Meet two friends I have been spending a lot of time with lately: Sarah and Jo. They are precious. Really so sweet and fun to hang out with and get to know. I have loved getting to spend time with them while here in HK.
Among many of the things that we have done together, recently we watched the movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” Wow. That movie is intense. It was neat to talk about how the Old Testament foretells the coming of a Savior that we are in need of. One sacrifice to cover it all. How we are in need of that grace. How nothing else will suffice to cover our sin. It must be perfect. What Christ endured for us continues to blow me away…the beatings, the stander. He continues to interceed on our behalf. And it is by His wounds that we are healed. I am so thankful that I know God and His perfect love, hope, and truth. I pray that you are able to see God’s gracious gift to us with new eyes.
Through primarily an English class we have helped with here in Hong Kong, we have been able to meet some students who have now become dear friends to us over the course of time spent mainly outside of the classroom with them. We are beyond belssed to have them in our lives.
Over the past few weeks, I have been meeting with three girls, whom I met through this English class, every Friday. They are so precious. We hang out, usually over coffee, talk about life, class, and study the book of John. This has been such a blessing, both to be a part of in their lives, and in my life personally. They are curious about Christianity and the Bible and decided that they wanted to learn more.
Studying the Bible with girls who litterally come from not knowing anything in the Bible (minus maybe a couple names and vague stories) has been a completely new and stretching experience for me. I read the Word so differently now. When we are going through scripture together, it is a lot clearer what I know and what I don’t know. In America, whether you are a Chistian or not, you grow up hearing Bible stories. Seeing scripture. It is unavoidable. Therefore I think it is easy to use that background information we have of the Bible to be enough. For some reason, I think most of us from the States could say that when we read the Bible, we don’t naturally get stoped at every other word asking the question, what does that word really mean, who is that, why is he there, why are they there, why did he do that, etc, etc… (It seems to be more of a discipline for us to learn to stop and ask all the questions). We might say some of these different things when we realize we are reading something in scripture that we don’t really understand:
Well, I don’t understand it, but I have faith that it happened.
I am sure that made since at that time.
I can understand half of that chapter, so I just won’t worry about the part I don’t really understand.
(The list could go on and on…)
Or…
We might realize that we don’t understand the meaning of a lot of scripture, get frustrated, not understand the point of reading it daily, and give up.
Now this is not to say that everyone does this, but I think you would agree with me in saying that if you are really honest with yourself, this is you and I a lot of the time.
All of that to say, that as I am studying the book of John with these girls and looking over other parts of scripture with them and answering their questions about the origin and validity of scripture, I have realized and am realizing how much there is for me to learn. I am seeing what I have not personally studied before. I cannot express to you fully how huge of a gift this has been to me. God is still in the midst of teaching me more and more how to study His Word, but I am thankful for what he has already done. Here are some things I have learned so far:
1. Study both the big picture and the details.
2. Don’t simply assume that you know the meaning of everything in a passage just because you have read it or heard it “a billion times.”
3. Learn the discipline of stoping and asking yourself honestly if you really know the stories of all the people in that passage, why certain words were used and what they mean, why certain stories were included, why these people in scripture did what they did, ect…
4. Don’t be intimidated by the fact that there is a lot that you do not really know.
5. Pretent like you have to teach it to someone that does not know anything (this will show you if you really do know it enough to put it into words).
6. Read along with a sound and reliable commentary for more meaning and explanation.
7. Go for quality, not quantity.
8. Study scripture with someone for accountabliity.
God’s Word is eternal. It is truth. Looking more deeply at His Word has been so enriching to me. I am knowing God more and more. My prayer is that I continue to know Him more and more through scripture. Praying that this challenges you.
So a couple of weeks ago, two big boxes arrived at our doorstep. I was way excited. This is the first package that I have gotten from the states since I have been here (I know that you are excited too just reading about this). This is what the inside of the boxes looked like…
So who was it from, you might ask, and what was inside? The gifts were from one of our favorites, Emily Campbell. Yeah, she is pretty great. There were presents for us all individually, and to us as a team. I patiently decided that we should wait until Christmas to open the gifts, but she insisted that we go ahead and open them (which I was secretly hoping that she would say)!
For the team, we got fun Christmas CDs (in true Emily Campbell style), Christmas movies (including quotes like “I know him” and “Look what you did you little jerk”), ornaments to decorate our miniature tree, and candy canes. Now while most of the teammates got their favorite candy, I will let you guess what I was given instead of candy…here is a hint: what did I tote around a lot in Auburn as snacks?
