*nth degrees of seperation*
there's something to be said of random messages from friends that testify to how much you mean to them. it's like getting to overhear conversations at your funeral, early. i guess as low-tech as it is, friendster is a pretty amazing invention. the fact that it connects you with thousand of people you don't know, just for that fraction of a chance of crossing someone you once knew.... i've had 2 totally random, totally old-school, people from my past show up this week through friendster. one, the sister of my best friend from like grade 7, and the other the son of some old family friends who live across the street from my parents. totally random. and have we got some interesting degrees of seperation! i've actually never been 'good friends' with either of these people, but by the pure virtue of them being a part of my past, they are now considered 'friends.' and there's something about getting older that makes the walls of my youth become ever fainter. i realize more and more how narrow my walls once were as parts of my youth come into focus through the lens of my present eyes, which have since seen so much more. life is pretty cool sometimes, when these folds in time happen, and you realize how much you've changed over the years, how different you are to the you 5, 10, 15 years ago... being here in hong kong seems so surreal still at times. i think about my uni days, becoming a chirstian, highschool, my friends and what we used to do, the house we used to live in, stepping foot in canada for the first time, even my first years of life in hong kong - all these different times seem like a different life, a different me. but now that things have come full circle, i'm beginning to see the reasons, and the purposes in God's plans for my life. every experience, every chapter, is there for a reason. i love it. i love how intricate my creator is. to think, he's thought of all of this in my life, and for every single person that has ever lived and everyone who ever will! jesus is so cool...


REMEMBER THESE THINGS, o jacob, for you are my servant, o israel. i have made you, you are my servant.... i am the lord, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself... ~ isaiah 44:21, 24

*escapades*
a few photos to amuse you for now... there are more on my image station.


there are pirates among us...



who says moving isn't fun.... especially when you get to saran wrap your furniture item and walk through a typhoon...

*dreary rainy day*
there were pictures with this, but they won't show up for some reason... anyway, it's still kinda cute.

GOD IS LIKE....
A fifth grade teacher in a Christian school asked her class to look at TV commercials and see if they could use them in some way to communicate ideas about God. Here are some of the results:

BAYER ASPIRIN
He works miracles.

a FORD
He's got a better idea.

COKE
He's the real thing.

HALLMARK CARDS
He cares enough to send His very best.

TIDE
He gets the stains out that others leave behind.

GENERAL ELECTRIC
He brings good things to life.

SEARS
He has everything.

ALKA-SELTZER
Try him, you'll like Him.

SCOTCH TAPE
You can't see him, but you know He's there.

DELTA
He's ready when you are.

ALLSTATE
You're in good hands with Him.

VO-5 Hair Spray
He holds through all kinds of weather.

DIAL SOAP
Aren't you glad you have Him.
Don't you wish everybody did.

The U.S. POST OFFICE
Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet nor ice will keep Him from His appointed destination.

*changes*
i was getting mighty bored with my old template... so bear with me while i tweak out this one. there are still a few things i need to work out.... meanwhile, have fun 'spacing' out!! (hehee)

*keeping up with the jones's*
ok after much struggle i have come to terms with modern technology and have finally signed up for msn. derek sent me his entire contact list so if you have a "phatphish" or "m_a_o@asianavenue.com" knocking on your door, please let me in. i'm you're friend. :) so, here's to the joy of faceless conversations...

*the time bandit*
has eluded me once again. too many things swirling around my little head....

let's take an informal poll shall we? msn or icq? or YAHOO msgr?? this is a serious matter...

things i discovered this weekend...
- katie is deathly afraid of small furry animals
- lantau island is considerably cooler than the city
- there are FOUR beatons conveniently named in alphabetical order: adam, brenden, craig, david (yes, note the last two...)
- the eldest beaton goes to my alma mater, the university of victoria, a campus where bunnies and ducks run rampant
- john did not find 'finding nemo' *ahem* arousing
- the side panel of an ikea bed can cause considerable pain on a barefoot
- that mark from wales spent a summer in northern ireland with people from my church in vancouver
- gabby is the only chinese-reader in our 16+ PLUS group
- that derek is serious about this FLASH MOB thing

*more old new pics*
hey look i've finally dug up the photos from the cebu mission trip way back in lunar new year earlier this year! just a wee look at what you might be up against if you're thinking about going on the next one in september. man this sure made me miss cebuano barbeques and mango shakes....



also check out my truly NEW (never before seen on TV!!) first batch of lomo creations while you're there...

