2025, unequivocally the most difficult year for my family, is coming to a close. Humorous timing, I have also fallen ill with uncontrollable chills, only a couple of weeks after I dealt with a lighter illness and its remnants for several weeks, the earlier through Thanksgiving and the latter nearing the end of the year. Over the past decade I have rarely gotten sick, so this caught me off guard.

Earlier in the year, my father was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. I refused to consider the possibility his time in his earthly body would end so suddenly and so soon. He had been on dialysis and unable to consume many calories, and for a year and a half, calling my mother every evening, I would always start out anxious to hear her tone and connect that to how my father must be doing. Even when I returned to Korea in May, the thought this would be my last time seeing my father in his right state of mind never crossed my mind. On September 15, when my mother informed me I should come home, by the grace of God I located a nonsensically affordable roundtrip ticket that departed the following morning, and I was able to spend my father’s final week by his side, until he went Home on September 24. Next to me on these two separate flights home, God placed first the pastor of a church in which a former colleague was deeply involved prior to relocating (he recognized my company backpack) and prayed over me and second a woman with whom I discussed the Bible after seeing we were both carrying and studying Scripture.

My reading streak continued. Based on the several books last year that helped me dive into the Word more deeply, I was eager to keep going. Finishing Tim Keller’s The Meaning of Marriage to start the year, I stuck mostly with other books by Pastor Keller, namely The Prodigal God, Forgive, Rediscovering Jonah, Encounters with Jesus, Counterfeit Gods, Every Good Endeavor, The Reason for God, Generous Justice, Hidden Christmas, and Preaching, as well as C.S. Lewis’ Reflections on the Psalms, Thom Rainer’s Becoming a Welcoming Church, John Piper’s Risk Is Right: Better to Lose Your Life Than to Waste It, and Robert Jeffress’s How Can I Know? (gift from a Christian colleague). While I search for the next book to help me grow spiritually and interpret the Bible more accurately (I am always cautious, to avoid false teachers that fill the Religion section at Barnes & Noble), I resumed rereading the second book of my grandfather’s autobiography.

I did not race as frequently this year for obvious reasons but nonetheless managed seven strong performances, including a couple of ultramarathons, a couple of half marathons, a 6.5-miler, and a couple of 10Ks. I attribute much of this to weight loss, but over the past several months, my speed rapidly and steadily increased, to the point I may look toward attempting to set some speed PRs, or at least come close, in the not-too-distant future.

Work has remained the same, with my still consistently placing #1 on the leaderboard yet no consideration for a bonus, even a slight raise, or a promotion that almost never happens by merit here. Albeit I did not express this to many at the time, a part of me did not think to look elsewhere because I did not know what would happen to my father; if anything did happen, at least I had the flexibility to go to him immediately. I no longer have that holding me back, but I plan to follow the will of God. Whatever I do, I work at it with all my heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters, so I will continue to give my best no matter how unjust these past three years have been; I trust that God sees all that is going on that I cannot. After all, I never weigh success on a worldly scale, and Jesus has always provided for me. I do hope and feel 2026 will bring a lot of change.

Where has the time gone? Entering 2024 having just conquered another running milestone of over 100 miles and still hobbling in pain, I planned to dedicate more time to pursuing tasks beneficial to others. Not sure why I took so long to do so, but I began volunteering at my church straightaway in various capacities.

During work, when not on the phone with candidates, I would play in the background sermons and teachings of the Bible from trustworthy pastors and the Bible audio reading, in addition to daily Bible study from home, as I desire nothing more than to serve my God and follow His commands, decrees, and will by immersing myself wholeheartedly in His Word. I prayed that all of my thoughts and decisions, big or small, be grounded in Scripture. Sometime early in the year, I became fascinated by one of Billy Graham’s sermons, which led me to watch repeatedly all of his sermons and interviews I could find on YouTube and visit the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, where I purchased and quickly finished his book The Reason for My Hope: Salvation, followed by more books (not counting other genres) that helped me dive more deeply in the Bible, recently More Than a Carpenter by Josh and Sean McDowell and Tim Keller’s Jesus the King: Understanding the Life and Death of the Son of God and, currently, The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God. The second to last walks the reader thoroughly through the Gospel of Mark, neat considering my church spent all year on the same and I could tell my pastor drew a lot of inspiration from Pastor Keller. I have been reading (and raised in) the Bible my entire life, more intensely for the past decade up to several hours a day, but through these spiritual giants I learned countless interpretations I had not considered previously.

