Day 2-4: J.O.Y.

You'll all soon get to know me as the queen of procrastination anyway, so I might as well own up to it.

Hence this summary of the last 3 days of 365.

It's been a great weekend of surprises, catchups, celebrations, and hangouts.

Have been also thinking how relationships can be more complicated the deeper it gets.

I think back on simpler times and sometimes naively wish for the 'good old days'. But at the same time I KNOW that the past just seems sweeter. Or maybe I just didn't allow myself to invest in other people so much as I do now. Because being open and vulnerable means you will get hurt, but you'll also be given opportunities to love so much more. More than you ever thought you could. Love that only comes from God. I trust that through 365, God will stretch my heart in ways unimaginable and I wouldn't have it any other way.

An awesome sister gave me this verse to meditate on.

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. -Philippians 2:13

So we're always given a choice.

A choice to be selfish or selfless.

A choice to love ourselves or others.

A choice to be comfortable or step out of our comfort zone.

A choice to do what is pleasing in his eyes.

Another moment also stuck with me these last few days.

Playing scrabble with some awesome people, the word J-O-Y was spelled.

One friend mentioned J for Jesus, O for others, and Y for yourself.

But so often people have it backwards. Y-O-J.

So today, I choose J.O.Y.

What will you choose?

#1 Taman Negara

My first ever Canada Day not being in Canada! Instead, I was in Taman Negara, a tropical rainforest in Malaysia. On our seven-hour journey there, I noticed a little 2-year crying out loud on the bus. She kept crying and I was wondering to myself, "Why are her parents ignoring her?" I felt quite sheepish for judging too quickly when I found out later that her parents were deaf. They used sign language to communicate to their three children (who were not deaf).
In the morning, we made our way to the Canopy walkway. It was quite a long hike up, really not consistent with a mix of rocks, stairs, branches, sometimes really steep, other times flat. I noticed behind me the parents with the 2 year old sitting on daddy's shoulders. I could tell the mother was really struggling so I slowed down and offered her a hand for the really big steps. Later on, dad looked exhausted and put down the child. I took her tiny little hand and walked her a few steps. Then I picked her up and kept walking. I kind of expected her to break free from me and go back to dad, but to my surprise, she was really calm and still.
By the end of our 3 day tour of Teman Negara, I felt so blessed to have the chance to bond with the family through sign language, smiles and little acts of love.

Love Casts Out Fears

Having grown up in HK during the time when China was opening up to the rest of the world, I often heard stories of how professional pick-pockets schemed and practiced their trade. so when a girl approached me out of the blue on the bus today, my automatic response was to draw back (a reflex which I'm not proud of.) However, I still hadn't done my act of love that day, which thankfully prompted me to step out of my bubble of fear to see how I could help.

The girl was only looking to see if I could break her $20 bill so that she could pay for the bus fare, which made me realize how silly my fear was. It turns out that I didn't have enough change for her $20, but I decided to just give her the $2 that she needed for the fare. She was quite taken back by my gesture, and thanked and apologized profusely.

It's funny how guarded HK people are, myself of course being one of them. I'm thankful for this incident today, not only because I was able to help someone get home, but because I was able to lay down my guard to help and love others in need.

Love challenge: Don't let your fears stop you from loving others!

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love."

Loving on Flag Day

Every Saturday morning is flag day in HK. Flag Day, according to Wikipedia, is a day on which government approved, public fund-raising happens. Picture the street scattered with people, like land mines, holding sheets of stickers (or "flags"), carrying a bag to collect donations, standing about 6 to 7 feet apart from each other... all ready to charge at you to ask for a donation...every single Saturday morning... It's all for a good cause, but man, HK people can be aggressive! Thus the strategy is to get the flag early, stick it in a very obvious place, and point to it if you see a person approaching you with some flags for sale. It's a strategy that works, but I guess it's not very loving, huh?

Well, I started the day doing something even worse. I flat out refused to buy a flag from a lovely girl when I was rushing to work this morning, justifying myself by saying that I was running late, which I unfortunately was. Of course I felt horribly afterwards, and it was even worse, because I had seen her from afar and had felt prompted that I should help her (even before she asked me.) Thankfully, I didn't have to stay at the office long, and as I headed back out, I made it a point to try and look for her. HK people can't stand or sit still for long, so I thought that my chances of finding her again were slim, but she was still there - yay!

I had my flag, and continued on. Typically, people only buy one flag from one person (and do the point-to-flag motion if any other solicitors ask for more donations.) However, I felt a prompting urging me not to follow the norm, and this time, I made sure to respond to the prompting in a timely fashion. So, I scanned the scene, and approached a high school girl, telling her that I would like to buy another flag from her, even though I had already bought one previously. I even got to chat briefly with her, and found out that she was attending a high school just down the road. I told her to "add oil". (It was another blazing hot 33 degree Celsius day in HK, and those donation bags get really heavy with all the change!) She said, "THANKS!" :)

Love challenge: Don't follow the norm, double up on the Love!

"But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her"

Loving my cousins

I have some amazing cousins, The Carebear Gang. Unfortunately, I didn't grow up with any of them. This summer though, one of my cousins, Bon Qui Qui, is not only in HK for the summer, but will be working at my office part-time! This afternoon, she and her brother trekked all the way from the other side of HK to visit. They live spontaneously, so they didn't have breakfast or lunch yet when I met them, which worked out great, because I hadn't had lunch yet then either, and it gave me the chance to take them out and pick up the bill. :) I'm looking forward to a summer of cousin love!

Love challenge: Sharing is caring!

"The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same."

Day 1: What is love?

I woke up excited about day 1 of this love challenge.

However has the day quickly flew by (being a public holiday and all), I soon got wrapped up in life and the people around me.

So today thinking back on yesterday, I am a bit disappointed with myself. It seemed like a lot of yesterday was about me, myself and Ruth.

But when I go over the day, there were moments where there were smiles at strangers and holding a door open for someone, or saying a simple heartfelt thank you. I guess I will start with the small things. It's the small things that make a day. And the days that make up a life. And I pray for a life lived in love.

My challenge for you today, smile at just five random people. You never know how far it will spread.

Just smile.

Serving in Love

Today is July 1st, the 13th year anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China, aka a public holiday! I was really looking forward to a relaxing afternoon of driving around, hanging out, and chatting over coffee with my dad (he's my hero!) But just as we were going to leave the house, we got bombarded with a list of errands to run from everyone else in the family! Oh man... so much for chilling out. We spent the afternoon running around a few different places, in 33 degrees Celsius of blazing sun. Even though my dad and I didn't get to talk as much as I had hoped, but I'm thankful that I could still spend time with him. (He even taught me how to park his big huge car backwards into a tight spot in one go - an amazing feat!) I felt a great sense of accomplishment that afternoon, not because we checked so many things off the "to-do" list, but I was reminded of what love is all about - serving others and putting their priorities before my own, all done in excellence and without complaining.

Love challenge: "Do all things without grumbling or questioning."

Post script: My dad and I ended up having a lunch date after-all; just the two of us! :)