From Vancouver with love

Felt magnets - very cool....thanks CP!

It rocks!

A rocking chair calendar.....the Japanese are so creative.

Encouragement for the discouraged

But I said, "I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the Lord's hand, and my reward is with my God" Isaiah 49:4

A good friend sent me this promise after I shared with her that I felt like everything I do is fruitless or turned into a disaster of late....this Word from God through my friend induced tears of comfort.

Black sesame piggies

Made fresh, super cute and warm chewey goodness to complete a meal.

http://www.chefsgallery.com.au/

Shop 12

Ground Floor Regent Place

501 George Street

Sydney NSW 2000

Robo Cog

I know it's been a while between posts - busy with a few things. But here is a quick post you might like. Lunch at Robo Cog with a friend. Special menu item - beef salad - it was delicious! They are becoming well known for their mexican style breakfast but I felt like something lighter. 1 of the owners who served us was attentive and keen to know if we enjoyed our meals - yes we did!

Robo Cog, 249 Riley Street, Surry Hills.

See review here: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/restaurants-and-bars/bike-buddies-saddle-up-20110716-1hilk.html

Another gift

another dear friend sent me to make me smile.

The card

The card that came with the gift....my friend knows me well.

The perfect gift

A dear friend recently gave me a gift for no reason, well maybe it wasn't for no reason...but because she cares for me.

The gift was a framed photo of the lifebuoy - I wasn't quite sure what to make of it but a mutual friend suggested 'Don't you feel like you've had a bit of an emergency lately and needed rescuing?'....

A thoughtful, funny gift. And perhaps also tongue in cheek as we both know who I should really be looking to for help.

It reminds me that Jesus gave us the perfect gift of salvation - we are rescued from our sins. Rescued because He loves us.

'Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.'

James 1:17-18

Congregational Commission

Following on from the individual's commission, the congregation were asked to respond:

• Are you persuaded that xxx is the person who God has brought at this time and into this place to be a pastor among you and a leader in your ministry?
• Will you seek to make her work a joy and not a burden?
• Will you be sensitive to her needs and the needs of her family?
• Will you seek to minister to her as well as with her?
• Will you assure her of your confidence, your encouragement, and patience?
• And will you commit yourselves to pray regularly for her?

....Since none of us are sufficient for the commitments that have been made today let us call upon the Lord God in prayer.

I was struck by the questions and the sensitivity in which the questions were written. Often, I think we can take those working in the church for granted - just as the individuals are expected to make commitments, so we as congregational members are also called to be committed to the individuals in thought, word and deed.

Individual Commission

One of the churches I visited in Vancouver was First Baptist Church. They were commissioning a new pastoral minister and I was really struck by the induction service - the questions that were asked of both the person being inducted and also the congregation. Challenging call I believe we each are called to in one form or another - here are the questions.

• Are you persuaded that you are truly called to this particular ministry, according to the will of Christ and the custom of this church?
• Are you motivated for ministry by a deep desire to walk with God, a love for Jesus Christ, and a passionate concern for the lost and hurting people of God's creation?
• Are you committed to the mission goals of First Baptist Church and are you prepared to give your support to the ministries in which it is engaged?
• Will you be faithful in caring for this congregation, for giving leadership to the ministries of this church, in proclaiming the Word of God, in discipling Christ's people, and in reaching out to the larger community? (Note response to this is 'I will, with God's help')
• Will you pledge to live a life that models the kind of personal morality, spiritual vitality, and gracious joy that will contribute to the building up of the body of Christ? (Note response is 'I will, with Christ as my strength and guide')
• You will only be able to maintain this response by an ever-deepening practice of prayer, enriched by daily readings of Holy Scripture. You will depend, not on your own strength, but on the Holy Spirit of God and his grace. You are called to make disciples, to lead the people in prayer, faithfully to read the Scriptures and proclaim the Word of God; to baptize and to preside at the Lord's Table with reverence and wonder. Like Aaron, you will bear the names of your people in intercession before the Lord. You will teach and encourage them form the Scriptures and bless them in the name of God. You will help God's people to discover, and use to his glory, the gifts he has given them. Like Moses, you will gladly receive counsel and share the burden of leadership with others. In love and mercy, remembering your own frailty, you will correct, rebuke and encourage, with great patience and careful instruction. Following the Good Shepherd, you will care for the sick, bring back those who have strayed, guide his people through this life, and prepare them for death and life to come. This ministry will be your great joy and privilege. It is also a weighty responsibility which none should dare to undertake except for the call of God. To you, whom he calls, he will always give his strength.

