Christmas Eve

Jen here. Two weeks before Christmas, Roy and I intentionally planned for Christmas. This is our first year celebrating Christmas "away from home" (far from Ohio and Michigan, the base camps for our family). We didn't want it to slip by unnoticed or just doing whatever. We want to set a precedent for each Christmas to come, so that someday when we have a little Roy Jr, we'll already have God-honoring traditions for this awesome holiday.

So we made a plan: Christmas eve we would dress up and eat out at a nice restaurant (a romantic evening as husband and wife), a tradition we hope to continue even when we have kids and when we're old! After the meal, we planned to ride the Star Ferry to Kowloon side and look at the lights on the Skyscrapers, enjoying a quiet evening on the harbor. Aww...










Before I continue with our plan, I'll tell you how Christmas eve really played out. As the days until Christmas decreased, each check at a nice restaurant left us thinking, "What is up with HK at Christmas?" It seems that all nice restaurants throw their "a la carte menu" out the door and charge you mega $ per person for a set meal. Hmm... We decided to eat in (Roy offered to cook a delicious Jenny-meal). Roy whipped up an amazing dinner with broccoli, pasta and chicken. We had a candlelight dinner on the roof (lest I exaggerate the evening, I'll let you know that earlier that day I was grumpy and irritable toward Roy, which hurt him, but he still made dinner...and our candle wouldn't stay lit...so Roy had to tend to it to keep it going...but God is gracious, even in my sin, to reconcile us in time).







After dinner, we got ready and headed for the Star Ferry via a little green mini-bus. I wore a dress and a coat with flipflops...and later on had to take off my coat. The weather was warm! Near the ferry we encountered a Harmonica band comprised of six 20-somethings playing all different sized harmonicas to the tunes of Christmas music(see the first picture above). How fun!










From the ferry, we gazed at the lights on the buildings (see photos). Pretty neat...not as awe-inspiring as Richmond Beach Park's ocean and mountains in Washington, but it'll do. On the other side, we encountered thousands of people! Literally, thousands! We planned to sit along the quiet, peaceful harbor and gaze at the lights (notice I didn't say stars, but lights on the buildings), but it was swarming with people! See photo...and know it was like that all over. I guess that's what you get with 7 million people and two days of public holiday.

In short, we made plans...and deviated from some of them, but still managed to have a nice evening enjoying HK and the many people who live in it.
Ciao!

End of Year Chess

Jen here. Lots of chess--end of classes, tournament and now holiday camps. The above photo is from the "End of Year Tournament" held last Saturday. Roy was the official tournament director--he did a great job. Twenty-two kids in attendance, one Roy and two assistants (me and Pierre). It turned out well. The three kids in the picture all go to ISF, our biggest chess school. And check out their sweet trophies--the star trophies are my favorite so far. Roy and Pierre did most of the Chess stuff, and I was in charge of the kids between rounds (aka: babysitting and concessions). It was a challenge in many ways...but also fun. I enjoy being around kids and getting to know them. They are so cute. And they are little people, with thoughts, attitude, feelings.

Roy is busy this week (Mon-Wed) with Chess camps. He has two potential candidates for chess coaches, and they are helping Roy with the camps. What a great way for Roy to see them interact with the kids and teach the kids!

On a different note, Roy and I noticed a strange phenomenon happening at restaurants on Christmas eve and Christmas: Their "a la carte" menu gets thrown out the door and they charge big prices per person for a set meal. Hmm... strange. Is this because people don't invite people to their homes for meals, but to restaurants? Do all the restaurants do this? One restaurant's set menu for Christmas eve cost $1500 per person($200 US per person). Crazy.