All that to say, thanks Emily. You’re the best. We love you and are thankful for you. Your gifts, encouragement, and thoughtfulness really do mean a lot to us.
Coming home one night after an exhausting day with an hour ahead of us in travel, Zach and I, in the midst of delirium, decided we needed to make the evening more interesting. So naturally we decided to make a game. Playing music on Zach’s iphone while sharing a set of headphones, we said the first one to loose their earphone was the looser. After standing on the mtr (subway), multiple line changes, walking through a crowded mall, and of course periodic singing, I still am not sure who the winner was. To my recollection, Zach lost his earphone, but if I am honest, I think I accidentally knocked it out of his ear.
All that to say, this is what prefaced the video you are about to see. My sweet boyfriend decided to sing to me in the last line of the evening…waiting for the shuttle to go back to our apartment complex. You now get to hear the beautiful singing voice I get to hear just about everyday. Now I know that you have full confidence in my movie making capabilities, but contrary to your thoughts, I did not make this little video (but I did learn a few things as Zach was making this for me).
This past week, we went to “the Peak” with some of our friends that we have been building relationships with here in HK. The Peak is a famous place in Hong Kong to see the city (kind of like going to the top of the Empire State Building in NYC). These students are friends that have become very close to our hearts. Thankful to know them and share our lives with them. If you follow my fellow teammates’ blogs here in HK, I am probably the last one to post a pic from the Peak, but here it is…
Children get your hearts right,
because He is coming for a pure bride.
Children get your hearts right.
These words are not my own, but Leeland’s from their song (yes you guessed it) “Pure Bride.” For some reason I have not been able to get them out of my head. The past few days, the truth that God is coming for a pure bride has been impressed on my heart. In other parts of this song, it says “What are you doing when no one else is watching,” and “The Lord is coming for His bride, make way for the Lord.”
We as the church are His bride. And He is coming for a pure bride. Blameless. Whole. Complete.
I just keep thinking, am I ready? Am I eagerly awaiting His arrival? Am I pure and blameless? He yearns to bring us into completion and wholeness. That is available to each of us. As Romans 5:2 says, through Christ, we have “obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.”
I want to be whole and blameless. I want to be pure. So that I can glorify God and speak out to a broken world. So I can better love and serve those around me. I am His pure bride. We are His pure bride.
One day, Katie and I were hanging out with one of our friends, Claudia, and decided that we would love some cheap local Hong Kong food for lunch, and had a friend from China to help us read the menu and order something we would like. We had met Claudia at the MRT station at New Town Plaza (which is near our apartment) and decided to find a place there. After wondering around for a little bit, we found this restaurant right outside of the grocery store that I do most of my shopping at. The menu looks like this…
Katie and I decided on shrimp wontons and noodles for only 20 HKD (which is less than 3 USD). It comes with cilantro (which I love), some chinese lettuce, and I add some super-spicy red pepper-flake sauce (yum). After I have taken a few bites, it looks something like this…
Out of all of the things that I have eaten in Hong Kong, this is actually what I crave more than anything else here. This dish is not the only thing that draws me to this restaurant. There is a waiter (the only waiter who can speak some english) that the Lord keeps putting on my heart here. His name is Sam. Every time I come, he waits on me/us. For some reason I just want to know his story, and I want to share with him the truth that I know. It is in moments like these that I wish I was fluent in Cantonese. Even though we are not able to talk much, I know that the Holy Spirit has put him on my heart for a reason. If nothing else, I know that God is calling me to pray for this man. So I am praying for him. That he would know the hope that I know.
Something the Lord has put on my heart continually these days is to be disciplined to slow down, hear His voice, and obey. To be propelled by the Spirit and His leading, rather than propelled simply be the momentum of my moving body. To live in His presence. To seek His face more than anything else. For that to be what we exist from and move from. Because if anything I do is coming from myself, it will not go very far. He is the only one who is eternal. He is the only one who sustains.
So I ask you to pray for me in these things. That I live from Him and not from myself. That I recognize His voice and obey. Praying that you take these words to heart and are challenged by this as well.
