on the bus. The bus was crowded with students after class, office workers after work, and elderly people going home after their grocery shopping. Then I saw a kid eating toast while sitting among them. His mom was grabbing a handle while standing beside him with all his stuff in her both hands. Although her hands were full, she was smiling happily, seeing her child eat toast deliciously. The scene remained clearly in my mind as if it had been caught on camera, because Heavenly Mother came to my mind. Heavenly Mother always takes good care of us and looks at us with love even while carrying the burden of our sins. I was…

Koh Ji-hae from Namyangju, Korea

Shaking Seeds Off Sesame Plants with My Grandma

I went to my grandma’s during the harvest season. Usually I leave early for the next day’s work, but that day, I decided to help her shake seeds off sesame plants and leave later. As soon as I reached the sesame field, crossing the persimmon field where ripe persimmon fell here and there, I knew the work would be more than I had expected. At the field on hillside, sesame plants were tied in sheaves like children standing in a row at a playground. “Grandma, are we supposed to shake all these seeds off?” “We can’t finish them all today. We’ll just do as much as we can until sunset.” Since I came to help, I couldn’t stand there idly.…

Jeon Yeong-seon from Anyang, Korea

Exercise to Build Mind Muscles

I work as a physical therapist in the hospital. One day, I saw the old man whom I had been helping with exercise sit on a thump on the chair, putting up his entire weight. “Sir, do you know how the former South Korean professional figure skater Kim Yuna can walk lightly? That’s because she has good muscle strength. I know that’s not easy, but you have to grow your muscles, which will help you sit softly in the chair and not fall.” As I was explaining how to strengthen his muscles, I came to think it’s the same with the muscles of the mind. When we grow our mind muscles, we can handle any and every situation flexibly and…

Gwak Jin-yeong from Daejeon, Korea

Stained Glasses

We did repair work on our church restroom. As we finished cutting the tiles, the restroom was filled with stone powder. I left the restroom after ventilating it. For some reason, however, stone powder was still floating around in the hall, too. I opened all the corridor windows and brought in a fan and turned it on, but the stone powder blurred even the sanctuary. I got worried because the following day was the Sabbath. So I hurriedly opened all the windows and doors. While opening the windows, I looked outside and found something strange. The outside area was also covered with stone powder. ‘Did this happen because of our repair work? That’s strange. This can’t be. Can it be…

Oh Dae-yeop from Seoul, Korea

Victory Through Endurance and Unity

I watched a video entitled “Elementary Schools’ Tug-of-War That Moved the World.” It was a tug-of-war between two elementary schools in Kazakhstan. True to its title, the video was very touching. From the beginning of the tug-of-war, the blue team was in the lead. In the beginning, most of the children of the red team were drawn to their opponent’s side, and only one boy remained in the baseline. The boy was trying hard not to cross the baseline, and he never let go of the rope even with his face distorted by the pain. While everyone was astonished at the boy enduring the pain by clenching his teeth to wrestle with the game, the momentum leaned toward the red…

Hong Jeong-eun from Seongnam, Korea

Ornaments on the Fine Linen

Recently, I went to a wedding. The bride in a pure white dress was as beautiful as a princess in a movie. The wedding ceremony began, and the bride appeared after the entrance of the gallant groom. The ornaments on the wedding dress shined brilliantly under the bright light. Looking at each ornament shining according to the movements of the bride, I admired how beautiful! It was. Suddenly a Bible verse came to my mind: The righteousness of the saints is the ornaments on the fine linen of Heavenly Mother, the wife of the Lamb (Rev 19:7–8). I looked back at myself to see if my deeds were displaying God’s glory. The ornaments attached to the dress make the bride,…

Kim Nam-su from Seoul, Korea

The Existence of Mother

Recently, my mother signed an annuity insurance contract in my name. I was not yet in my 30s at that time, and I was not happy with it because I wouldn’t be able to receive annuity benefit payments until I hit my 60s. Then my mother said, “This kind of thing must be prepared in advance.” Honestly, if I become old enough to be covered by the annuity, my mother might not be in this world. So I asked her carefully. “Mom, do you need to take care of me even after you leave the world?” “That’s what mothers do.” My heart ached. A mother loves and cares for her children even beyond her life. How can children fully understand…

Yun Du-nam from Mungyeong, Korea

Timely Words

It was when I helped organize an event for male adults in the church. As many helping hands were needed, I sent our Zion members a text message asking for help. Soon a brother sent a reply. “Thank you so much for working hard for the members. Even if I can’t help you a lot, I’ll join and support you. I love you.” I’d not done so much, but the brother said he appreciated my hard work and would help me actively. I was very grateful to him. Thanks to that, I was able to volunteer with a joyful heart. “A man finds joy in giving an apt reply—and how good is a timely word!” Pr 15:23 As the brother…

Yeo In-won from Daejeon, Korea

Zion Full of Love

One Sabbath day, a deaconess sat at the end of a pew while leaving an empty space for one person to sit on the inside of the pew. When a sister saw it, she asked the deaconess to fill the empty space first. Then the deaconess said with a smile, “I am heating up this spot for a sister because she’s coming soon.” Through her act, though small, I was able to feel her love for the sister and it brought warmth to my heart. Zion always feels warm because it is full of love from my brothers and sisters who resemble Heavenly Father and Mother.

Kim Hyeon-im from Suncheon, Korea