Faith & Life

Change Family Habits for the New Year

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit,” said a philosopher. You make habits, but later habits make you. While good habits lead you to the right path and make you a better person, bad habits become an obstacle to your path. Moreover, a small and trivial habit may lead into conflict with your close family members. Everybody has a plan for new habits whenever a new year begins. Why don’t you decide what habits you want to correct or what new habits you want to have and share them with your family? And encourage each other for success. Small changes can make big changes! Tip Talk about habits to change. Listen to…

A Millionaire Who Paid Back

A wind of change blew in a small humble village in Jiangxi, China. Rough roads were well paved and dilapidated mud huts were replaced with luxury villas. The village is equipped with basketball courts, table tennis facilities, and a free library that residents can use. There is also a restaurant where low-income elderly residents can enjoy free meals. How much did the townspeople have to pay for these benefits? Surprisingly, they were all provided for free. Xiong Shuihua who was born and grew up in this small village worked very hard to get out of poverty with his three brothers and became wealthy. Once he become successful, he thought about his humble beginning. Although their parents passed away, he wanted…

The Most Beautiful Mind, Devotaion For Life

A few months ago, some members from the Lima Church in Peru donated noodles, rice, sugar, oil, and water to volunteer fire fighters. When we asked what kind of food they needed, they answered with excitement, “We all like noodles because it’s easy and simple to cook.” Fire fighters were very satisfied, receiving our donation, and they gave many thanks to Elohim God. The reason we had been motivated to donate food was because volunteer fire fighters live in poverty; nobody is paid. We already knew the reality, but by visiting the fire station and offering the donations, we were able to understand how difficult their lives were more deeply. Most of the equipment that the fire fighters had were…

Elton Wilson Zelaya from Lima, Peru

Emotional Habits

Philip Brickman, a social psychologist at the Northwestern University in the U.S., conducted an experiment. It was to observe the changes of emotions over time among those whose happiness greatly increased through an unexpected fortune and of those who drastically became unhappy due to paralysis caused by a sudden accident. As time passed by, their level of happiness was reexamined; those who had felt high levels of happiness, owing to their sudden claim of fortune, no longer felt much happiness. Those who felt low levels of happiness due to an accident no longer felt unhappy. The human brain has a habit of returning to its familiar previous state of emotion as time goes by even if it goes through emotional…

Worthwhile Time

There was a man who enjoyed fishing at night. After work when it was the best time to relax, he hit the dusky road with a sandwich and fishing tackle in his hands. Sometimes there was no fish biting all night, but he didn’t care at all. Even if he caught a lot of fish, he gave them all to his neighbors. Seeing him doing that, his wife asked with a puzzled look: “Honey, didn’t you spend several hours to catch those fish? If you give them all away, why do you go fishing? Why don’t you just rest at home?” Then he replied, “When I was young, my dad used to take me night fishing. Stars in the night…

The Opportunity to Restore Love

“Is God coming down?” When I was a child, I mumbled to myself, looking at the sunlight emerge from the gray clouds and shine straight down on the ground. Though nobody taught me, I was convinced that God exists for sure. So I went to a Protestant church since I was in elementary school. After becoming a university student, I was eager in my religious life; I even played the guitar on the street to preach. However, as time passed by, the sermons which were like cloud drifts in the air didn’t touch my heart at all. Whenever I did something for the church, I felt empty in the end. When I saw the secular life of the church members…

Shin Se-hee from Seoul, South Korea

A Shortcut

During the dry season, wildebeest living in the plains of Africa migrate over hundreds of miles in search of water and food. A zoologist observed month-long massive migrations of wildebeest, and discovered that they moved along a very long and arduous trail, rather than taking a shortcut. It typically caused death to the weak and feeble wildebeest, but they rarely changed the route. The cause of the problem was the leading wildebeest. The leader formed a habit of traveling the same route even though the herd was dying. It is also difficult for us humans, the lord of creation, to change bad habits or lifestyles we are accustomed to. This is why many times we just choose to do what…

How to Cope with Stress

Stress causes all kinds of illnesses, and if it worsens, can even lead to death. It is impossible to have no stress at all while living in this world. But what is important is our attitude toward stress. If we regard stress as bad, stress becomes a real enemy; but if we think of it in a positive way, it cannot harm us. In an experiment, Harvard University researchers said, “You don’t need to regard any physical response you have under stress as anxiety or a sign of failure in coping with stress. Your heart’s pounding makes your body ready to face trouble, and hyperventilating supplies more oxygen to the brain.” When the participants viewed stress positively, they became less…

Menopause, a Second Adolescence

she feels as if an old lady is sitting in front of the mirror. She also feels her heart starting to pound all of a sudden, and it is hard to control her feelings no matter how hard she tries. However, nothing happens without a cause. If this continues, she needs to think about whether she has reached menopause, which is called a second adolescence. Life is like a flow of seasons. The time from infancy when a baby takes her first step into the world with a loud cry until adolescence—a time for growth spurts, is like spring when a seed in the dark ground sprouts on the earth. The time of youth when a person lets the flower…

Passion

The English word passion means a strong feeling to accomplish something. It comes from the Latin word pati, which means suffering or enduring. So the real meaning of passion is to actively cope with suffering, not avoiding it, when faced with hardship in the process of achieving a goal. Enthusiasm, another word for passion, also has a profound meaning. Zig Ziglar, a successful American author and motivational speaker, said, “Enthusiasm comes from two Greek words en [in] and theos [God]. This can be explained by the fact that there is nothing to fear and we can accomplish everything when we entrust ourselves to God who is in us.” People who have enthusiasm for the Gospel, too, are not afraid or…

