infinitely proportional

I drove up to Northern Virginia (fondly known as "NOVA" to Virginians) this weekend, all by myself. It's really not that long or arduous of a trip - just 1.5 to 2 hours, literally straight down one road all the way from Charlottesville to the destination. But it just felt like (and honestly really was) a humongo deal to me, cause it was the first time I had driven anywhere "long distance" and that "foreign" by myself, aaaaaaand cause I have this tendency to fall asleep whenever I happen to be in a car for more than like 31 minutes. Even if I'm driving :(. It was scary and adventurous, and I kept stalling my leave, checking over and over if I forgot to pack anything (even though it was only gonna be a one-night stay) and asking my mom if she thought I had enough underwears (a common theme in my pre-traveling worries) and reading again and again my ghetto little mapquest printouts ("Continue to follow US-29N for....76.9 miles." Basically the entire trip) because we do not have a GPS. But finally, I left. Left the garage, left my street, left my neighborhood, left Charlottesville.

At first it was really scary and I felt so unskillful and green and tenderfooted (hah! cute, thesaurus.com), even just driving down the section of US-29 that I know well. Especially cause I got it into my head that the experience needed to be documented and began taking video footage of everything remotely significant and also painfully insignificant ("nowwww it's been 4.8 miles!" "nowww it's been 11.9 miles!" "hey, madison county! that's me!" "first official CD change!" etc.). All while driving. I know - so dangerous and reckless. I'm sorry :'(

But after 79.90 total miles, "1 hour and 35 minutes," one screaming ambulance passing by, and one wrong turn/subsequent u-turn later, I was there. And then I made another video celebrating that.

whatta n00b

In nova! All by self! Via automobile! Driven by self! Safe and sound! In short, a small miracle. Especially considering all the videotaping that was going on simultaneously to the driving and combined with the madison lee klutzy factor. Wow.

It was a wonderful weekend - full of unexpected kimchi-making, mission trip meeting-attending, pho and jajangmyun-eating, late night confessions-confessing, anddddd more. driving. around. nova. by. self. I kept having to convince myself that a bjillion people drive around nova ALL the time - it was just another place where people lived and drove around, just the way I drive around Charlottesville all the time. Haha but ultimately I got everywhere safely and even made a spontaneous stop in Centerville (Centreville?) WITHOUT any pre-mapquested guidance (I followed someone else's car HAH) and only got a smallll tiny bit lost on my way back home. Bubble tea in hand and looking down the row of traffic along a now-familiar road that is 29N, I was triumphant.

Hahaha juuuuuuust joshin' - no triumphant feelings, just gratefulness. Because honestly who am I kidding? I probably did everything wrong to stay safe on those formidable roads of nova. Video-ing, talking to self, thinking about things other than driving (like vlogging)...but because God is great and all-powerful and a loving Protector, of silly little me, even, I went to nova and drove around a bit and came all the way back home. Safely. Re-re-re-realizing how scary of a feat that really is for clumsy me, but how nbd it would seem to upperclassmen (and other more adult people) who drive back and forth between here and nova all the time it occurred to me that as we get older, the adventures we face get scarier and scarier. And that God's grace and love and protection grows greater and greater to cover all our inadequacies and all the extra scariness of the new adventures.

The greater the trial, the greater the blessing.

how infinitely proportional, this love!

And what shall we fear when there is such powerful love protecting and guiding and urging us on, to the next and next and next next adventure. Ahh I am such an unnecessarily-scaredy cat sometimes.

• David also said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished. -1 Chronicles 28:20

• Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. -Deuteronomy 31:6

• The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? -Psalm 27:1

• So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. -Isaiah 41:10

• For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. -Isaiah 41:13

Okay confession: I just googled "bible verse what shall i fear" haha..but all these verses are so good and true.

 So, in conclusion -

 adventure is out there!

&

to infinity and beyond!

la famiglia italiana

This summer is honing me into a champion channel-surfer. Honestly, I am very impressed by the combination of the nimble agility of my remote-button-pressing fingers with the lethargy of the rest of my body. As I sit, a puddle of slumpy posture and comatose laziness, my fingertips dart across the tiny stadium that is the surface of the button board of our small black remote control for the downstairs TV (I mostly watch TV downstairs because that one has one extra channel). It's amazing, the activity level of my fingers compared to the rest of me. Even my brain is resting and my heart is probably beating slower, and my eyes, blleeeeghhhhhh-ly half-opened, don't even  have to be looking down at the remote. The fingers have memorized every plushy button, every crook and nanny, every small indentation of this magical little box that controls the bigger magical box.

..................

Okay seriously, why do I never write about what I'm really blogging to write about in the first paragraph? What is wrong with me? I wanted to write about Italian families and Korean families. Hing.