Signs of Christmas

Jen here. Christmas is coming. Crazy. I realized this a week ago, and decided to actively convince myself of that fact. Even though the weather is warm, even though it is not going to snow, even though I didn't drink my fresh apple cider all through fall, even though we didn't see beautiful leaves turning colors--Christmas is still coming. I spoke with one woman from Australia who lives in Hong Kong who said, "It just doesn't feel like Christmas. Our Christmas is during the summer, so we usually have a nice breakfast BBQ, a cold lunch and spend the day in the pool." Wow. How do I convince myself it is Christmas? We listen to Christmas music online. :) I bought two poinsettias (you always see them in churches at Christmas...and they are everywhere here too!). We put the wrapped gifts mailed to us on a shelf. We're buying gifts for other people. I'm drinking tea/hot chocolate daily. :)

The packages are arriving! Oh how fun it is to receive mail! The box Roy is holding is one package that we've received. Three others preceded this box of gifts. Thank you! :)













Here are just some of the many poinsettias everywhere. Beautiful. This is in Kennedy Town.




















And at a nearby mall, we are greeted by SpongeBob Squarepants! Happy Spongey Christmas, the sign says. Inside and outside the mall, SpongeBob and company are everywhere, making spirits bright. Ha.




















We have a plan for Christmas--Morning as a couple and in the afternoon a Christmas dinner with guests. It should be a fun time--I look forward to it! We are sad to be away from family, but this gives us a chance to establish our own holiday traditions. Should be interesting. :)

What's new in HK

Jen here. God has much in store for us in Hong Kong. I delight in seeing His working and leading in our lives. Being in HK has brought about some new things for me. Here are a few of them:

For starters, I am now a Chess student. One great way to serve Roy is to play chess with him (whether he is blindfolded or not) and to let him teach me. I am actually putting effort forth to improve and to learn chess, and I'm growing! Every Friday night Roy runs "Quads" which is a group of 4-person mini tournaments. What happens when 11 kids show up (11 kids= 4 + 4 + 3; one quad only has 3 kids in it)? Roy's wife steps in to beat the little kids! Ha! Actually, I have won all my games except two. Last week I played a boy, and he was beating me most of the game point-wise, but I was holding my ground and looking for checkmates. We took so long Roy put a clock on our game (which happens every time I play...ha)...and I lost on time. NO! My heart was pounding. He had two queens...I just promoted one of my pawns to a queen and began checking his king over and over so he wouldn't use his two queens to kill me off...but alas, it did not work. He won, on time. :( Boo. Next time...

I am now a Chess photographer. Yep, Roy's making a flier or homework assignment and he wants a chess graphic: "Jenny, could you take some photos for me?" It's sweet because I get to use my camera and flash...and it's helpful to Roy. And look at that handsome man I get to shoot photos of once in a while!

I am coordinating a Christmas tea for women. Kathy Hamilton, director of women's ministries at IECC, volunteered me to "help Phyllis with something"...I later received an e-mail thanking me for coordinating a tea with Phyllis. Hmm... interesting. :) I have enjoyed meeting with Phyllis and working out the details...and may God provide people and ready hearts and fun times. I'll be making Christmas cookies for it...so I look forward to that as well! Now to find some cookie cutters!

More later! Ciao!

Progress and Familiarity

Jen here. A few weeks ago I received an invite to Newcomers Coffee, hosted by some women from IBC, a Baptitst church here in HK. You may remember my blog about this in October--the women were a great encouragement and blessing. Vicki, the host, is so friendly, hospitable and loving. I felt welcome the second I set foot in her home. :) Ahh...to think back makes me smile.

Well, we met up again. Vicki greeted me warmly at the door and I greeted Pauline as well. How nice to set foot in a familiar place with familiar people! Yes! We sat down and chatted, sharing how things have been since last time we met. Vicki and Pauline rejoiced with me in what God has done over these few months. More than they know, He has worked mightily in my heart and my life.