In May, I took off two weeks to visit family in Korea, short but efficient. I hope to more regularly travel to my home country, as I often feel guilty constantly being so far away from my loved ones.

I resumed racing, albeit likely my days of destroying my body to accomplish a goal had come to an end, completing a couple of ultras, three half marathons, a couple of nearly 7 milers, and even a 5K.

At work, due to the economy, everything remained frozen. Securing number one on the leaderboard every single week I worked just like the year prior, including weeks when I worked only a couple of days, as well as a “Top Recruiter Award” every month, I toward the end submitted several PTO requests, justifying to myself that I had done enough for my employer for the year, likely quadruple the next top performers, especially with all of my quarterly bonuses being slashed and consequently making less than last year and never being mentioned for a promotion. Having remained patient for a couple of years since the acquisition trying to be understanding of the market, at times I was irritated, as I could not comprehend how the company made these decisions that appeared so arbitrary in spite of the availability of objective data, then I reminded myself not to think on worldly terms and prayed His will be done, that if this is wrong in His sight, present me with a new opportunity that I will not miss. After all, as the Apostle Paul instructs us in Colossians 3:23-24, whatever I do, I work at it with all my heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since I know that I will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ I am serving.

I feel nothing but joy and gratitude toward my Father for His love, grace, and mercy and taking care of me and my family another year. I only pray that I continue to walk with Him faithfully as He goes before me and remains with me. Happy New Year!

As 2022 draws to a close, I cannot help but feel perplexed just how swiftly this year seems to have flown. I recall at my company’s Christmas party last year, which feels like a few days ago, soon after I found out my trip to Korea had to be abruptly canceled with the country’s sudden implementation of a ten-day quarantine due to the Omicron variant, telling my colleagues I would not wait another full year to go see my family. Over a year later, I conclude 2022 from Korea, a trip that was nearly postponed again because of the rapid and unrelenting skyrocketing flight costs. I remember, upon the suggestion of my mother, praying to God, “If it is Your will for me to go to Korea this year, please help me find a way.” The following morning, my CEO somehow found this out and decided to pay for my entire personal trip, leaving me, who has trouble having someone pay for my coffee, speechless and overwhelmed with gratitude both towards him and his generosity and to my Father who answered my prayer so immediately that I temporarily forgot I even prayed for this. This would be my first time seeing most of my family and closest people in three years. I daily prayed to God for heavenly wisdom, understanding, and knowledge in addition to efficiency and productivity prior to going to work and conversed with Him throughout. Whatever I do, I do with all my heart as working for Him, and as long as I know I have given my all, I remind myself to stay content no matter the result. I only focus on being the best version of myself without trying to put anyone else down, and when I saw that I finished the year #1 in the company in revenue generated by a single employee, total submittals, and direct-source submittals by immense margins, in addition to contributing to my team securing #1 in overall performance, I knew my help comes from the Lord alone; to Him be all glory, honor, and praise. I did feel uncomfortable when some colleagues half-jokingly put a target on my back and began observing my public metrics and trying to surpass me specifically, as I only care about competition with myself and find no pleasure in beating anyone. No surprise, I continued my running endeavors. Albeit far fewer races than last year, I have run more ultramarathons in a single calendar year than ever with three out of the ten running events, totalling 174.78 miles, for the year. My mother made a spontaneous visit to see me for the first time in 2.5 years in Raleigh, North Carolina, which ended up being extended due to our both contracting COVID-19 with hardly any symptoms, thanks to God. I attended my best friend’s bachelor party and wedding. I formed an unexpected friendship with arguably the greatest athlete in the history of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Erin Matson. After signing a newly introduced NIL partnership with my company last year, Erin joined our marketing department as an intern this summer, where I got to know her as a person. Her endless accomplishments aside, her humility and maturity for her age were a breath of fresh air, and even though my knowledge of her sport of field hockey started almost nonexistent, I became more emotionally invested in following her journey to her fourth NCAA DI title than sports I do follow. I plan to continue to reflect on all God has blessed me with this year, decompress from work, and come back next year refreshed and recharged for another strong year, with His hand leading me.

