*plus rawks*
i love plus!! (for you non-viners, 'plus' is our church's cell/home groups) this is my last week of official full-time work, and last week i was beginning to freak out a bit and doubt whether what i'm doing is really sane. quitting a good full-time job for... nothing. but coming into this week, i've received 3 totally encouraging emails which tells me that i'm on the right path. and today, at plus we were studying 1 corinthians 8 & 9. amazing stuff... it's as though parts of chapter nine were written for exactly this time in my life. God has a funny way of doing that...


1 corinthians 9v19 sums it up quite nicely for me: even though i am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, i have VOLUNTARILY become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized--whoever. i didn't take on their way of life. i kept my bearings in christ--but i entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. i've become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those i meet into a God-saved life. i did all this because of the message. i didn't just want to talk about it; i wanted to be in on it! (the message).


this completely reaffirms what God had spoken to me 3 years ago when i made the decision to stay in hong kong. i am not my own. yes there have been many moments along the way where i have failed to keep this in perspective, but the Lord is reminding, getting me back on track. who do i think i am? do i define myself by the clothes i wear, the music i listen to, the people i hang around with, the things i do in leisure? or do i let the Creator of heaven and earth, and my heart, define and mold me? i realized tuesday night that wherever i am, whoever i may have become at that moment in time, is NOT me. it is only what i need to be in order to affect the people around me by the spirit of God. and if God chooses to take me from this place tomorrow, next month, next year, i will gladly adapt and be what i need to be there. he transformed me from a winter-loving, treehugging, indecisive, hip hop-hating, spoilt brat to a chinese-loving, hip hop dancing, driven city slicker.


yes, i've changed. thank God.

*side note*
tuesday night against columbus... 6-0... our home record: 5-0-1.

*rockit*
amazing weekend - great music, friends, blue sky, painting faces, drum jams, brownies, "YOU LIKE METAL ROKU???"... what more can you ask for? i will get my pics up soon... props to all the people who organized it. even if they lost money, i think they gained so much respect just by being professional and keeping everything running smoothly. the atmosphere and bands made it worthwhile. harbourfest should learn a thing or two from this whole ordeal. for all those who missed it *ahem*KIM*ahem* or who don't live anywhere near hk, check out the post-news and photos here.


more later.

*meet the parents*
it was derek's turn tonight... such a momentous time. nearly 3 years after we met. hmm... i guess i won't bore you all with the details, but you'll all be glad to hear my dad left his guns at home :D everything went much better than i thought. and derek even managed to suppress his upchuck reflex and ate the fresh uni (sea urchin) that my mom brought back from vancouver. he of course also had better luck than gaylord focker with a last name like ma, because my dad is kind of a horse racing freak. kinda scary to think about it, but this kind of thing does make a difference i'm sure. dpma got a few bonus points with that one.


in the midst of my sister trying to ram her catholic ideals down everyone's throats, my dad said the truest, yet simplest, thing i've ever heard him say: that nothing matters but what is inside us, our hearts. so many things [about "religion"] are just man-made and irrelevant. MY dad said this. i was mildly shocked to say the least, but also comforted. he had apparently gone to billy graham crusades in his youth (likely during his days at the university of wisconsin) and attended the church of england and had raised his hands at alter calls many times before. of course, he is still far from actually accepting the WHOLE truth of the gospel of jesus christ, but tonight i realized that he has a much clearer and genuine understanding of christianity than i had previously thought. although that still didn't really shut my sister up, i said a silent prayer of thanks. the Spirit is working in him.

*the verdict is in*
canucks are now 4-2-1 after schooling the st.louis blues today at gm place!! the game was tight and tied up until 19:47 of the third period (that means with 13 seconds left in the game - for all you clueless in hockey terms), when the rookie jason king took the puck to the net in a 2-man advantage. this kid's already got 3 goals and 2 assists in 6 games... i'm impressed. we now have a perfect record at home, and we are leading the western conference with one point more tha l.a. but i just wish we could do this on the road more often. the canucks are off to a pretty good start this season, and i really really hope they can carry it off til the playoffs. i'm sooo excited... why is it so darn difficult to find a place to watch a game in hong kong??!

*HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABBY!!*
remember the sunscreen my dear... :)

*sick me*
i'm home today, being a sick girl. i was sick yesterday, but didn't have the sense to not go to work. derek gave me his yucky sore throat bug, but he refuses to admit it. anyway, he's all better now, and i'm still sick. my head feels 5 times as heavy as usual, and my nose won't stop running. it's just alternating between the two nostrils... lovely i know. i managed to gross out all my coworkers and plus group last night. so that was my hint to stay home... well this gives me a chance to go grocery shopping, maybe clean the flat, and do some reading and praying.... that's always good.


my parents are coming tomorrow!! YAY!! haven't seen them in... well awhile. now that my youngest sister has been shipped off to uni, my parents have all the time to do whatever they want. my mom wants to start making bead jewelry and selling them, and they're coming to stock up on beads. i might actually be able to see them this time, since as far as i'm aware there are no weddings, cruises, or business trips to be had. and i won't have a job soon.... although i'm sure my dad will be golfing as much as he can. anyway, they might actually be able to make it to church this time, and hopefully even 'passionate for our city'. ha i remember last time my mom came to the vine, some random guy stood up to speak during the ministry time, and afterwards she was like... "who was that guy??" she was so confused... i tried to explain to her that the vine is unpredictable like that, but she didn't quite get it... :) well that's the difference between the vine and other churches: there is freedom to move, to worship, to speak, prophesy, to repent and be humbled. i have rarely seen that in any other church, and i've been to a good many. how i pray and hope that one day someone will call and tell me things have changed in vancouver....


anyway, it's about time to get my day going... it's 1pm...

*crunch time*
i just wrote an email to my church pastors and elders telling them of my plans after october... it feels a little scary, although i don't know because of what. these last few weeks of work are going to fly by. for starters, i have all friday afternoons off because i still had holidays left over. here's the breakdown:


- last weekend tom and jacinta and i went to cheung chau for a much-needed sna leaders' retreat. we just prayed and talked and prayed and talked and prayed... and then we ate some dodgy food off the side of the road. this is why i love hong kong. there was this one stall with just all sorts of crap like squid and bird brains (they looked like bird brains) and green peppers and eggplant with fish paste and fish balls and sausages that you can pick and choose to deep fry. the lady's got the cart with all these things laid out and a huge wok full of oil... you point and she chucks them in the wok... then she touches it up with a fine sprinkle of msg and throw it in a paper bag. voila, it's a meal. that's why i'm gonna retire on cheung chau. i need to get fat.


- this week my parents are coming for like a month!! it's gonna be so good to see them! ahh and they get to finally meet derek... should i tell him about my dad's gun collection..?


- friday we have an all-plus dinner which should be loads of fun. chaos is always on the menu whenever 2 or more vine members get together for a meal.... then saturday is the rockit festival, which uncle joe and whence he came are playing along with a good number of other indie/alternative bands from the uk and australia.


- the following weekend, on the friday, we've got 'PASSIONATE FOR OUR CITY' worship night at ica with a bunch from hillsong church. this is going to be awesome. we want to get the whole church of hong kong worshipping together! on the saturday, there are some worship workshops during the day, and then it's YOUTH ON FIRE, also with the hillsong folks. then sunday we got exclusive rights to the
hillsong peeps at the vine.


not a bad line up.... i'm gonna take a nap now while i still have time.. then off to a meeting. will finish this later... :)

*on a roll*
can you say "WHOOP ASS"?! 3-0 against edmonton...

