Faith & Life

Training for Humility

Nordstrom is an American department store famous for its high quality customer service. At Nordstrom there is an executive training program that all management-level employees must go through to develop their management skills. This training program is held in a very unconventional place–a shoe store. John W. Nordstrom, the co-founder of Nordstrom, even trained his three sons and grand-children at the shoe store. To find the right size that fits a customer, you must humble yourself by kneeling down at their feet. This is the only way to sell shoes; without doing so, you cannot sell even a single pair of shoes. In the mall, a shoe store becomes the best place to educate executives on how to have a…

Things That Should Not Be Overlooked

“You will not have to fight in this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.” 2 Ch 20:17 Jehoshaphat heard that the Moabites and Ammonites were coming to make war on him. He proclaimed a fast for all Judah and sought help from God. Listening to his prayer, God let them gain a victory even without fighting in the battle and granted peace. While doing things in Zion, I focused only on how to do it and often forgot to pray to God. Reading these words,…

Jang Dong-geon from Seoul, Korea

Even One Seed with All My Heart

My heart is only filled with hope for heaven now. It’s because earnestness and the sense of mission which I didn’t have before have filled me. It’s already been more than half a year since I came to Australia. I remember the day I preached the gospel here for the first time. I couldn’t express what I wanted to say because of my poor English, and couldn’t understand what they were speaking. Just following the brothers and sisters, I was surprised that people at the malls or on campus or some other places would listen to the words of the Bible for thirty minutes or even for an hour. Is this how Peter felt when Jesus made him a fisher…

Shim Eun-jeong from Sydney, Australia

The Reason I Can Do Everything

I don’t have any specialty. So when I am given something to do, I start to worry first. Fortunately, there is a verse that puts down my worries. “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” Php 4:13 Since God gives me strength, I come to have confidence that I can do everything. Heavenly Father and Mother, thank You for granting me all the strength and cheering on me while always being my side!

Kim Bo-rah from Busan, Korea

A List of Things to Throw Away

When you have things that you have to do or you want to do, it helps you improve your concentration if you make a list of them and decide the order of priority. However, if you have too many thoughts about those things, you get distracted and fail to fulfill your goal. This is when you need to make a list of things to throw away. Arianna Huffington, an influential journalist in America, made a list of things she was not good at, things she didn’t like, and things she thought she might be able to do it someday but in reality, there was no possibility in doing it, on her 40th birthday. For example, one of the things in…

Parents’ Love that Rejoices Over a Child Who Returned

For parents, the ones who are beautiful and lovely like flowers must be their children. Anything in this world cannot be compared with the devotional love of parents; they can even give up their lives for their children, the source of their joy. The reason it is hard to understand parental love is that it is like a precious pearl hidden in the deep sea. When I was little, my father took me wherever he went. Whenever I saw kids playing outside on the way back home from my father’s work, I wanted to play with them, but my father didn’t want me to. So sometimes I got in trouble as I went outside to play without telling him. However,…

John Pariyar from Kathmandu, Nepal

Helper’s High

When you help others without conditions, a quantity of endorphins secrete and make you feel good and also bring good changes to your body. This finding is called Helper’s High in psychiatric term. Literally, it means the best psychological satiety the person, who gives help, feels. An experiment shows that among 3,000 volunteers who help others over eight hours a week, 95% experience a helper’s high. A forced service is no different. One legal profession, who mainly deal with criminals, says that under trials who’ve received a suspended sentence of probation and community service order, initially do the service by force, but that they gradually do with sincerity. Service is helping others of course, but it also changes me. When…

Dad’s Most Concerned Child

I am the third oldest one of four daughters. There is an old joke in Korea, “The third oldest daughters are so pretty that men are willing to take them as their wives without even seeing them.” However, I was my dad’s most concerned child in my family. When I was a kid, I had a high fever from polio. I survived, but I was at a risk of becoming paralyzed from the waist down. Thanks to my parents, who even sold their farms and fields to cure me in any way possible, I was able to walk though I became lame. My dad felt sorry for me, so he raised me as a dear child without spanking me even…

Ha Jeong-oh from Jinju, Korea

Saving a Happy Tree

Our Zion has a tree named “happy tree.” Whenever we look at that tree with big green leaves and small bell-like flowers, though not many, we feel happy just like its name. But when summer was about to start, the happy tree, which was almost touching the ceiling, started showing strange symptoms. Its leaves started hardening as if they were withering, and they didn’t look fresh like before at all. At first, we thought it needed more water and gave it more. However, it still looked the same. Worrying that too much water would rot the root, we stopped watering it. Thankfully, there was a sister who knew much about plants, so we asked her for a piece of advice.…

Gahng Shin-hae from Seongnam, Korea

Our Family’s One-Day Class

Everyone has their own talents, and there is something to learn from everyone, regardless of age. Something worth learning does not have to be an extraordinary talent or an advanced skill. Even a little skill in an everyday activity—such as riding a bicycle, making delicious ramen, folding laundry, using a machine, or doing origami—is well worth teaching and learning from one another. This month, try holding a one-day class with your family. By teaching and learning from one another, your family can grow together, and the time you share will become a cherished memory! How to Practice Talk with one another about what you would like to learn from each other. During the class, address the family member who is…