I think I could spend many months contemplating these questions - it's a high calling.

(Congregational response in the next post)

Allpress @ Zetland

My friend S and I were glad we did not share as initially planned.

This was good. Roast pork fresh out of the oven....on a fresh baguette with spicy mayo. Yum.

My friend and her husband have worked through all the sandwiches - they look good and trust her when she says they ARE good!

The queue for the takeaway coffee was long - a rare case of better to eat in than takeaway!

58 Epsom Road, Zetland

8198 4440 for the cafe.

Weekdays : 7am - 3pm

Saturdays : 8 - 2pm

What brings you to your knees?

I've returned home to an unexpected trial. Reading back on an entry I wrote in Vancouver it reminded me of something I wrote when I opened up my heart to God:

Breaking me in every part where you know I may hear You

So that I may surrender to You & seek You, willingly or not.

You long for me to realise your fullness of grace &

accept my weaknesses & failings, but know that I am loved.

Down to the bareness of my bones, chipping at the hardness of my heart

Gently but persistently asking me to relent & let go, so that my life is caught up in You & not life's worries.

Calling me to turn to you here and now, instead of longing for the 'to be' with you in Heaven....

There was more to what I wrote, almost like a psalm.

'Down to the bareness of my bones'....It's funny how sometimes you think there is nothing left to give, then something else comes along.

I've felt like I'm going insane at times and then feel guilty that I've not been more in control of my mind and emotions. A reminder that we are not perfect - we are in fact human.

Trying to hold onto God's sovereignty & that He is in control - there is freedom and peace in that.

'There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:...' (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

The Square (1 Michelin Star) - Part 3

Close up of the crab cheung fan - actually I really liked this too, on par with the lo ba go.

Beef balls with bean curd - my brother really loved this. I still like the ones better at Luk Yu Tea House.

Shiitake mushroom and dried scallop double baked broth - really good to cleanse the palate with. Flavoursome.

Baked custard sago pudding - I'm not sure what to think of this as it was denser and not as wet as I would have liked. But it seemed to grow on my brother and he thinks it tasted better the more you ate it with the lotus paste inside.

The Square (1 Michelin Star) - Part 2

Cheung Fan - minced mud crab with dried salty cod on top, very tasty!

Tofu wrapped seafood rolls

Inside tofu wrapped seafood

Lobster dumpling (signature dish) - AUD$8 each!

Inside the lobster dumping - I found it a bit underwhelming but I'm not a lobster fan. But I'm sure it was good for lobster fans - it was pretty huge.

The Square (1 Michelin Star) - Part 1

Starter - different beans par boiled and peanuts, addictive but healthy.

Silver service tea & hot water

Lo Ba Go - love how they served it with sprouts, greens and XO. I think this was my favourite.

Pumpkin spongy cake (that's how they wrote it 'spongy')

We really wanted to try Fook Lam Moon but it didn't open until 11:30am which was not great for our timing today. So we went to The Square which has a Michelin star.

My brother and I enjoyed it - it may have been the dishes we chose but they were well done and subtle flavours which suits me fine. There was a hair in my brother's lobster dumpling so we had to send that one back. You would if you were paying $8 for one dumpling!

4/F, Block 2, The Forum, 8 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Agnes B Cafe interior

Agnes B Cafe

A nice surprise across the road from my brother's place. The first visit was takeaway quiche lorraine (the crust was really nice!) and a iced coffee. The second visit was eat in cheesecake with chocolate swirls which was a really nice consistency and not too rich. Service with a smile and I was able to read some of my book in there - so no need to rush out.

Agnes B typically is a fashion designer but apparently these cafes are very

It's next to the popular Classified and Press Room which serves soups, pastas, omelettes, sandwiches and pastries. They have fancy patisserie cakes and apparently the signature cake is 'Chloe'. It is open from 7.30am until 11pm which I think is pretty good!