2021 kicked off no differently from most of 2020: depressed and utterly lost on the purpose of my life. Once I accepted an offer at Personify and resumed a full-time career on April 12, 2021, following over 15 months of unemployment, I no longer took working for granted. From being the applicant who submitted thousands of applications over several years to becoming a recruiter experiencing the other side, I could not help but empathize with candidates more personally, especially towards the beginning, at the height of COVID-19, when finding a job remained a challenge for many. Every morning, I prayed to God for heavenly wisdom, understanding, and knowledge and to refresh my soul, renew my strength, endurance, and motivation, and let His Name be glorified, honored, and praised in all I do. I worked with all my heart as working for Him and let Him take care of the rest.

My racing streak carried on; I managed to squeeze in 15 races, tied for most in a calendar year and which included a 32-miler, a marathon (in Germany), 11 half marathons, and 2 10K’s and totaled 216.3 miles. When my two-week trip to Korea at the end of the year, for which I saved up my PTO, to see my family, faith mentors, and friends for the first time in nearly two years was canceled at the last minute due to the country’s sudden implementation of a 10-day quarantine, I had in mind as backup to participate in a 48-hour race in Phoenix, Arizona, but I had just missed the registration deadline. I had prayed about this for a few days with my close ones and asked God to give me an answer environmentally whether or not I should be doing this, so, albeit humanly disappointed, I took this as His answer. Spending the holidays alone yet again upsets and depresses me, but I do not want this to overshadow the abundant blessings God has bestowed upon me this year; I found a rapidly growing company with healthy and positive work culture and the right church for me immediately, rent a beautiful studio apartment, continue my hobby in running, and maintain good health. Acknowledging nothing can be worse than my life prior to the turnaround, I find being grateful quite easy. I cannot wait to witness what God has in store for me in 2022.

Exactly 15 months since my intrepid and perhaps foolish decision to resign from my secure yet tedious role as an international recruitment specialist in higher education to seek greater opportunities in a bigger city, I can finally be confident to open up a new chapter. Undoubtedly this unforeseen COVID-19 pandemic that immediately followed my leaving Nebraska played a major factor, but being rejected by thousands of jobs over the past several years filled my head with ceaseless doubts, that, if nobody wants to hire me, I must have a serious flaw. I periodically reminded myself of the story of Joseph, who overnight became an equivalent of vice president, not that I weigh godly success on a scale of worldly significance but rather that God can turn one’s life around in a split second, but even this stopped to inspire me. Turning down a few entry-level positions along the way forced me to question if I made a mistake; lowering my standards, I unsuccessfully applied for a job in a shoe store as a sales associate in desperation, no longer considering my nearly eight years of work experience. In March, I was finally offered a job, less than ideal, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and, as I was prepared to accept and relocate, the hiring manager rescinded my offer having found a local whom she could pay less. Reaching final rounds in countless interviews and falling just short and eventually being offered employment just to have that taken back, how could I continue to keep a positive attitude and not wonder things I should never as a follower of Christ?