For the first chunk of time in HK, I was SO lonely and not sure what to do with myself. Everything was strange, I was just learning how to use public transportation. Now I feel confident navigating to most places on the island using all forms of transportation. I am meeting people and beginning to develop friendships. I attend a womens bible study on Thursdays; we're studying the book of Daniel--oh how much I've learned and been challenged! Not to mention, I get weekly interaction with women in all different life-stages. God blessed me with the opportunity to assist Roy with three of his chess classes, so now I am able to see ~50 adorable primary school students each week. What a joy they are to me! I was even able to teach two groups of beginners the basics of Chess. What fun!

God has been working in my heart, to show me sin and other things that don't glorify Him. He unveiled my covetous heart and took it away. He's rooting my worth and view of myself in what He says of me--that I am beloved, safe in Christ, having Christ's righteousness (though I don't deserve it!), and am worth His dying for me.

God is still at work...Newcomers Coffee served as a great venue for pondering His great works. Hooray! So, praise God for loving people...who invite strangers into their home and make them friends. What a blessing these women have been to me in HK!

Religion in HK

Jen here. More footage via the Jen-spy Cam...One day I was chilling in our apartment and I heard something going on outside. I peered out the window and spotted a table with three cooked pigs and some fruit on it. People were dressed up and gathering, but just chatting. Then I saw a few of the men light some (I'm guessing) incense sticks, stand in front of the table, bow three times, and put the sticks in a pot filled with sand on the table. Intriguing. What is happening here? So I looked on...I saw a few more men do the same things...then some of the women...and I decided to grab my camera! Eventually all of them lit the sticks and bowed three times in front of the table with dead pigs on it... This occurred the day after a holiday in Hong Kong...one of my American friends who married a Chinese man told me it is like Memorial Day for the Chinese. They go and visit the graves of people who have died...and apparently offer pigs and fruit to their ancestors. Interesting religion, interesting beliefs. And I mean religion.





Pictured at left is a little shrine on the 2nd floor of our building. Our neighbors in that apartment burn a stick of incense in it every morning and evening. If you look closely, you can see one stick of it burning, and a bunch of old sticks (dark red) chilling in the pot. In the some parts of HK, there are shrines tucked in the sides of buildings, in the middle of stores and even in the evening you may see fruit or other food on the sidewalk with burning sticks stuck into it. Gotta feed the ancestors, I guess.

We all need Jesus. Whether we grow up burning food to our ancestors or going to church every Sunday, we need Jesus. The act of going to church or being raised by Christian parents does not ensure eternity with God. Knowing Jesus, and seeing our need for Jesus, does. Praise God for His glorious grace and gift offered to each one of us!

Just Kidding

Jen here. So remember my previous post..."Fall is here"? Just kidding. We are having summer-like days again. Today was warm...and I almost turned the a/c on, but I decided to take a cold shower instead. Maybe by middle of November? Praise Jesus for the glimpse of fall.

Do you see that unripe, orange tomato to the right? That's dessert. Mmm... and it's not a tomato, it is a Persimmon. Cherrie brought some to share with us at Care Group. When she first brought them in and told us they were for dessert, we were thinking "tomatoes for dessert?" but I remembered seeing them in the store. Some sort of strange fruit.

At Care Group we eat dinner and chat, then watch a sermon from the Luke series at Mars Hill Church. Cherrie isn't used to an hour-long sermon, so we take a little break about half-way through to eat dessert. This dessert was interesting--another new food. First, don't eat the skin; it is very chewy (I ate a little...). Just eat the flesh. It reminded Roy of a plum, and the texture reminded me of an over-ripe peach. It tasted all right at first, but then I had enough. I need to learn to say a firm no, even to sweet little Cherrie. I don't plan to eat them again for a while...

We have Care Group tonight again. We plan to go out to eat and just hang out, getting to know one another more. It'll be Roy, me, Cherrie and one new woman. Pray that we would form great community, rooted in Jesus.