*just because i'm bored...*
even cuter...


my baby...


the one that didn't make it...

*a story*
i've been wanting to write this post for a few days now... i just wanted to have enough time to mull and process some of these thoughts...

since starting to volunteer at mother's choice i've been pondering the lives of these beautiful prescious children. in the wee hours of the morning, i was talking with fion about the babies at the orphanage, the various reasons that someone would have to give up their own child, the effects of being seperated from your nine-month source of safety and security, and being passed around from arm to arm not knowing how long each embrace would last... it's actually something that's been close to my heart. since i was in highschool i've wanted to adopt, or at least to offer my home as a foster home. this was actually the impetus for me to enter into the child and youth care field. tears welled up in our eyes last night as we acknowledged that we could never ever understand what life looks like for someone who has never known the face of the one who birthed them.

but the lord gave me a revelation last night. we may never know the depth of the pain of this kind of seperation, but of course HE knows... i absolutely believe in god's infinite ability to heal all such wounds. how does he know? well, how does it feel to be seperated from your natural home of eternal glory, honor, power and adoration, where you can intimately fellowship with your father, in order to enter a place where you are confined by time, space, and body, where no one can truly understand who you are? how does it feel to be an innocent person judged as guilty (guilty for every wrong of the world, past present and future, for that matter)? it is because of all this that jesus is able to heal those wounds.

and this whole adoption thing.... how far would our father in heaven go to get us into his house? humanly speaking, many who adopt do it more out of a selfish reason rather than an altruistic one. such is the limit of our humanity. we are selfish. we want to feel worthy and significant by having a helpless baby need us. we want our name to carry on after we die, whether it be by our own flesh or not. but god needs no such trivial things. he wants us simply because he loves us. he wants us even when we are angry, bitter, frustrated, broken, imperfect. he wants us because we are those things. the closest human example to this kind of absolute love is in the adoption of dear friend of mine. she had been passed through several families, and through the course of it all, had become quite difficult to deal with. she had come to a point where she would speak or respond to no one. when a family expressed interest in adopting her, they were told by the social worker that they wouldn't really want to have her. afterall, she was very difficult and seemed to have serious developmental delays. but the family insisted. they prayed and they knew that this was to be their daughter. they didn't care that she was difficult. why? because they already loved her. she was prescious to them, no matter how broken a package she came in. they finally adopted her, and through the years of love and care, she came out of her shell, and became a living testimony of the power of the cross to heal and restore.

yes, this healing and restoration process is still going on for her. it was never promised that it would easy, or quick. as tony stated this morning, we have to burn through the hottest part of the flames before all the impurities fall off, and we clearly reflect the face of the silversmith. meeting our true father, the one who created us before the world began, may take some time. sometimes it's awkward, uncomfortable, because we are unsure of our eligibility. but really, we have nothing to be afraid of, because "how can [God] meet us face to face till we have faces?" (c.s.lewis)

*the sailors are coming to town*
yes this phrase conjures up many images. whether good or bad, i'll leave you to decide. what i have to deal with today at work is 7 american navy-men/women helping us clean our office. yes. that's right you read correctly. on their way home from fighting one of the the most controversial wars in recent history, these honorable men and women will clean my office. well, at least if they're suffering from shell shock they're in the right place. i just hope they realize we only serve youth up to the age of 25. but then again, on the radio this morning there was a feature on the ship that's in port right now and the average age is 21.... i'll update as the day progresses....

besides that, my lovely girl jenny will also be coming in to volunteer.... don't worry jen, you'll be in a completely different place as the sailors... ;)

*today*
it's been a long day.

by 9:30am, i had seen and felt the grim fate of humanity. i watched a 20-something chinese woman blatantly refuse to help an elderly lady lift her heavy trolley up one, count them, ONE step. i mean, the elderly woman politely asked the young lady for help, and she actually paused, realized what the woman wanted from her, and shook her head and walked away! it would have taken an extra 2 seconds out of this woman's life... as i walked towards my bus stop after the elderly woman thanked me, i wondered what dark thing could harden a person's heart so much as to stare an old woman in need in the face and refuse to help her. i could understand if this young lady was incapable of helping, but she was clearly of sound body, and for such a simple task as lifting a trolley up one step, it sickened me in the stomach to watch.

then, just minutes later, sitting in the half-empty minibus, i saw my chinese coworker get on and i immediately smiled and waved and said 'hi'. he swiftly glanced over me and the empty seat next to me and sat down in the seat in front of me without saying a word. i was stunned into silence. now granted this was a coworker whom i don't have much in common with, and have never really had much to chat with him about, but at least i try to make conversation when i can.