As I resumed applying at a lightning pace, I was contacted by a growing company called Personify in Raleigh, North Carolina. Although I moved forward, lacking information, I initially did so unenthusiastically. Nevertheless, as I spoke to one leader to the next, each member’s optimism, humility, and cordiality magnetized me, not to mention how refreshing I felt being interviewed by people who clearly thoroughly read my resume unlike many who have interviewed me in the past. The team’s going the extra mile to accommodate my needs made me feel appreciative and not want to consider any other, albeit ironically at this point I had three other prospects alive simultaneously. Offered the position of Recruiter III on April Fools’ Day, I signed and initialed the acceptance document the following day and by the same evening received the completed version including all required signatures, making my employment official. Based on how unpredictable my life has been, I should have been accustomed to expecting the unexpected, that many are the plans in my heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. I will begin training remotely here in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 12 and plan to permanently relocate to Raleigh most likely once I receive my second dose of COVID-19 vaccine on the 20th.

I particularly enjoy the confirmation of this new chapter of my life on Good Friday, reflecting on my Savior’s sacrifice to give me and anyone who believes in Him eternal life. With Easter Sunday coming, I hope for renewed Resurrection faith prior to taking on this new work with all my heart as working for Him, not for human masters.

2020… Where to begin? I acknowledge there has not been a single soul in the world that has not been impacted by COVID-19, countless individuals far more intensely and consequentially than I, so I hesitated at my best friend’s suggestion for me to blog my experience for solidarity, that perhaps someone could read this, relate, and feel better.

Late 2019, after discussing and praying with my close ones for months and years, I finally decided to take a leap of faith and resign from my secure yet monotonous job with no potential for growth on January 2, 2020, and leave Nebraska, where I had resided for nearly half a decade, on January 8, in search of greater opportunities outside the minute city of Kearney. Without any prospects, I agreed to temporarily relocate to Atlanta, Georgia, with my brother and sister-in-law, and a week later visited family in Korea for 3.5 weeks. I remember casually asking my parents going up an escalator at a mall, “Did you hear about that coronavirus in China?” Upon my return to America, I was determined to meet people and land a new and more meaningful role that could lead to a lifelong career, right after which we heard about the first cases of the coronavirus in the state of Washington and soon after the entire country shut down. Subsequently, many of the positions I had applied for were paused and canceled, and companies laid off employees rather than hire. Even without this disadvantage, I understood firsthand the difficulty of securing an ideal job by simply submitting an application and resume online, as most bigger employers utilize artificial intelligence to filter resumes by keywords and many of them focus on whom you know instead of what you know, why I planned to physically interact with people and present my potential in person; I know most of my applications were not read by real people. In fact, I had already begun applying for new jobs online years before I left the Nebraska chapter of my life behind, and since I started, I am confident I have applied for at a minimum 10,000 jobs online, no hyperbole. I have had countless unsuccessful interviews, the vast majority of which went as smoothly as I had hoped, and most interviewers who promised to follow up never did unless I moved forward in the application process, leaving me hanging. No matter how optimistic I try to be, being rejected by easily thousands of jobs, where I would think even by luck I should have landed one, while being stuck indoors alone as an extrovert, maintaining a positive and grateful attitude has been a superhuman task. I have had chances to accept a few positions that practically need no degree or prior experience, and each time I had to remind myself this is not why I left my previous job, to go ten steps backwards. Some of my close ones felt God was calling me to start my own business, and I prayed and prayed for an idea if this were true, with nothing in return. Eager to stay busy, I have been voluntarily mentoring high-school students with their college applications and essays. More than anything, I needed my own space, and, even though I had the financial means of affording my own apartment, Atlanta requires you to make three times the rent or have a year’s worth of rent on your bank account to be eligible, leaving me no choice but to continue living in my brother’s apartment. I have not been able to unpack most of my possessions for a year due to the lack of space, and each time I thought about moving out, at one point even stuffing most of my property in my car for a couple of months, something popped up that prevented me from doing so. Not being allowed to physically go to church but rather having to rely on virtual services and missing out on the Berlin Marathon exacerbated the frustration.