Blessings Given to Those Who Believe and Do

A plan for short-term mission was made for Chachapoyas, a city with a population of about 40,000 in Amazonas Region, Peru. Thirty-eight volunteers were grouped into four different teams, and each team was to preach for fifteen days. Before starting to preach, we made a resolution to complete the mission, fully depending on Heavenly Father and Mother, and we asked God for help with one mind. Then, two assistant overseers went there a few days before the first team took off, to look for a proper building to be used as a branch church and for the areas to preach. Even in Lima, which is a big city, it takes about three to four months to get a big house.…

Jorge Luis Maza Quevedo from Lima, Peru

Mom’s Dish, the Best Homemade Meal

A group of mothers flew for over 10 hours to meet their grown children who were living in a distant country. The mothers brought the spoons, cups, and bowls their children used when they were back home. The moms secretly shopped for groceries in the foreign country where their children stayed, and then cooked their children’s favorite foods. Unaware of what was happening, the children sat at tables in front of the dishes their moms made at the direction of television producers. Some of the children took pictures of the familiar food, and leisurely ate, relishing the taste. Then, their mothers suddenly appeared, wearing aprons, and tears poured down the children’s faces. It is an advertisement titled, “Mom’s Dish, the…

Lost Shoes Back

My grandma always wants to give me more. When I was in elementary school, she bought me a desk for hard study. She paid for school uniforms in my middle and high school days. When I became a college student and lived alone, she sent me various side dishes. She always asked me if I needed anything. During the Korean national holiday Chuseok a few years ago, my grandma gave me a gift of shoes. She had even asked my aunt and cousin to choose my shoes with a fashionable design that suited me well. When I returned to my place after the holiday, she followed me to the bus terminal to see me off though I tried to dissuade…

Oh Jin-hui from Anyang, South Korea

The 49/51 Rule

In dividing the profits of your partnership or corporation, if you take 49 percent of the profits and give your partner 51 percent, your partner will feel like he or she has received twice as much. When we concede to others even just a little bit, we can give them greater satisfaction than we have ever expected.

Confirmation Bias: As I Want to Believe

In the morning, Ju-yeong wanted to put on her wristwatch but couldn’t find it anywhere. Suddenly, she remembered that she left it in her classroom desk drawer the previous day before going to gym class. As soon as she arrived at school, she looked for it in the drawer first, however, it was not there. Since she bought it with the allowance she had saved up for a long time, she was very upset. From that time, finding the watch was all she thought about. After thinking it over, she remembered that Mi-jeong, her classmate, had mentioned that she liked the watch and asked her if she could try it on. Additionally, it was suspicious that during gym class, she…

The Same Side

How can you unite with people you compete against? Researchers at Lancaster University in England found a way. The researchers asked fans of two rival professional soccer teams to wear their team jersey. Then, they were asked to write about “why do you like your team?” Next, they asked the fans to move to another place and planned to have some of them fall down. The findings concluded that you are more inclined to help those you share common interests with than those with whom you do not. The researchers called on other fans and proceeded to a second study. This time, the researchers let the fans write about “why are you a fan of soccer?” Then, they repeated same…

Song of Life Flowing to the World, Taking the Radio Frequency

At 10 p.m. on Sunday is when people leave behind a joyous holiday and prepare for the next day. At this peaceful and starry night, the red light of On Air is on at the studio’s screen, and the radio airs for three hours, lightening up the world and reviving souls. It is New Song Radio. Beautiful and magnificent melodies of New Songs and fragrances of Zion which arrived from all around the world flow through the radio frequency, and make us feel God Elohim’s grace that spreads even to the opposite side of the globe. New Song is the music of the saints who want to give glory and thanks to God Elohim for Their love and salvation. New…

New Song Radio Broadcasting Team from New York, U.S.

Does It Spark Joy?

With the change of seasons, there is a change of clothes. The clothes from the previous season are put away, and those put away are brought out. While doing so, you find clothes you haven’t worn in a while, some of your favorites, and clothes that no longer fit you. Marie Kondo, an organizing consultant, says that the first step to organizing is discarding . Instead of choosing items that should be thrown out, choosing what you absolutely need is the key point. However, the difficulty is to decide what to save or throw away. In her book, Ms. Kondo says when you feel difficult to decide, ask yourself, ‘Does it spark joy?’ If the item sparks joy, it must…

Pay Off a Debt of Gratitude

A debt is something that you must pay back to someone. The sooner you pay it off, the more you feel relieved. When you repay it, you can keep your relationship smooth. Isn’t it the same with a debt of gratitude? In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that we always live in debt to our families. We receive love without any condition, and hurt them or cause anxiety to them unknowingly. Nevertheless, we may take it for granted with a thought, ‘That’s okay because we are family.’ Greeting the end of the year, why don’t we settle our debts of grat-itude we have owed for a year to our family? Expressing gratitude and soothing pain one another, let…

Helping Ginger Harvest

When it was still early in the morning, I went to Zion in a hurry because we planned to go to the city of Andong and help harvest gingers. Gingers are one of the essential ingredients of kimchi and are good for hot tea to prevent catching a cold during winter. We were excited at the thought of digging out the useful roots with our hands. Since the brothers and sisters had already been there a couple of times, they seemed to be used to the ginger harvest; they were joyful as if they were going to their grandparents. As for me, I hadn’t been able to join them until this year because I had to take care of my…

Choi Yun-hee from Daegu, South Korea