How to Keep Your First Resolution

Once upon a time, a king was passing through a country village. On his way, he met a young shepherd who was greedless and diligent, and took him as his official. As the shepherd was always honest in assisting the king even after being called, he finally rose to the position of prime minister. At this, other courtiers became jealous of him. They were all obsessed with an idea of driving him away, but they found no fault with him. One day, they found out that he used to visit the house he had lived before once a month. On knowing that he opened the cover of a big jar in the house and looked into it for a while…

Make a Heart-Shaped Gesture

You smile when you’re happy, give thanks when you are thankful, and apologize when you feel sorry. Emotions in your heart are passed on to the other person when you express them. Family love is the same. Sometimes, however, you may think they know how you feel even though you don’t express it. Or you may express even positive feelings like love with negative expressions. Family members love one another naturally, but wouldn’t it become more meaningful when it’s shown directly? Please express your love by making a heart shape with your hands to your family this month. You might feel a little shy but when you express your love, you will become happy and gain new strength! Tip 1.…

Heaven’s Teacher of the Law

Jesus said, “If you love Me, feed My sheep.” There are a variety of spiritual foods, but I’ve always wondered what food is proper for each of sheep. He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” Mt 13:52 The words settled my worries at once. The heaven’s teacher of the law should be able to give spiritual food from the Old and New Testaments to whoever he meets at the proper time. He should do it like the owner of a house is well aware of his house and can…

Yu Yeong-mi from Ansan, Korea

Well Done!

A mother wheeled a stroller into the elevator. The hair of the child sitting in the stroller was shinny and eye-catching. Then I noticed a mark on his wrist. It was like a “Well Done” stamp. “Hi. What’s on your wrist?” I asked him out of curiosity and his mother answered instead. “It’s a stamp he got at his daycare center. When I tried to remove it while bathing him, he cried that I couldn’t wash around it. So the mark is left.” I smiled despite myself, imagining how anxious he must’ve been about the stamp being washed off while his mother was bathing him. I was reminded that even whales dance when praised. Animals too dance with joy when…

Choi Seok-hui from Seongnam, South Korea

“As I Have Loved You, So You Must Love One Another”

People who live by the word of God make efforts to put this teaching into practice. However, it is not easy, contrary to their expectations. God said, “Love one another,” and so they expect to receive as much as they give. They feel that they are losing many things when they give to others without receiving. So it becomes difficult to give love. However, there is something we must not overlook: That is the word, "As I have loved you,” which is placed before the word, “so you must love one another." God sacrificed even His life, and yet He loved us. Did He expect to receive anything in return? Just as God loves us without any condition, let us…

When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong

Palmerston North is a small city in the North Island of New Zealand. This city is full of youth and enthusiasm, and when I stepped foot here, my heart was beating fast with excitement. God opened the way for the gospel work to begin in Palmerston North, so I was confident that heavenly family members would be here. On the other hand, I felt Mother’s anxious heart of seeking Her children, which also made me feel the urgency to seek my lost brothers and sisters. We knew that we cannot do the gospel work only with our earnestness. It is not an exaggeration to say that living the life that depends on God thoroughly is a fight with myself day…

Yu Ae-ri from Auckland, New Zealand

We Are More than Conquerors through Love

In life, there are times when you may face unexpected difficulties. Sometimes I overcome them, thinking of God, but sometimes I get so discouraged that I just want to plop down on the ground. I was exhausted in body and mind, thinking, ‘Why doesn’t the situation get any better?’ At that moment, God gave me comfort and courage through the words in the Bible. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him…

Peter Antonio Azucena Valencia from Cordoba, Argentina

Mission of a Libero

In a volleyball team consisting of six players, we can see a player who is in a uniform different from his teammates. He is a libero, who is specialized in defensive skills. Since he is allowed to replace any other player, he is called the “libero” meaning “free.” However, in actuality, he has many restrictions. Without being permitted to block or serve or attack the ball when it is entirely above net height, the libero is only responsible for the serve of the opponent team and has to catch the ball that comes at the full speed. In this way, he takes care of all the chores of his team in securing the end line. For these characteristics, he doesn’t…

The Voice of Love

Recently, severe flooding caused many houses to collapse and even left an entire village underwater. After the floodwaters receded, the village was a devastating sight, covered with piles of mud and debris. While everyone else had evacuated, one dog remained behind, barking toward a muddy spot. When people who had come to help restore the village noticed the dog and cleared away the mud, they found several adorable puppies underneath. After washing the mud off the puppies, they saw that the little white dogs looked just like their mother. Everyone agreed, “The puppies were able to endure the cold and hardship because they could hear their mother barking day and night.” When we were wandering in darkness and trembling with…

Park Yun-ju from Melbourne, Australia

How to Change Someone

About a year ago, a video drew considerable attention online. It showed a middle-aged man causing a disturbance while confronting police officers on a subway platform. Just then, a young man approached him and hugged him tightly. He also gently patted him on the back, as if to say, “I understand you.” The middle-aged man, who had been shouting and arguing with the officers only moments before, gradually calmed down in the young man’s arms. The video left a deep impression on me. Perhaps the best way to change someone is not through commands or restraint, but through a few warm words or a small gesture, such as holding their hand or giving them a hug. I, too, want to…

Sim Eun-hye from Yongin, Korea