i remember when, after the columbine school shootings, i had heard on tv somewhere a religious leader comment that the evil that drove the two boys to kill their classmates and teachers is in all of us. any one of us possess the capacity to do what those boys did. what are you thinking now? does something in you immediately rise up and say "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"? are you thinking, "well i'm not perfect, but i would never KILL someone...." i had to think long and hard about this. during the hillsong conference, i was deeply convicted to truly pour out my life for people once again. i think for a long time before, i had tried to do that. then, somewhere along the way, my soul got tired and i told myself, "why am i trying so hard? i need a break. i need to feed myself for awhile now."

i'm not capable of killing someone.

LIAR.

i need to feed myself...

that, in essense, is the very same spirit that drove the two boys to kill. that, in essense, is the very same spirit that drove the lady to refuse to help a person in need. i need to feed myself...

my jesus, i thank you so much that it is your blood that covers my sins. it is your crimson stain that turns the darkness of my pride and selfishness into pure white before your throne. forgive for all the times i chose to serve myself over someone else. forgive me for all the times i murdered the spirit of someone by being selfish. i don't ever want to forget the absolute and sustaining power of your grace. that it is by your loving grace alone that i can stand before you. that it is the power of your Spirit alone that i can even attempt to pour out my life. i pray that every single day you remind me of what it means to live wholly, holy, with you. amen

*weekend*
the photos from the sna junk trip are up!! go and take a looksy on my imagestation.

it has been an unbelievably busy and blessed weekend. it started friday night with a great dinner with the little reads at taco loco (mmmm frijoles..). so good to catch up with those guys. it's scary just how co-dependent derek and tom are. goes to show what 11 years of friendship do to you... afterwards we caught up with the rest of the world (well just matt & gang) at the tsim sha tsui waterfront and had some good impromptu worship. i guess it shouldn't surprise me that we drew such a crowd. a large group of mixed asians & gwailos with ridiculously good guitarists and djembe players singing their hearts out.... all for an audience of One. i met a really cool taxi driver name chong kam sing. he was so enraptured by our singing. i hope one day he becomes even more enraptured by the subject of our songs.

saturday was the sna junk trip, and it was a nice surprise to see so many new faces out. unfortunately many of those are boarders (as in boarding school), so they won't be sticking around in september. still, i have a great feeling about sna this year.... :) for the first time this summer, I DID NOT GET SUNBURNT! i guess that sunscreen stuff really works... we went to clearwater bay and lo and behold, the water was clear! we had tons of fun just lazing around and smearing creamcheese into people's hair. got back around 6pm, went home to shower and change. caught up with nathan's birthday party at the fringe and got to chat with vinny and emi. (i guess it's been kind of a couple's weekend...) i had nearly 2 plates of bbq goodies. but they ran out of the original sauce so i couldn't fulfill my end of the bargain. next time, gotta make sure they have enough satay sauce.... i had to ditch early because there was a fundraiser for KELY at 1/5. i had to go represent and sell sell sell. hey, at least i got to meet carl from the carlsberg ads. and derek put the fear of god in him... hehee. as usual, we had a full house at the 'haven' with fion, jenny cheng, and kim. i love being able to have slumber parties every saturday... :)

church was so awesome on sunday. we just started on a series focused on "purity" and it's soooooo good. read psalm 24 if you get a minute. simply full on. afterwards derek and i went to visit the guys at 'solomon's porch,' formerly known as 'em' (english ministry of the hong kong korean church) out in sheung wan. they've got a new pastor and he's pretty full on. i love it. he's really done a great job in the last 6 months shepherding and inspiring them to live loud. he's taking a small team to uzbekistan this week, so if you get (another) minute, please remember them in your prayers. that's pastor samuel song and team. it was great to catch up with people like annie, charles, jenny yeh, sarah, and marcus and jimmy stewart. i also met another ywamer :) after solomon's porch, i caught up with ann, alison and gabby at ann's house and chilled for a bit. we were going to go to the show at the science museum, but realizing it was going to cost $60, gabby and i decided to wander through ladies' market instead. a much cheaper option.

so, pretty packed. but so good. i felt like i got to catch up with a lot of people, which is always good. there are many things that are good. 'sago with many mango' is good. seeing old friends is good. soaking in the sun is good. life is good. but God, oh he's great....