*ruach is my feng shui master*
saturday at 180 we had an illustrious panel of guests to answer questions to close off a series on common questions about christianity. the guests include paul ellis, the pastor of island city church and also a professor of international business at city university (i think); gretchen ryan, the new managing director of mother's choice; and nury vittachi, a well-known journalist and writer in hong kong. all are christian, and all have an influence in their place of work outside of the church proper.


one topic of debate was how mr.vittachi, being a christian who also has a leadeship role in his church, could write a series of novels with blatant supports and promotes a new age practice such as feng shui. although i found holes in his argument, i really liked what gretchen said in the end: WE have the ultimate and best feng shui master in the Holy Spirit.


the same word which we generally translate as "Holy Spirit" (ruach) is also translated as wind. the Holy Spirit is a Wind. he is the wind that directs us and tells us which is the best way to arrange our lives to achieve the most abundant life. feng shui is all about arranging the earthly elements (the wind and the water) in order to effect the best results in life. but OUR feng shui master is much less mah faan than that. we don't need to play with mirrors or goldfish or sleep in any particular direction... all we need is a soft heart and lots of faith. i am so glad we have a God who doesn't beat around the bush but cuts straight to the point, straight to the heart of things. that's all He desires: our hearts. not how we arrange our house, not how we dress, not even our jobs or anything we can do.


there is nothing we can do to make God love us more; there is nothing we can do to make Him love us less. his love for us is unshakeable and complete.

*hat trick!*
3 posts in one day! woop woop!! well i just have to let the whole world know (because the whole world obviously reads my blog) that vancouver kicked some calgarian butt today... 4-1!! go canucks!!





this one's just for fun... kariya - good ol' vancouverite doin us proud :)

*antsy in my pantsy*
the more i think about it the more anxious i am about what comes after october. there are a lot of things i've had to put on the back burner because my job simply takes up most of my day. and i hate putting things off. i know the things that God has called me to and i want to do it! of course, poor management skills also have something to do with it... but nonetheless i'm determined to be the most productive person ever! once i quit work...


i want to pray more. ALOT more. regularly. i mean lock myself in my room and just pray through things, and people, for hours everyday.


i want to get to know my PLUS members more.


i want to hang out with sna'ers, and my 'girls', more.


i want to dance more!!!!!!!!


i want to start awesome life-changing programmes in schools with jacinta!!


i want to spend more time with people.


i want to pray and spend time with derek more regularly! (fyi: that's thursday nights, so don't expect to see either of us on thursdays!)


i want to put more time into sna and offer everything i can in order to see them grow into amazing kings and priests and mighty warriors for jesus!!


i want to actively start building MY part of the wall at the vine center!!


and i wouldn't mind being able to go home for a bit to see my family and old friends....

p.s. i wrote this about 3 days ago... just got around to posting it.
*beach days*
i've been at repulse bay everyday for the last 3 days. not a bad way to spend my days - not bad at all. it's been great... on sunday our church had our legendary ( i think it's legendary anyway...) baptism at the beach. it's our third of the year i think. another gorgeous day of sun and dunkings and pizzas and joanne's house :) i'm amazed every time at the way the lives of people in our church change. i think i'm a metamorphosis junkie. i'm coming to terms with it. i just love being a part of and seeing people grow in their understanding of who God is and who they are in His eyes. people like cleo, gabby, mark, dan, joe, fion.... the list goes on. these are only some of the people i can think of off the top of my head. our church is into changing lives. no wait, that's jesus' job. our church is just into encouraging people as much as we can. and i love that God would let me be a part of it sometimes. derek was saying a few weeks ago how sad he was to see mark leave, because we've both invested so much into his life. but i'm excited when people leave this place. i would rather them go and continue with what God has called them to do than to stay here with me. in a way, i think that's how we can go into all the world, without even leaving our own home. what we have invested in mark is with him, and he is using it to impact other people's lives. derek and i have an impact in the u.k. because of mark. we have an impact in hawaii because gabby is there. i had a lot of impact in cebu last month eventhough i didn't actually go, because i had invested in the people in the team and they have gone to impact others. and that's how GOd's love and grace and forgiveness and joy touches people today, through us. we love because he first loved us.


