Calvary Reunion & a Very Special Praise

Kim with Calvary friends - circa 2006

This past Sunday was the first time that we had been to our old church (Calvary English Chapel) since we left in January 2009. It's amazing to think about what the Lord has done in us while we were there and what He has done in our lives since. God is so good.

While we would never have chosen a reunion under these circumstances, Kim and I felt this would be the perfect Sunday to visit. We wanted to say thanks to the many people (and Noah's Ark children!) who have been praying for us, let them see for themselves how their prayers for Kim are being heard, and we definitely wanted to come and support the bone marrow drive for Andrew Park, who attends the church. By the way if you haven't registered to do this yet - what are you waiting for? Click HERE for the why you should and the how you can do this. The turnout for the drive yesterday was fantastic (in the hundreds?) and I'm confident it's only a matter of time before we find a match for Andrew and our new friend Connor.

Back to Calvary, I remembered the day after we left I wrote a "thank you" note to our Calvary friends on Facebook. So I went digging into the archives of my Facebook "Notes" and strangely,  I noticed that it was exactly three years ago (to the weekend) that we left the church and said our tearful "good-byes". (At this point though - is anything strange anymore?)

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To Our Calvary Friends: Much Love & Thanks!

by Peter Cho on Monday, January 26, 2009 at 9:49pm

Yesterday was a sad but good day - sad in the sense that it was our last Sunday at Calvary but good in the sense that we really sensed the love and care of the Lord yesterday – especially through His people. Kim and I weren’t sure if we’d be able to hold it together but by the grace of God we did.

Over the past 10 years, we have been overwhelmed by how much God has blessed Calvary and how much He has used others to bless us as well. The love, kindness, dedication and patience that many of you have shown us and modeled for us will never be forgotten - from the pastors, deacons, small group members, worship teammates, NA teachers and helpers, the list could go on and on. You know who you are. From the bottom of our hearts we want to say “We love you and thank you”.

Sometimes the Lord calls you to another place and another season and you’re not quite sure ‘why’ and you’re not quite sure ‘how’ but you know it’s the Lord and so you take a deep breath and you step out in faith. Sometimes the waters part, sometimes you’re standing on top of it, and sometimes you end up getting baptized. We’ll see what happens - and so now begins a bold new chapter in our lives.

Although for many of you we know that things may be different since we will no longer be “doing ministry” together, or even see each other every Sunday, however we hope that in many ways our friendships, in Christ, will be as firm as ever and strengthened in the Lord. If by no other means, than through this gloriously over-rated medium we call “Facebook”. Don’t be strangers.

You will always be loved and never forgotten.

Lord bless,

Peter and Kim

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Leaving Calvary was without a doubt one of the hardest decision we have ever made in our lives - one that we wrestled over with much tears and prayer, but nonetheless one we felt was led by the Lord. As I mentioned above when we took that step of faith we weren't sure whether the waters would part, whether we'd walk on top of it, or whether we'd get "baptized". I'd have to say in the three years since - God has allowed us to see and experience all three. Amazing. Both Kim and I were overwhelmed and deeply moved by the outpouring of love, prayers, notes, and support we received from so many of our old friends yesterday and we'll say it again - thank you everyone at Calvary - we love you! 

SPECIAL PRAISE
Well, apparently, I'm still on my God-imposed 4 hour maximum of sleep and so on Saturday night since I went to bed at 10:30pm - I magically woke up at 2:30am. Around 5:30am, I was singing some songs in my basement when I felt this sudden compulsion to share a special song for our friends at Calvary. It was a crazy thought since the service was going to start in 4 hours but it's a song that is near and dear to my heart and one that has really ministered to us over the course of the past two weeks and I suddenly felt the Lord telling me that the song was not just for me but was to be shared with others as well. So around 8:30am Sunday morning I called our old pastor (Michael) and asked him if it was okay if I sang a special praise song. He agreed and so I ended up sharing the song and the crazy story behind the it with our friends at Calvary during the worship service yesterday. Let me share with you...what I shared with them. If I didn't experience it with my own eyes - I would not believe it.

A couple weeks ago I shared at length about the longest two hours of my life ("Dark Night of the Soul") which I now realize occurred on Friday the 13th (strange?). This was when I thought I had lost Kim (for the 2nd time that week), and at the very least, I was certain the chemo treatment would not work (due to her severe infusion reaction). After the "code blue" episode and after the nurses finally administered the heavy pain meds -  Kim was out of it for nearly two hours. As I wrote before, during that time I stood by her bed leaning next to her head and quoted Scripture, wept, prayed, repented and sang softly into her ear. It was the most heart-wrenching and yet most sacred moment I have ever experienced. There's something that happened that night that I had only told a very few people (until yesterday). To be honest, I didn't really understand it fully at the time. But let me explain what has unfolded since then. As Kim started to come around  and as her head began to stir - with her eyes remaining closed and from a very dry mouth something remarkable occurred, she softly uttered her first word.... 

"Cros-beeeeee".

"Huh?" I thought.

I leaned closer and asked her to repeat it...

"Crosby..." She repeated softly.

I was completely mystified. I had no idea who she was talking about or what it meant.....

(TO BE CONTINUED....)
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Sorry....I know you guys will hate me for the cliffhanger, but the rest of this post will have to come tomorrow. I have to catch a 7am train downtown to the University of Chicago with Kim this morning for our much anticipated 2nd opinion appointment with the famous Dr. Sonali Smith (yay! - recall answer to prayer here). Keep us in prayer as you have already. (If you really can't wait until tomorrow,  reach out to one of your Calvary friends who was there yesterday)

We love you and thank God for you.

In His Grace,

Peter & Kim