saturday mornings

i love that saturday mornings usually look a lot like this. one thing i don't love about saturday mornings is stepping on my cup of coffee that was sitting next to my bed. not just a nudge, i stepped on it. the bright side is: the coffee, in it's entirety, has been soaked off the floor and has left a lovely coffee shop aroma for my room. i can just close my eyes and pretend i'm at an actual coffee shop reading, but i suppose that wouldn't be too conducive for actually reading. hope you have a lovely saturday wherever this may find you. watch your step.

my portion for today

Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!

For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.

Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.

He will bring your righteousness forth as the light, and your justice as the noonday.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him...

"green"

Call it "green", call it environmentally conscious, call it "I never felt shameful about carrying a plastic bag home from the grocery store till I shopped in Hong Kong". I have to admit that my minimal efforts would not qualify me to fit into any of the "green" categories. While in Auburn I did manage to form good habits of separating cardboard, paper, and plastics; and yes, I even drove them to the recycling center. I'm sure that the fumes from driving my carefully separated recycled goods only canceled out my attempts at saving the planet. Nonetheless, over the past couple months I have found myself avoiding carrying a plastic bag at all costs. Perhaps an example scenario would help to elaborate my point. Let's say I am in the market to buy some vegetables. In the U.S., I would hop in my car, drive to Kroger, stroll through the isle with my over sized cart that rolls whichever way it pleases [still one of the great mysteries in my book-why shopping carts always seemed to roll sideways or roll normally until you were trying to pass someone and would inevitably jolt into the side of their cart-I digress...] after selecting said veggies, proceed to the self-checkout, dig through my purse for my wallet, place my produce in plastic Kroger bags and waltz out to my car without thinking twice about it. In Hong Kong, hop on the lift, walk across the street to the store, pick up a basket, try desperately to run into as few people as I can while maneuvering through the smaller isles towards the vegetables. After spotting what I need from the second row of people huddled around the desired item, I try to grab whatever I need as quickly as possible, apologizing and reaching across 4 sets of arms in the process, then when I reach the check out I begin to dig through my purse with hope that I packed my compact shopping bag so I don't have to face the look of requesting a plastic bag, after the grocer packs my items I swiftly move along for the next customer. But hypothetically speaking, let's say I forgot to put my compact little shopping bag in my purse one afternoon and instead of asking for a plastic bag to carry things home, I paid for my vegetables and just put them in my purse-hypothetically speaking of course. In the U.S. if a grocer even hinted at the idea of stuffing vegetables in my purse instead of a plastic bag I would have thought they were a little extreme, or so "green"if you will. In the midst of making light of a legitimate concern in a big city, I have to laugh at myself defaulting to broccoli in my purse over a plastic bag.

what's in a name

Last night I found myself huddled around a table with new friends.

As you can see, they enlightened me about a few differences in our names.

I'm learning that embracing, and celebrating, cultural differences yields to deeper appreciation.

I hope I never grow weary of embracing whomever is before me.

flashback

Sitting in the flat in HK looking out over the city.

Listening to the "Shine" series from Encounter last fall.

Thinking back through what I was learning this time last year.

Watching the Lord intertwine all that he has done, and is doing, in my heart and the community around me.

Humbled by Philippians 2.

Orienting myself around the truth that: "A surrendered life that is intended to glorify God is lived out in sacrifice."

conversations to be had

Before arriving in Hong Kong, my knowledge of Cantonese and Putonghua [Mandarin] was minimal at best. Hong Kong is a unique place because so many cultures meet in the context of this ever growing city. For the most part, maneuvering around can be accomplished if English is your only means to understand signs/MTR stops. But there are times when I am become so frustrated with myself that I am not able to communicate well with those I'm interacting with. A couple positive thoughts have stemmed from this frustration with myself: the first is a fresh eagerness to learn the language well and to practice languages I already have some knowledge of; the second is an excitement for today, and for the future, for conversations that could be had after learning a language. And in the midst of my frustration stemming some seemingly propelling thoughts, Cat and I caught a glimpse of the language barrier breaking down. We were on the way to a photo-taking-excursion and we saw our friend Ling. She stopped us to show her latest investment: a translator. If the first picture that popped in your mind was Ling flipping through the pages of a handheld dictionary, you have far underestimated Ling. Her translator is nothing short of fancy. I would try to explain to you the intricate features and seamless way it works, but my lack of technological lingo would most certainly fall short to do it justice. But the point is not the technologically advanced gadget we used to communicate, it is Ling's desire to communicate well and her initiative in that desire. The tiny blips of sound that echoed through the lobby as we typed back and forth will be etched in my memory for a long time to come. As we waited for her to respond to questions, it was exciting to see the look on her face as she read our words in her native language. Her eagerness to communicate beyond simple greetings gave me a new perspective on connecting with people here. Perhaps if you find yourself in HK one day I'll have the joy of introducing you to this sweet friend. All that to say, I'm looking forward to conversations to be had.

today's the big day

There is something so special about wedding days. But today is extraordinary because today, my best friend is marrying Mr. Mike Bailey. The ceremony is one she's always envisioned, and is sure to be nothing short of gorgeous. As I write this, Trace is probably getting her hair/make-up done and checking the clock to see if the hours would just rush to 6:00 already. I can just picture in my head all the last minute details being tied together and everyone bubbling with anticipation as the day unfolds. Mike & Trace are such a joy to know. You don't have to be in a room with them very long to know that they care deeply about one another and have so much fun together. It has been so neat to watch them walk alongside one another in their relationship so far and I feel blessed to call them friends.

[Pacey: I need you to know how absolutely thrilled for you today. I wish I could be there beside you running last minute errands and making sure you have a Diet Coke close at hand. I hope that today is everything you have hoped it would be and more. As much as it saddens be not to be there with you on this milestone day, I couldn't be more happy for you and am excited to walk through these next months and years as you and Mike experience life as husband and wife. Thank you for being the friend you are to me. I love you so much.]