In all of these aforesaid ordeals, I know the biblical and typical Christian answers, mainly be thankful for what I have instead of complaining about what I do not have, which have carried me through most of my life, but for the past half a year I noticed a gap between these standard answers and the way my heart feels. I left Nebraska certain God confirmed my taking that next step, and now I find myself wondering if I was really talking to myself and feeding myself words I wanted to hear. This has created a domino effect and made me question everything, whether God directs my path or I make my own while He offers support, do I actually have a purpose in life when everything I try to do seems to fail and He does not provide any clarity, and such. I would be embarrassed to go to Heaven and see my Father now when I have not done anything for Him, which makes me frequently fantasize about never having been conceived or had an existence. I have mastered the art of justifying anything over the years, but with regard to the waste of all of 2020, I cannot, at least so far. I feel disappointed that, when God saw this pandemic coming, He did not help me make a wise decision to stay when I had been praying consistently for His will for years prior to taking this action and has not given me an option to fix this error for an entire year and who-knows-how-much-longer. I often visualize leaping (of faith) and faceplanting. Nothing bothers me more than the reality this pandemic occurred almost immediately after I left my previous position; if we would have found out slightly sooner, I would have remained in Nebraska. Perhaps all of these questions are an essential part of my faith journey. I had never questioned my faith and still do not; I only wonder if my actions are based on my worldly preference rather than God’s will and I am too distracted and/or foolish to discern which is which. Only time will tell. 2020, I will not miss you.

1,576 days, nearly half a decade, full of good and bad, my time in Kearney, Nebraska, at last came to an end. Believing this day would come much sooner, I continued to hint at my “leaving soon” for a couple of years to the point most of my friends did not take me seriously this time, like The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

Prior to coming across the position of International Recruitment Specialist at the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK), the term Nebraska had never exited my mouth. UNK offered to sponsor me for an H-1B visa during my grace period of Optional Practical Training Program, meaning I would have had to remove myself from the United States otherwise, and subsequently agreed to sponsor me for a Green Card (minus the medical fees). Although I believed this to be one of the primary reasons God sent me to such a foreign place, especially in the first half, I debated whether or not the Green Card was worth accepting the way my former boss and the few of his nepotic minions treated me. One time following a phone call with the boss, I became lightheaded in fury, knelt down, punched the floor, and rushed out of my office, impulsively thinking about quitting because I could not find any reason that justified my having to tolerate such disgusting evil. Here, my Christian colleague stopped me, put her hands on my chest and back, and prayed for me, which calmed me down. The adversity continued, but I learned to deal with it more efficiently each day, albeit the long-overdue firing of the boss, who really should have been imprisoned, did make this much easier.

When I initially submitted my resignation letter in June 2019 with the intention of moving on the following month, the new head of the office asked if I could continue to work for UNK remotely half-time until I found a concrete plan for my future. After praying about the matter, I took the offer, planning to explore different parts of the country to see where I would like to live next while working wherever I want; however, I ended up spending most of this golden opportunity still in Kearney, one of the reasons I decided to fully resign so that I feel more desperate and do not have any comfort, or safety net, holding me back. Even while working half-time, my workload remained the same, if not more, and I continued to do three or four colleagues’ jobs on top of my own while they took credit, not to mention I always worked well over my hours.

Just this past week, God gave me back-to-back-to-back messages of confirmation and encouragement, which boosted my confidence to move on. The last Sunday of 2019, due to the major snowstorm that had just hit central Nebraska, my regular church closed; I barely made it to the location to find this out the hard way, after which I spotted a different church I had never attended that still held an 11:00 AM service. Here, the pastor emphasized, “God is the God of the promise. He is not the God of your timing,” which echoed in my heart, that God’s Word never fails and He will fulfill what He has promised me not when I want Him to but rather when He wills it. Throughout my time in Kearney, I learned a valuable lesson not to set my own timing, which led me to decide in my head I was leaving soon and sell much of my furniture over a year in advance and live in almost an empty two-bedroom apartment for the remainder. This same Sunday, the Korean church of my mother and father sent another message directly to me using a verse given to me as a child, Genesis 28:15: “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Here, the pastor highlighted “wherever you go,” that wherever we decide to go, God will be with us; as he so beautifully expressed, “It is God who is with you and not you who are with God.” Even if Jacob had decided to go elsewhere, God still would have been with Jacob. As the pastor added, we need to move and take that first step for God to work in us; if we stay still and do not take any initiative, God cannot work. Lastly, in my final (24-hour) race of 2019 that carried into the new decade, I finished at 74.2 miles, 119.413 kilometers with which God reminded me He rescues me (119 is Korea’s equivalent of 911) and “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). How could I ever doubt God?