Fall is Here

(Doesn't Roy look so handsome in this pic? Yes, I agree. ) Jen here…and I am pleased to say that autumn is here as well (the season, that is)! YAY! November brought cooler weather, 70s, and it is marvelous! A few days ago I went for a run in the morning; a cool breeze refreshed me. It took me back to the days of running Cross Country in high school, and made me run a little faster. Yesterday I took a stroll in a park nearby and paused on a park bench to watch people. Many older people, more men than women, walked along the park sidewalks, some younger people. All were bundled up in long-sleeved shirts, jackets or sweaters. Smiling, I acknowledge, I does feel like fall and it does feel cool compared to our previous weather. Praise Jesus it’s not humid!! Feeling inspired, I scribbled a poem onto some paper, and meandered home.

Now, here’s a note: I am not a poet, and by that I mean, what I wrote may or may not be poetry. I still don’t know what poetry is exactly. In fact, as an elementary and junior high school student, I dreaded the day when the “poetry lady” would visit our class and make us write odes and other random forms of poetry. I wasn’t taught to love poetry or to express myself through poetry. So, correct me if I am wrong, but I now think poetry is kind of like art: it can be anything. Just express yourself. Doesn’t have to rhyme. Doesn’t have to contain a certain number of lines or syllables. Just write, and space uniquely, and voila! A poem!

Autumn Arrives: 11/3/09
The weather cools
And suddenly it’s fall
Memories of mountains
And oceans flood my mind
Close my eyes, see the waves,
Feel the breeze,
Breath the crisp, cool air
Ahhh…at last
Awakened to God’s creation
The other side, Hong Kong
And I hope, I desire to set out
To explore and discover it
Even in the midst of towers
Mmm…apple crisp, pumpkin pie,
Hot chocolate, snuggling in blankets
Appeal to me and seem possible
Oh how I could share Christ’s love!
His passion for humanity
Reach out, meet people, invite
Learn Cantonese, tutor math
Will I find a place between
Laziness and craziness?
But God, You’re always with me
Leading and orchestrating
Placing people in my path
And giving desire to know
To love, with Your love
Who gave Yourself for me
So I give myself, lose my life
For Your glory, for Your purpose
Take my sails, turn them,
Gust a strong wind
Supply the water current
And provisions for the journey
For my harbor is safe
But You made me for the open sea
I’ll go there if You go with me.

Making Food

Greetings! Jen here. Here's a lovely photo of Roy and a dinner we ate one night: BBQ chicken, fried potatoes and corn on the cob. Mmm...it was good. I enjoyed eating the corn...it's the first time we've had it here. It's in the store in packages of 3 cobs. I paid $10.90HK for 3 cobs, which would be about $1.60US. There's my little food thought for the day.

I'm still quilting with Donna and now I am making a quilt! The going has been slow, but there is progress. Indecisiveness is not good in this arena, as there are so many decisions to be made! What pattern of quilt to make, what color fabrics, what fabric prints, which one to go where...My final decision: A quilt with stars on it, the stars will be black and white, with diagonal red "lines" (really red squares that make red lines) running between the stars. It should be interesting. My plan is to make a queen-sized quilt, but we'll see how it all goes. One day of quilting consisted completely of picking a pattern and looking through different fabrics. The next day consisted of ironing all the fabrics (they had been washed since last time) and deciding exactly which fabrics I would use and which not. On day three I cut, sewed and ironed many red pieces and some black and white pieces. I have yet to decide exactly how I'll put together the black and white fabrics to make the stars...soon.

More later.

Silly Israelites

Sunday, a day of rest. I like Sundays. We sleep in, spend time with Jesus, go to church and usually go out to eat with people. Fun.

IECC (the church we attend) is going through a 5-week series on the 5 Pillars of IECC. Let's see if I can name them all: worship, community, growth, service and outreach. Today's sermon was on outreach. Pastor Brett focused on us going "outside the camp", and one of the Bible passages we read caught my heart.

Numbers 13:31-14:4-"Then the [men who were sent to spy out the Promised Land and bring back info] said, 'We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.' So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, 'The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim...and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.'

"Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, 'Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?' And they said to one another, 'Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.' "

Wow. This is a classic Israel moment. I separated it into two physical paragraphs for a reason. Upon reading it, I was reminded of how amazing and powerful God is. He gives a child to a couple who is barren...He heals people...He delivered Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego from the midst of the burning fiery furnace. He is AWESOME. And even to the Israelites...He has been so good to them. He delivered them out of Egypt, gave them manna to eat every morning and quail to eat in the desert. He caused water to pour from a rock and made a bitter stream...not bitter. He protected them when Pharaoh changed his mind and tried to chase them down with his chariots. Come on! Why don't the Israelites remember the awesome things God has done? Why don't they realize how amazing God is?

Rather than freak out and grumble, why didn't they say something like this? "Wow, God will surely deliver this land to us in a mighty way. He promised it to us and He is faithful to his promises. I can't wait to see how he kills off the giants or runs them out...He'll do something because He said He'll give us this land. He can do anything! Just think of the mighty things He's done for us already! We are His chosen people, and He loves us. This will be fun to watch."

But, no, the old Israelites respond with no faith, no trust, no delight in God, no knowledge of who God is (faithful, loving true) or what He's done for them already (mighty, powerful), choosing death instead of life. Don't they get it yet? God is doing all the work! He made them prosper and multiply in Egypt, He raised up Moses, He turned Pharaoh's heart to let the people go, He rescued them from Pharaoh and parted the Red Sea so they could walk through on dry ground, He led them through the wilderness by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night, He protected them from wild animals, He walked them to the edge of the Promised Land and HE will be the One who delivers the land into their hands. Not them. They are but weak and frail humans. They can't do it! God is the One. Not me. Oh sure, I flew on the airplane to Hong Kong, I am living in an apartment, assisting Chess classes, meeting a few people, but God is accomplishing it all...and preparing for His purposes. Not me. Silly Jenny, learn from the Israelites:trust in God, for He is the Everlasting God, Creator of the ends of the earth. Amen.

Sunday Dinners

Jen here. We've been in Hong Kong for seven weeks. Wow! Sundays name each week for me. Oh that's the week we went out to eat after church with the Alabama kids. Oh that was after we met the Lau family and had a large Chinese meal. Etc. I want to tell you about our Sunday meals with people. It's one of the few days where we have consistently met with people...but not the same people. I'll do my best to recall...

1st Sunday- We did nothing afterwards, but Kathy Hamilton (who I found out lived in Lake Stevens, Washington for 3 years!) introduced herself to me. She's the women's director at IECC, and I could tell. She was so sweet, kind, loving and welcoming toward me.

2nd Sunday- After church I randomly introduced myself to a woman named Renee, who then introduced me to her old friend Donna. Roy and I were then invited to eat with them. We carpooled to the restaurant (Yes, we rode in cars! Wow!) at the American Club. For the first time since we came to Hong Kong, we were served ice water (ahh...) and could choose from Chinese dishes or American dishes. Roy ordered a cheese burger and fries and I ordered a club sandwich. Ah, American food. Love it. Our group was 10 people, 6 women and 4 men, and I enjoyed meeting and chatting with the women. Praise Jesus!

3rd Sunday-After the 11:30am service, we met up with Donna and joined her for lunch, along with Merrien and Patrick. We ate dim sum (which are like little appetizers...little dumplings, filled with meat and veggies). I enjoy the traditional Chinese way of eating. The table orders a bunch of different dishes, then everyone can eat anything. It's how we eat at home. You take food from the serving dishes and put it on your plate, then eat it. I like this better than just ordering one dish and eating it. Roy and I got to share how we met...and Merrien and Patrick shared how they met. It was fun to just chat with people. Merrien is in charge of the Baking Ministry, which provides snacks after church and other events. Maybe I'll serve there!

4th Sunday-It's official. The 5pm service is our service of choice. The kids from Alabama (who are starting campus ministries on two university campuses here) sat near us in church, so we got to meet them again and chat with them. Some of them just radiate southern hospitality! :) They invited us to go out to eat with them at "The Flying Pan", a 24-hour diner that serves breakfast. Of course we said yes! Reminiscent of Flint's coney islands, we went and enjoyed ourselves, ordering omelets and getting to know the Alabama kids better (by kids, I mean people my age or slightly older...). I enjoyed chatting with a few of the women, and Roy got to chat with some of the guys. Yay. People.

Sundays 5-7 coming soon...
Ciao!

Meet the Mooncake

What is that? You eat it? Why? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you are supposed to eat that. And that is a moon cake. I am late in posting this photo, but here are the moon cakes we received as a gift. To my knowledge, moon cakes contain lotus seed paste and a salty egg yolk...and it is said the more egg yolk in the moon cake, the better!

I did not eat this moon cake...I just cut it open to see what it looked like on the inside. I am not sure if they are going bad or not...so I didn't want to take a taste. A few weeks ago I had the experience of tasting a moon cake...I took one of the slices that had little egg yolk. It tasted like lotus seed paste...which almost tastes sweet and good, but then takes a turn for the worse and isn't so good. Donna said the moon cake is an acquired taste. Yep. Agreed.

Sorry it's been so long since I've written. Unsure of what to write, I just wrote nothing...

Thursday morning I attended another women's Bible study from our church (IECC). Kathy Hamilton's love and welcoming heart drew me to check this one out. They are studying Daniel with Beth Moore...I joined on week three of the study, which happens to be the week they study Daniel chapter 3. YES!

Daniel 3 is about Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego, King Nebuchadnezzar, his huge gold statue and crazy decree to worship the gold statue or else be thrown into the burning fiery furnace. What an awesome example of faith and boldness and backbone we see in these three men! I look forward to pondering it this week. :) I plan to continue with this study...praise Jesus!

More later, I promise. Now to go up to the roof to throw the clothes in the dryer...or, I mean, to take the clothes from the washer and put them up on the clothes line. :) Ha, same thing.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Jen here. The past few days have been unique. The kids were out of school Thursday and Friday, which meant Roy was on holiday as well! Our holiday was fun, but I was reminded that we don't have many friends or family in HK with whom to celebrate holidays. :(

Thursday was the People's Republic of China's 60th Anniversary. Really? China is only 60 years old? Wow. (Have a told you I don't know much of world affairs?) Roy and I walked amongst the masses of people, toured the Carnival in Victoria Park and later attempted to watch the fireworks. The carnival was different. Many decorations, including tons of lanterns, little game tents with mile-long lines of people, clowns, magicians, a clown and Mario (yes, a Chinese Nintendo Mario)making balloon animals...it was a fun event. I was so excited to see Chinese fireworks (would they be the same as US ones?)but tired of being around people, so we decided to watch them from our end of the island. They're fireworks...huge...you can see them for miles, right? We waited, and waited, and waited... :( There are two options: 1. We did not see or hear the fireworks because we were too far away from where they launched them, or 2. They did not happen. I imagine if #2 was true there would be 7 million people bothered at the PRC for lying to them...so probably #1 is correct. :(

Saturday was the Mid-Autumn Festival. The closest American holiday to this may be Halloween. People buy glow sticks and lanterns and go out at night to see the moon (the fullest moon of the year) and to do something...it is still mysterious to me. We went to the park near our home and there were tons of people. Kids covered in glow sticks were running around everywhere. People were picnicking on the open grassy area. Some people were eating, many were burning candles in moon cake tins, some were putting up food offerings. Interesting. There was a talent show or dance recital going on, so we watched the remainder of it, seeing some talented dancers. On our way home we bought slurpees from the 7-eleven (me-coke, Roy-sour apple), saw one family of our neighbors picnicking outside the entrance of our building and we went up on our roof to finish our slurpees and enjoy the not-so-hot weather. We sang songs to God (sweet MHC songs...) and chatted. I am fascinated by Chinese holidays and Chinese people, so every once in a while I would peek over the edge of our roof and see how our neighbors were celebrating (I sound like a creeper, but...I'm not!). So, here's a photo I took. :) This aerial shot shows their little camp, the little guy in the center of the photo is their ADORABLE 2 year old boy. At the top of the photo you will see a horizontal line of lanterns, most of them are lit. There are also glow sticks on the ground. See the red bucket on the top right of the photo? Later on they opened it up, lit some incense stuff on fire and put it in there. Offerings to some god? No idea.

