Lately I have been wondering what I am thinking going off to a foreign country by myself when I have great friends, a wonderful family, a perfectly good house to live in, and even promising job opportunities right where I am. I think about the inevitable loneliness and discomfort I will face, and I start to worry.

But then I remember the One who is calling me to Korea, the One who kept the idea of living there alive in my heart all these years and who brought all the logistics together in a way I never predicted.

Yes, I want to go to Korea to explore my heritage and understand my identity as a half-Korean person. Yes, I want to grow as a pianist and learn about Korean traditional music, which is completely different than the Western music tradition I have studied all my life. But more than anything, I just want to follow the Lord.

When Jesus called his disciples, he told them to leave everything they knew behind. Peter left his nets. Levi left his post as tax collector. Jesus didn’t call them to a religious experience or to a new career, he called them to himself.

“Come, follow me.”

That open-ended request required them to choose Him as a Person above everything else.

For me, going to Korea is an opportunity to say Yes to Jesus. When I remember that, I feel carefree. Yes, there is a lot I’m leaving behind. But there is something, or rather someone, much better ahead. He is going to take me on an adventure I could never have planned myself. And I couldn’t ask for anything better than that.

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