As lonely, stressful, and challenging as this journey has been, God continued to provide. Focusing only on the positives, my Father gave me a gift I had been begging Him for since childhood and used me to spread the gospel and even turn one student to Christ, I became a permanent resident as early and smoothly as I did due to the lack of international competition/demand in Nebraska, and I completed forty races that include a 102-miler, a 74.2-miler, a 50-miler, two 50K’s, two marathons, twenty-six half marathons, and seven 10K’s during my time here, which would have been highly unlikely elsewhere. Perhaps most thankfully, I found the perfect church for me, the senior pastor of which started the same Sunday I did and contributed significantly to the strengthening of my faith, and used much of my free time, often hours a day, thoroughly reading and studying the Bible. Toward the conclusion, I made many new faithful Christian friends that made this departure difficult, which I never saw coming. I deeply appreciated most residents here identified with Christianity and I never had to filter my faith to avoid hurting sensitive individuals who do not yet know Jesus.

My training in Kearney is complete. What is next? I do not have my life figured out yet, but I have confidence I am making the right decision to take this leap of faith moving forward, because God will be with me wherever I go.

Eighteen years ago today, four separate attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and nearly 3,000 lives taken and over 6,000 injured, I remember exactly where I was: math class. I had recently started boarding school in Connecticut, having just moved from Canada, and homesickness immediately inundated my 12-year-old self; when I resided in Canada, living with my aunt’s family, I rarely felt lonely, but here at Rumsey Hall School I found myself daily crying a river to bed and calling my mother five to ten times, begging her to bring me back to Korea and complaining why I have to live away from my parents. Emotionally, due to my immaturity, I consider this the toughest season of my life. Who knew God would use this adversity to save my mother’s life?

My mother worked for Merrill Lynch in Korea for nearly thirty years, and she was scheduled to attend a conference inside the World Trade Center on the day the most tragic event in my lifetime so far and hopefully ever bombarded Manhattan and DC, or America. My constantly wailing over the phone made her feel so bad that she canceled her hotel reservation the night before and postponed the meeting, both inside the Twin Towers, to be closer to me. She could not relay this update to Merrill Lynch due to communication issues, so of course her office freaked out, thinking she was in attendance. When my math teacher told the class what had occurred, I remember nobody believing him until he walked us to the closest TV in the fitness center. As I watched this horrific scene in New York City being replayed, I kept thinking about my mother and feeling uneasy, not knowing why and unaware she was supposed to be in one of the targeted buildings when this tragedy took place.

When I share this story, most people say, “You saved your mother’s life,” and I always respond, “No, God used me to save my mother’s life,” for I am convinced if I had not been homesick, He would have found a different path to make sure my mother could not be at the World Trade Center then. I recall God allowing me to hear the Holy Spirit very clearly at that point of my life, and my mother reminded me that I told her He spoke to me, “I will take care of your mother and father. Do not worry.” Still a teenager, I could not wrap my head around the unfathomable grace my Father had poured on my family here, because, although I will not elaborate here, based on the unthinkable hardship we were already facing, I do not believe any of us could have survived if He had decided to take my mother Home that day. The older I become, the more I understand this miracle God displayed and the more I praise my Savior.

May our righteous, merciful, gracious, and loving Father bring comfort and peace to every person whose life was affected this day in ways only He can.

One more repetitious yet eventful year in Nebraska, a momentous one for sure, has sprinted to an end that prompts me to think, “Where has the time gone?” I thank the Lord for another year of good health and protection, as always.