So there, Mid-Autumn Festival. Roy's boss bought us 6 moon cakes, but we haven't tried them yet. There's something about a pastry filled with lotus bean paste and a salty egg yolk that doesn't seem appetizing, you know?

Ciao!

Cookies and Neighbors

Jen here. Wow, what a tiring few days it's been. God is good; He keeps being more than faithful...praise Jesus.

I woke up yesterday hearing the sound of raindrops on our air con. Oh no! I left the clothes out on the line! I ran upstairs and quickly removed them from the line and hung them up on our window guards, my rainy day clothes dryers. The A/C dries them out quick...sometimes when the clothes are outside, they don't dry out completely...must be all the humidity.

As those of you who are married know, marriage is challenging at times. Well, now is one of those times. Poor communication, grumpiness, sin, etc are at their best right now...ugh. I would appreciate prayer for Roy and me, for our relationship. Pray that God would teach me to be selfless and loving, and that God would guide Roy as a shepherd.

Ok, so now I will explain the photo at left. Here is a small snapshot of my kitchen, and more specifically, the half of the kitchen that has a range in it. The white pitcher is standing on the range (the stove). Our stove has two burners and I enjoy using it now that we have metal pans. Above the flowers is a hood thing...so I can vent out smoke or heat or whatever. Today I baked Snickerdoodles (cookies--you can see two of them on the right side of the photo) to give to our neighbors. My kitchen is small, so counter space is a commodity. I realized that the vent is metal, and we have a magnet, and I could take the recipe out of my book and stick it to the vent, so I can use the counter space that my "Better Homes and Gardens" cookbook usually takes up. Thus, that paper hanging from the vent in the photo is my recipe. Yeah!

Oh, and the flowers...Roy bought me flowers today!!! :) I did not expect them (remember I told you we have had a rough couple of days)...praise Jesus. They are purple roses...and smell like roses...mmm. The last time I smelled roses was in Washington, on a Sunday, after the 11:30am service at Mars Hill Church, after I walked Mildred to her apartment. There is a rose garden by the senior living apartments; it contains beautiful roses of all sorts of colors and sizes. Mmm... nature. So Roy chose to remind me of his love for me by buying me roses. Aww... :) I often miss Roy's other actions that declare his love for me, like working hard, letting me know when he'll be home, taking me out to eat, confronting me about my sin, serving Jesus, being generous with me, letting me bake freely, eating and enjoying the meals I make for him, etc. I need to broaden my view of love and how love is expressed.

So I baked cookies today...Snickerdoodles to be exact. I made them to give to our neighbors. Once the last ones came out of the oven, I divided them into three groups and put them on two plates and in one bowl (we only have two small plates...). Off I went to ring doorbells...the first doorbell I rang, no one answered...and I am pretty sure I heard noise in the apartment before I rang the doorbell, but after I rang it, no noise. Hmm... :) I rang two more doorbells, but no answers. Okay...it's 8pm at night, is everyone really out? Not to worry, though, we have many neighbors.

