Beginning

"Rain and Hail" inspires imageries of intense natural power.

They are both nouns that allude to rare occurrences of weather that are simply awe-inspiring.

I named this blog "Reign and Hail" because, as transitive verbs, they refer to a relationship between heaven and earth that should be as equally, if not more, natural than weather and infinitely more powerful.

God and man.  He reigns, and we hail.

This past Sunday, I gave a brief testimony at my church, the Hanbit English Ministry, because we have no youth pastor and the head pastor was apparently too busy to speak this week.  I wasn't given too much time to prepare because they asked me Saturday night to speak the following morning, and so I found myself at my desk for hours that evening trying to come up with something to say, mostly spent in silence just rummaging through my memories.

I have to admit that as praise went on and the time for me to speak approached, I began to feel very nervous.  I couldn't believe how nervous I felt, and yet, somewhere deeper than the anxiety, I was calm and ready.  I felt this because of a divine feeling of purpose regarding the whole thing- it felt like there was a cosmic Hand that planned for me to speak, considering that I had always wanted to say something to the group before I left for Korea in two weeks.  I'd be leaving for an entire year, so I didn't want to leave without saying something first.  Next Sunday would be my last Sunday attending church, but, apparently, our church is having a picnic next week, and so I would not have had the chance to say something at the park in the manner in which I spoke to them this past week.

Talking to them felt like tying a loose end, and it left me feeling whole.  This group of people has come to mean so much to me, and I feel almost like I'm betraying them by leaving them at such a crucial time- our youth pastor left, and our head pastor is leaving soon as well.  However, the original plan had been to leave almost two months earlier.  God imposed, and my plans happily shattered.  I got to spend more time with them, and my faith in their ability to thrive without leadership was solidified.  Without leadership, leaders emerged.  Also, I got the chance to get closer to our college group through the Wednesday night meetings.  These past months have become simply priceless.

Thanks for reading.