Growing up as a PK (pastor’s kid), I vowed to never marry a pastor myself. I didn’t want my kids to go through the things that we had to as a struggling pastor’s family. I graduated as a double major in EE & IEOR (UCSD), became a computer programmer, and I ended up marrying a lawyer, who was interested in poverty law. But I would never have guessed what God had in mind for my life…
Currently, my lawyer-turned-pastor husband (Pastor Ed Kang) and I oversee all of the ministries of Gracepoint Berkeley. We have 3 growing kids with one who is off to college! Yes, there are difficulties and times of heartache as a pastor’s family, but God has richly blessed our lives.
Ed & Kelly Kang with children (recent picture from this past year)
A typical day for me might include a bike ride to the church building, time spent in personal devotions and prayer, devotional sharing with the church staff women, followed by a marathon of meetings, emails, brainstorming, planning, counseling and talking with different people, preparing to lead prayer meetings and courses, all sprinkled with times of hanging out, laughter, and making a feast out of whatever we find in the fridge.
Fun facts that people note about me:
- I can multi-task and do 3 things at the same time, but I will lose my cell phone about 3 times a week and drop it about 3 times a day!
- One talent I developed after my fibromyalgia is to lie on my back and read for hours without falling asleep and without drinking coffee
- I might move quickly, but I’m really clumsy
- People tell me that when I sing, I tend to drag out my notes at the end of every measure, so people can hear me and locate me even in a crowded room of people
- I love bargains and have a knack (or a GPS of sorts) when it comes to locating bargains of any kind
- Even though I majored in operations research and was a computer programmer, for the life of me, I can’t figure out how to operate simple machines or appliances
- Murphy’s law is my middle name and somehow trouble follows me. When I was 5, our housekeeper spilled a cauldron of hot soup on me; when I was 6, I fell off the 2nd floor landing of our home in Korea; when I was 7, I almost drowned at a beach in Korea; when I was 9, I was hit by a car and was in a body cast for 4 months; one year, I got 5 tickets, one on the way to traffic school; if I’m in a room with Ed, even though he has twice the body surface as I do, the mosquito in the room will bite me 3 times and him none.
Thanks for starting this blog and sharing your DT insights! Looking forward to many good reads.
By: eileen on July 16, 2008
at 12:05 pm
I am really excited to read this blog and get wonderful insights. Thank you so much for your sharing!
By: Myra on July 17, 2008
at 1:40 pm
Didn’t know you were that close to Murphy’s Law! =)
By: Jin on August 2, 2008
at 4:29 pm
Fact #4 is SO true! At Willard, even though Kelly is in the WAY back, sometimes, you can hear her from the stage. =)
By: susan on August 6, 2008
at 5:20 pm
Fact #1 is so true as well, though I would say you can multi-task and do 10 things at a time. But I have had to help you replace your cell phone a couple of times, though you also seem to find the old one sooner or later
Thanks for being so aware of all that happens here and always being so sensitive to the needs of every department and ministry here at Gracepoint!
By: andy on May 29, 2009
at 5:56 pm
Wow, even after having known you for over 10 years now, some of those facts were new to me! And funny to boot! =)
I never knew you had an experience similar to Micah’s. You must have really empathized with him when he had that cast. And falling off a 2nd story floor…!
About your ‘gps’ … I remember in the days before actual GPS, and yes cell-phones (am I that old?), how we used to joke that you had a gps about remembering who was at Safeway buying stuff so that we could save a trip there, and wasn’t so and so going to CostCo and he could pick up this thing we needed last minute…It’s been a great example to us younger ones to have a pastor’s wife who is unafraid to get in to the daily work and nitty-gritty, and in fact can probably do most of the work better than most of the rest of us! =) Thank you for your work for our church and the example of service you set.
By: maurice on August 5, 2009
at 8:21 pm