The next door has a creepy red light over it (but a red light is probably not creepy in Chinese culture) and one of those little pots with Chinese burny sticks in it...I don't know how to describe it. It's either a shrine to a god, or to ancestors, or something. It is something spiritual and we see these little shrines tucked in buildings everywhere. In the evening, we'll see food sitting by the shrines; sometimes the food has sticks stuck in it and the sticks are on fire. A burnt offering? Feeding ancestors? No idea. To clarify, our neighbor's little shrine never has food by it and is never on fire...it is just there. I ring the doorbell and an old lady answers (about 50 or 60?). I awkwardly try to introduce myself to her through the metal gate in front of her door, but she does not understand english (and I don't understand Cantonese...), so she gets her son to come over and interpret. He seems to understand, but then he goes and gets his sister. She is nice...and they all seem surprised by the cookies. They accept them and say thank you and bye. I know they understood that I lived upstairs...

I made two more cookie deliveries, and on both of them an older person answered the door...but when they heard me speaking english, they called a teenage kid over to interpret. The third apartment's teenager didn't really get it... but they eventually understood that I didn't need them to let me in to our building, I wanted to give them cookies. The mom and dad turned away the cookies at first, saying ng gaw (thank you)...but they eventually accepted them as a gift. They had an ADORABLE little 1-2 year old son...he was so cute!

What an experience it is to communicate with people without using the same language! The people at Babel must have had a terrible time. I so want to learn Cantonese...

Oh, by the way, the other day our doorbell rang. Roy answered the door and there was a Jehovah's Witness! What? IN HONG KONG? They're everywhere! Those JWs...I hope our neighbors didn't think I was a JW...maybe that's why some didn't answer. Good thing God is sovereign...He is at work, even if people may think I am a JW and not answer the door.

Pray for us to be able to build relationships with our neighbors. After delivering the cookies, I have a desire to teach people english(and to learn Cantonese!)...people who don't have much opportunity to learn it. Kids who go to international schools pay big bucks to attend and most, if not all, instruction is in english. But I bet students who attend local schools have more of an exposure to english as kids in the US have to spanish. "Yeah, I took Spanish for four years...but I only remember Hola, como estas!" Just a guess, I have no evidence to support such a claim.

Thanks for reading...and as always, I love to hear from you, so send an e-mail or leave a comment!

Sewing Madness

This is Jen, once again. On Thursday Donna invited me to quilt with her and her friend Madeline. I enjoy sewing and would love to make a quilt, so I attended.

During lunch I got to meet Madeline. She is in her late 20s or early 30s (according to my observations, which are usually off), very friendly and very joyful. She smiled for most the afternoon. She was sewing together the pieces of her quilt that she cut last week.

I ended up making a purse, because I need a new one. I only brought a few small bags to HK, one that is too small to hold very much and another that is worn and tearing! Donna knew I wanted to make a purse, so she suggested it.

She already had some fabric that coordinated well: three kinds that all had black backgrounds, white flowers and red berries. Two of the fabrics were sewn together back-to-back with batting in the middle and had diagonal stitching to hold the batting in place. I drew up a few designs, bounced ideas off Donna and Madeline, then began cutting the fabric. I knew if I was indecisive and unsure I would never make a purse, but if I just went for it, I just might begin and finish a purse. :)

We began sewing at 12 or 12:30pm and I finished at 7:30pm or so...with a purse! It took so much thinking...Donna helped me think it through and work out the complications. It is reversible and has pockets on both sides. The horizontal strip across the front of the bag is three pockets of different sizes. One pocket I designed to hold my octopus card (for buying things and for public transportation), another for my wallet and another for extra cash or something small. There is another horizontal strip (of pockets) on the inside as well. One of the pockets works well for pens...

I enjoyed sewing. It was fun, inspiring, and satisfying. It is fun to design and create something. I think God gives us this blessing...but I'm glad my purse can't rebel against me and hate me like humans did to God! Made in the image of the Creator, I like to create...with fabric, with food, with words. Think of all the things humans create: movies, books, art, clothing, buildings, music, food, etc. Everyone is reflecting God...every time they create something. Imago Dei. Amen.