G/F, 118 Hollywood Rd., Sheung Wan. Tel: +852 2915-2382

Yummy goodness

I had to make up for lost time today with my tummy not being very well. These 3 things I have been told come highly recommended in the Sheung Wan area. And so it was my mission today:

Won ton from Mak's noodles - Mum apparently went there 4 days in a row. The bowl is small and so is the won ton but they are so tasty. The broth is also drink-worthy and includes prawns in the stock. The tables have a review by Anthony Bourdain under the glass tabletop. HKD$30 which is approximately AUD$4. Great snack. The egg noodles were thin and chewy too...I hope I can fit another bowl in before I go.

Hand made fish ball congee from I think Law Fu Kee Noodles Shop on Lyndhurst Terrace (the name is in chinese) - my high school friend said they are quite well known for their beef congee (which I forgot!) and their hand made fish balls.....I got this takeaway as after eating my entree of won ton, I wanted to collect the congee then the custard tarts.

Darn tarts (custard tarts) from Honolulu Cafe on Stanley Street - I waited for 30 minutes for these to come out of the oven. Yesterday they were all gone, when I arrived around 12pm today a bunch of tourists from China bought them all! I ate one fresh out of the oven - it had not set yet but was warm goodness. A cooler one was still good too - not too rich, although I would have liked the pastry to be more flakey. But the balance between the custard and the pastry works well.

Language lesson - Part 2

There were several others, not swear words but I may embarrass him if I posted them.

Language lesson - Part 1

My brother is learning chinese and he has these apple sticky notes all around his unit. Some in logical places, others not - but maybe it's logical to him!

Gentle reminders

As I prepare to return home to 'life', some dear friends have sent me gentle reminders from God's Word. Prayer and thinking about good things needs to be a priority for me.

Philippians 4:6-9

New International Version (NIV)

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

And it's always good to re-visit a key verse from times past. I know for me it's easy for my thoughts to run away with me and I forget that my thoughts need to be 'obedient to Christ' just as much as my actions are too.

2 Corinthians 10:5

New International Version (NIV)

⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel - Signature Dish

Hainan chicken rice HKD$208 - quite pricey but I guess it was in a hotel and it's one of their signature dishes...The rice was really flavoursome (I really don't like using that word but it was packed with flavour).

http://www.mandarinoriental.com/hongkong/dining/bars_and_lounge/clipper_lounge/

Noah's Ark

...in Hong Kong?!

Some crazy dude rebuilt the ark supposedly to specifications complete with sculptures of pairs of animals! Their vision statement is interesting. They don't outrightly talk about God but it seems to be built out of love in action?

Part of me wants to go see it, the other part is not so sure. It would be pretty amazing if the animals were real. I wander if there is a sculpture of Noah too...

http://www.noahsark.com.hk/eng/index.php

Rest

I wish I could be as succinct as Nicola - I was introduced to her blog yesterday and how appropriate this entry is.

http://ohmywordy.blogspot.com/2011/06/rest.html

Sameness and goodness

During my time in Vancouver one of the most obvious ways I saw & heard God was in creation - in the BIGness of the mountains and the trees. And more directly in my time at Regent as I was there to learn more about Him and just be in concentrated community of believers.

I was struggling yesterday with being unwell, worrying about going home and generally thinking too much....not thingking (I'm suppose to write more on this!). I hope I'm using 'thingking' properly! A friend wrote to me and reminded me that God is wherever I am - whether that is at home in Sydney, in Canada or here in HK. I guess her point was - whether I decide to stay here longer or come home God is there and still the same, that He can work in my life wherever I am.

For me I think I worry that I will go back to being the same. I've been worrying that when I get home somehow I will feel far from God, that I will be distracted from Him and that I will lose whatever I have learnt from my time at Regent - so I will be the same as when I left. If I am not still I will be distracted. But my time at Regent has reminded me that there are disciplines involved - there is a relationship there that I have not been working on daily or treating as a priority. Trials are not so much a problem for me (I say that now!) as I know they are opportunities for growth. A big weakness of mine is my own self esteem and realisation of my identity in Christ. So in some ways I am my own worst enemy.

I was beginning to focus more on unknowns and negatives than on the blessings that exist and are yet to come.

I was thinking yesterday that it's alot harder for me to see God here in Hong Kong amidst the concrete jungle and the mass consumerism of crowds of people wandering the streets to purely shop and eat. I mean, it's not that people don't do that elsewhere, but that's what people come to Hong Kong to do - shop and eat.

CP helped me realise that I definitely see and hear God more when I'm still and amidst nature - whether it's staring at massive mountains & trees, walking to Balmoral or loving dogs (& now maybe sea otters). Which is kind of funny & ironic given I'm more of a city chic. Whilst doing not much in Vancouver worked for me, I don't think it's working for me here in HK - I think it's because the mountains and trees are missing and it's not exactly the best city to be still in the way that best works for me. But perhaps it's good preparation to find ways to seek God again in different and even the smallest of things.

I think coming here has been a good transition - I need to start getting back into things like being in a city and in crowds. It's not that I wasn't living in reality in Vancouver - but for me being in Vancouver was almost like Heaven.

It also makes me appreciate that home for me has many privileges and blessings which I have forgotten. Whilst I may be going home to having to find a job, settling into a church & other things that are a challenge and all still there - I need to focus on what's good. Can you help keep me accountable?

Black skinned chicken

Keeping things simple...

Lunch set A : Mini spring rolls, beef noodle soup and coffee/tea.

My brother's office & the view over the harbour : note the plastic dinosaur holding a pen in it's mouth on his desk...I think I was also nauseus from watching the chopping waves in the ocean - it felt like I was on a ship. Note the polar fleece jacket on the chair - he was given this when he started this job...because the air con in the office gets really cold!

Groceries : wholewheat bread, milk, camomile tea, hand wash, ginger, lemon, bananas, chocolate...all for $12.

Well, I've been in Hong Kong for 4 days now and the past 2 days I can't keep anything I eat down, except for simple things like toast!

I'm in the city where you eat and shop and I can't eat and haven't felt like shopping.....I felt like wandering around this afternoon but the nausea is getting the better of me.

So my simple pleasures today were:

- meeting my brother for lunch at his work and getting a glimpse into what he does at work. He is the director of planning at a marketing firm. Just like you see on TV he had lots of butcher's paper up with ideas drawn all over them, the staff were all pretty trendy and casual and they had break out rooms with beanbags and a pool table etc. Funny to think my little brother is a director and has staff under him! I met some of his staff - totally weird. Needless to say I felt very old with his staff averaging in age 23 years old.

- buying a bunch of groceries for HKD$103 which is equivalent to AUD$12. There is no way you could get all these items in Sydney for that much. I made a chicken, fish cake and vege stiry fry the other night for $7 and I had also bought mineral water. And this is from the Welcome supermarket downstairs, not the cheapest of places to buy things from.

- I almost forgot one not so simple pleasure : I had a 75 minute massage for $44. I had a really interesting conversation with the masseuse - she told me the minimum age 'young people' are expected to marry in HK is now 35 years old, HK people really have a problem with mainland China people, she has friends who have been to Australia and love it because they aren't rude like mainland Chinese people and there are not so many of them there, rent is very high in HK usually 40% of one's salary and therefore it is very hard to save money, that I can get 3 t-shirts for HKD$10 (AUD$1-2) if I go to Causeway Bay and that food is very cheap in Jordan. Candy also explained to me the typhoon levels - 1 being light and kids in creche have to stay at home, level 3 means high school kids go home (which is what today is) and the highest level above that is people don't have to go to work. I'm not exactly comforted by the 'typhoon warning system' and that it is a 3 but family assure me it just mean it's raining! I tipped the lady but my brother reprimanded me for tipping as 'Asians never tip asians'. But I wanted to give her a HKD$40 (10%) tip - it is nothing for me but seemed to have made her day.

by T

Check this out, I think it's deep and awesome. This is by T, the new friend I talked about in an earlier post who loves C.S. Lewis. This is a visual poem he created for his Christian Imagination class, I'll let him explain the background to it!

Let me know what you think by email or posting a comment (you can post a comment without having to log in).

http://youtu.be/kDvgavOJyUc

Jericho Beach - last visit

Foot shot from New York

Foot shot from Jericho Beach



Here are the final pictures I took from my walk yesterday. I was just looking at them and some of them are unintentionally arty looking...sort of. I also have a habit of taking a picture of my foot whilst walking accidentally - now I have one from New York and Vancouver!