so monday was derek's birthday (yes he is now at a ripe ol' age of 24 - woohooo). we had dinner at the hong kong golf club at deepwater bay with his family. he's got funny brothers :) so since quitting his job, he has conveniently aquired a load of electronic toys. his boss gave him a 30geg ipod and he got a 4.0mp ixus powershot. but, as my friend criket pointed out, he doesn't have a working webcam. the funniest was when the waiters came in with the cake - trying to sing 'happy birthday'. the problem they were so quiet we couldn't here them at all. and then we discovered the cakeshop spelt his name wrong. so anyway, happy birthday derele heehee


i took the day off on tuesday, and we took off to the beach (again). we hardly ever get any time together, and it was sooo nice to be alone for once. even though we see each other often, we are both always busy with other things and other people. we got a picnic, planted ourselves under a perfectly shaded tree, and laid there for 4 hours. and it was perfect. when you see him, commend him on his lovely tan :)


so 3 straight days at repulse bay. i'm looking forward to more days like these once i finish my job at the end of the month. ahhhg... speaking of which i have many things on my mind -- but that's for another time....

*funny in my tummy*
you know that feeling you get when you're are standing at the edge, about to step into something mysterious? it's the same feeling i get when the first snow of the year falls, or when i'm actually standing at the top of seventh heaven with my 154 strapped on, looking out to the endless white-capped peaks of the cascade mountains.


i'm starting to get those feelings now, as i am on the verge of heading into some big unknown. in the past 3+ years, God has pinched and honed me into absolutely loving and embracing the lack of control i have on the future. yes i just said the "F" word. the Future. every man has gone to great ends to conquer it, to get even just a little grasp of it would be sufficient. but it cannot be done. no matter how hard we try, how much we anguish over it, how much preparation and anxiety we pour into it, we cannot tame it. so now i just take it as it comes. embrace it. trust it. trust the one who has it all in the palm of His hand. i know some people who have tried to fight it (myself for one) and hold on to the past or present -- however obviously futile it might be -- simply for the sake of a bit of familiarity and security. but we never get anywhere. we just end up in that same place for a long time. sometimes its weeks or months, and sadly, sometimes, it's years. but when you trust the Author, the Master script writer, He will always surprise us with what's in the midst of that mystery.


so this little funny feeling in my tummy... it's a good thing. i'm excited. and i'm ready.

*rubbing shoulders*
mr. chow yun fat -- the hong kong equivalent of robert deniro (old school gangster movie legend). to commemorate his rather healthy donation (the amount of which we are sworn to secrecy, or else face prosecution...) to KELY support group in partnership with kiehl's. why am i writing in sentence fragments? now something about kiehl's i don't quite understand: they are a cosmetics/skincare company who proports to be community-conscious and a supporter of the all-round wellbeing of women etc. etc. etc. while using a skeleton (affectionately called "mr.bones") and stick thin gwei-mui models for icons. are these the ideal that hong kong women are supposed to strive for?


my own issues aside, the afternoon ceremony last week was a blast. a nice little break from our mundane routine at work. the presenter, for the life of him, could not get our name right (he kept calling us "kelly's group"... as if we were a bunch of adoring fans of the local pop [gag] princess kelly chen) nor could he properly pronounce the name of our chair of the board of directors, diane bohm (pronounced like "home" with a B. he kept saying "mr. bong", "bomb"...). yes, we must forgive. he is only a model... or "module" as one put under 'occupation' on our volunteer form.


and we all went to california pizza kitchen for lunch afterwards, where derek and i had our own little "turn left turn right" moment.... hehee.









and my personal favourite: chow yun fat attacking diane bohm... (i thought my south island friends might like this one)