Most significantly, after seventeen years in the United States, I have finally become a permanent resident, once again allowing me the freedom to leave the country and come back whenever I please and for the first time ever gifting me the flexibility to work wherever and for whichever employer in these fifty states I choose. Though culturally American for as long as I can remember, I felt my confidence rise with this Green Card that proves I earned my permanent place in America. My family and I have believed God brought me to Nebraska, name that had never exited my mouth prior to discovering my current position as an international recruitment specialist in the summer of 2015, primarily to provide me with this freedom in the smoothest and swiftest way possible for a reason I have yet to experience but am certain will soon enough; I am convinced His plan for my life requires my possession of this permanent resident status.

Following the monumental racing year that included a 102-mile finish in the Texas heat and humidity in 2017, I continued in 2018 actively fueling my passion for running by participating in eleven more races, comprising a 50K, eight half marathons, and two 10K’s, setting many personal bests along the way and surpassing 1,000 kilometers in race mileage since my first 5K race, as a sergeant in the Republic of Korea Army, on March 1, 2012. Just several weeks ago, I was accepted to run in the Chicago Marathon, my first and hopefully not last World Marathon Major, taking place on October 13, 2019, wherever I will be then.

For several years I had longed for a small spiritual group and friends who serve my Father, and a Texan youth pastor’s family’s arrival in the summer gave me an easy route to find these and become more involved in the church community.

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails,” says King Solomon in Proverbs 19:21. Desperate to move to a bigger place with more global people of closer backgrounds, I have continued to set my own timing of when I will leave this tiny city of 33,000, which did not consist of returning to the same office in 2019. I ask every day, “When? How much longer?” I hope to be more grateful in my current situation, learn to live in the moment, and focus on following His will rather than my own desires and consequently glorifying His Name in 2019.

On July 2, 2018, I received in the mail the approval notice for my I-485 – Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status; I have officially become a permanent resident of the United States!

I was born in South Korea and began studying in North America in late 1999, at age ten. After nearly a couple of years in Vancouver, British Columbia, I moved to the US, in 2001. I spent much of my adolescence complaining about having to go to the Embassy of the United States in Seoul and change my visa status each time I moved to a new location as a typical foreigner when I grew up in America and felt culturally American. Only when I accepted my role as an international recruitment specialist for the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) just under three years ago did I see the value in having been through every possible step an international student could undergo, from F-1 to Optional Practical Training (OPT) to H-1B to, now, Green Card. I could educate and emotionally connect to many international students from Korea and other countries with my unique extensive global background.

While on OPT from 2014 to 2015, I was repeatedly misinformed my opportunity to be sponsored for a work visa had passed because I missed the deadline. Regardless, I continued to feel I would somehow find a way to remain in the US and was prompted to Google this subject myself, right after which I read I still had a chance to be sponsored by a university and/or research-based institution. I immediately went on HigherEdJobs and found my current job with UNK that had just been posted. Reading the description, I had confidence God would send me here, and I was soon hired, during the 60-day grace period of OPT. In June 2016, although no colleague really understood the Green Card process, I proactively contacted the university lawyer, which led to the eventual agreement of my office to sponsor me and pay my application fees. I do take pride, not in a boastful way, in that I earned my permanent place in America through merit rather than being freely handed the privilege. The new administration did delay my application process many months with the addition of an interview and kept me stuck in the country for a year while my travel document was pending. My medical exams, lasting one year, had only two weeks left until expiration by the time of the interview, which saved me hundreds of dollars; my medical insurance does not cover immigration-related fees.

Following my interview, the final step of this 17-year journey, on June 27, 2018, either a flying object or a dishonest person left a ding in my car, which I noticed upon return home. Satan always pokes at you with petty matters before something great happens, so I did not bother being upset over this issue. Less than a week later, I was notified of my status change to a permanent resident.

I thank Jesus, first and foremost; His timing is always perfect, whether we admit or not initially, and our job is to simply trust Him. I also would like to thank my employer, UNK, for allowing this to happen. Next, US citizenship!