My grandmother (or “Granny” as we call her) literally is one of the greatest women I know. One of the things that I love the most about her is her fiery spirit, and how she loves to both laugh at herself, and laugh in general. She is know by our family, her friends, and her community as being a sacrificial servant. One medium in which she tangibly loves and serves people through often, is cooking. For several years now, she has on a weekly basis helped cook meals at the Senior Center in Scottsboro (talk about a huge undertaking). Whenever I think about Granny, I have always pictured her being in the kitchen. In the morning, she loves to cook us some of the best biscuits and homemade peach preserves and strawberry preserves in the world. Literally, in the world. Granny has always been so good to come to Dallas during Thanksgiving to both spend time with us, and help with the meal. Food just tastes different when she cooks it. I am convinced that because she cooks with all of her heart and love, the food is just always better.
So this past Saturday, I took on the challenge of cooking a soup that Granny has made for us for as long as I can remember. Literally, one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth (or as Beth would say, “It’s like heaven in my mouth”). This is one of those soups that takes two days to cook. I have watched Granny and my mom make it before, but have never attempted it myself. Over the past couple of years, I have really grown a love for cooking. It has been neat how this interest that has been growing in me, in a sense, makes me feel more connected to both my grandmother and my mom (who is also a fantastic cook).
All this to say, my hope was that this soup could be at least half as good as when Granny makes it. As a side note, I made some cornbread as well for this meal. Although, because we do not have an iron skillet and all the ingredients here that Granny and my mom use, it was a different recipe…and let’s just say that it tasted more like cornmeal then cornbread. But that is okay. The great news is that the soup was pretty good (not quite as good as Granny’s though, of course). I was pleased though. And I was excited that I could share this with my teammates here in HK.
I feel like I am starting to take after some characteristics in my grandmother, and that is such an honor to me. After all, I was named after her (her name is “Mary Emma”). Granny has been one of the most encouraging people to me. She has always believed in me and every decision I have made. She is one of my big supporters (both in life in general and in my ministry) and told me before I left for HK that she is so happy for me and wishes that she could have done something like this in her life. My grandmother has been faithful in what the Lord has put before her. She has lived her life with open hands. I pray that I can look back on my life and say the same thing. Just like her, I pray that I will never stop living my life with open hands.
We have been making some new friends these days. I have been so thankful for their kind spirits and have loved getting to know them. The following are a few pictures from time spent with some of them. The first two are when Katie and I went to Stanley with some students a lot of us here have become friends with. The third picture was taken when the girls (Katie, Malorie, Cat, and I) had some girls over. We introduced them to baking chocolate chip cookies and an American movie (”Martian Child”…one of Malorie’s all-time favorites). I am excited about the relationships we are forming here. More to come…
This past saturday, Mals and I decided to go to the flower market here in HK. First of all, it just sounded fun, and secondly I really wanted to find some twirly bamboo and a bonsai tree for my room at a good price.
The following are a couple of neat things we stumbled upon at the market (once we finally found it)…
I would get one of these if I had somewhere outside I could put it.
Lilly pads…how neat is that.
After browsing most of the area, I finally found the one I was looking for. Say hello to “Baby Bonsai” as we lovingly call her.
And guess what…she was only 38 Hong Kong Dollars (which is like 5 USD). Pretty good if you ask me. Now, after I got home, I realized having a bonsai tree is maybe not the most low maintenance thing ever. So that night, I did what anyone would do. I researched bonsai trees and watched youtube videos on how to take care of them by giving them seasonal “hair cuts.” You see, bonsai trees are not a breed in and of themselves, but are just mini trees that have not grown to be big and huge yet. So you have to cut their branches to keep them from growing. Interesting right? Did you know that one? I guess I had never really thought about it.
Now I have to confess, the info I read and the videos were kind of intimidating. Most of the sites kept saying stuff like, “if you failed once, and are determined to try again, here is some advice on how to care for them.” All I kept thinking was, oh man, what did I get myself into. But, none-the-less, I am excited about my little baby bonsai. I have always loved trees. I have always loved their beauty in and of themselves, and love to think about how they symbolize us and our lives. How those of us who are Christians start off as a seed and grow into these “oaks of righteousness.” I love thinking about how it is mainly their roots that make them so strong…the deeper and wider they grow, the stronger the tree is. How they need watering. I could go on and on. The past few weeks though, I have really been thinking a lot about the following verse.
“Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” – James 1:21
This verse is really the reason why I wanted to get a little baby bonsai to wake up to everyday in my room. To be reminded of my need for the Word. How all we have to do is simply “receive” it and it will be “implanted.” The nature of the Word when it is truly received is to engraft itself and dwell deeply. It changes and transforms us. It is able to “save [our] souls.” It is our strength.
