Loving D

There's a sister I know, whom I think must be one of the smartest people in the whole wide world. I know she must have a stash of letters following her name, but I can count the number of times on one hand that she has talked about her degrees. So it wasn't a surprise when I found out that she moved to Hong Kong, because the number one consulting company of the world recruited her, and merely 2 years after joining the company, she was already promoted to manager.

Now this sister is definitely a type-A girl, but she handles whatever the stress the world throws at her with much grace. Although we don't get to see each other too often, since her job has her all over the world, but every time we do see each other, we can just pick up wherever we left off last. I'm so thankful for her. :)

Today is this dear sister's birthday, and I felt like an email, or a regular ecard wouldn't do the trick (she's been put on a really tough client), so I put together a picture of us on the beach, as an encouragement to her to keep steadfast, and stay hopeful!

Spending time with someone is love!

Today is China's National Holiday, and what does that mean? A day off work!! And today was extra special too, because the weather was so beautiful. The morning dawned with clear blue skies, some puffy white clouds, and a gentle breeze telling you that autumn is here. In short, it was Cali weather in HK! Whatever burden one may have, it's weather like this that makes you go, "ahhh, life is good."

So of course I wanted to take every minute of the day to relax, stroll around outside, and gaze into the great mountains and oceans of Hong Kong. Little did I know though that God had other plans in store for me. Halfway through the day, a sister called to ask for my company. I can think of a thousand and one excuses to tell her that I was busy, but I knew that God wanted me to love, so I took some time out to spend with her instead. In the bustling fast-paced city of Hong Kong, time is often the most valuable gift you can give someone!

Interestingly, just the other day, a friend sent me an interesting reminder about the gift of time:
It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son.. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.

Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.

"Jack, did you hear me?"

"Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you.. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said

"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him.

"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.

"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said

"He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him... He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important...Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said.

As busy as he was, he kept his word.. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away..

The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time.

Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture.....Jack stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.

"The box is gone," he said

"What box?" Mom asked..

"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most,'" Jack said.

It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.

"Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."

It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required on a package.. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read.

Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. "Mr. Harold Belser" it read.. Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside.


"Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box.. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch..

Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover.. Inside he found these words engraved:

"Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser."

"The thing he valued most was...my time"

Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days.

"Why?" Janet, his assistant asked.

"I need some time to spend with my son," he said.

"Oh, by the way, Janet, thanks for your time!"

Reminding myself to love...is love!

Earlier, I wrote about a struggle with a sister. To make sure that I remind myself to keep loving her, I sent her a gift, and included an encouraging note! Loving someone doesn't mean just showing them love once, but loving them on a consistent basis. "Love never ends."

Confrontation could be love...

I'm not one to like confrontation. I don't even like discussions that seem remotely like they are heading down the path of confrontation. But perhaps God is trying to grow me in that area, because I have a sister, whom I seem to get into disagreements with every now and then. Honestly, I would rather sometimes just stop reaching out, so that I don't have to get hurt, but I realize that God blessed me with this relationship for a reason, and for this reason, I am called to learn to love this sister, because loving her means loving God. Although my sister and I will fail each other from time to time, and fall short of each others' expectations, but I know that Jesus is the one who teach us how to love, and will heal us of all our deepest hurts. People will fail us, but Jesus never will.

"Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail."

Chickeeduck love

Although I couldn't be there for a sister's baby shower, but I was able to take part in congratulating and blessing her and her baby by sending some Chickeeduck love!

Pressing on through the sleepiness

Do you have days where you feel so tired that it's hard to even keep your eyes open? (It reminds me of an episode in the Tom & Jerry cartoon, where Tom was so tired that he had to keep his eyes open with toothpicks.) That's what I felt like last night. Since 4 that afternoon, I was already looking forward to jumping into bed after dinner.

And of course, God always has the best timing in challenging us to love others. After struggling to stay awake and responsive through dinner, I was just getting ready to say good night to everyone, when my sister asked if I could drive her around to run some errands. Oh mannnnnn.....

Thankfully, it was a lot quicker than I expected. Plus, it reminded me how fun and relaxing it is to go out at night in your pj's. I'm glad that I got to spend that time with my sister, and she was very thankful for my help as well.

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

An unexpected love opportunity

I was really looking forward to catching up with a sister over dinner. We were both super busy this summer, and hadn't really seen much of each other. Even finding a time that we were both free to meet was quite a challenge. So you can tell my excitement when dinner time drew near. I was literally skipping down the street on the way over to meet her.

We ended up going over to her house for dinner, and although we spent some time catching each other up on what's been going on, an unexpected house guest arrived (her brother's friend, who was in town for a holiday) and joined us at the dinner table.

Hm, so much for girl talk. So, in efforts to be welcoming to the house guest, we ended up talking about everything else under the sun, like scaling mountains and internet speeds, to life at boarding school and Judgment Day; everything besides what I had intended to talk to my close girlfriend about.

Honestly, in the back of my mind, I was trying all night to figure out an excuse to get away from this house guest, so that I could catch up with my sister. But perhaps it was God's plan for us to talk to this house guest instead, because for a part of the night, we talked at length about faith issues and his personal view of faith. In retrospect, I feel very privileged that I had this opportunity to have such a heart to heart talk with someone whom I just met, and I appreciate his honesty in opening up his heart to a stranger, like me.

Although I didn't share the gospel with him, but I pray that seeds were planted, and that God will make them grow. I pray that he will discover that following Jesus is not about following a set of rules and rituals, but about having a personal relationship with the Creator and Savior of this world, who loves him dearly.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

May we continue to lay down our agendas for the sake of reaching out and helping those who are still walking in darkness!

Humility

M inspired me to blog about humility. Recently, one of my sisters has been going on an emotional rollar-coaster ride, and taking many of us along with her. Now of course everyone has their good days and their bad days, but for this sister, she often seems to have more bad days than good, and the things that she claims causes her bad days, IMO (in my opinion), are not always worth of sympathy.

And of course that's where my problem lies, because I'm trying to view her struggles IMO. "To practice humility, we need to think less of ourselves and more of others." To this sister, her struggles are real, the obstacles are huge, and the darkness is thick. I pray that God will help me remember that, and put myself in her shoes, even when she calls me at the most inconvenient times to talk, even when it's late at night, and even when it seems like she will never understand or change.

God never gave up on us, so how can we give up so easily on others, who are struggling and need our help?

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends."