Jun 18, 2013
You know it’s spring when………
The grass starts turning green, temperatures rise, birds fly back from the south and flowers start blooming everywhere!!
These are all wonderful signs of spring and the Lord has given me a new appreciation for them, but they have nothing to do with the sign that I’m talking about. Everyone’s “favorite” sign of spring is when mom says “Guess what? It’s time for Spring Cleaning!! ” Groan!!!!!
If this has always been your perspective of Spring Cleaning then you should try it at the Gospel For Asia Canadian office! The whole family, aka “staff“, takes the afternoon off once a year to clean the entire office. You know what they say, ” Many hands makes light work.” This is such a true statement! We all cleaned our own personal spaces first and then it was off to help others clean the common areas in the office. We had a blast!! I even got to stand on the kitchen counter to clean in and on top of the counters!! It’s not every day that you get permission to do that, now is it?? I didn’t think so!
Now, even though the cleaning was a lot of fun, all good things still come to an end. So, instead of ending our day together with cleaning, we had a barbecue outside and more Gospel For Asia families showed up for a great time of fellowship. The excitement didn’t stop there though, first we got blown inside and rained out by a surprise shower. After rushing inside it was time for some dessert and arm wrestling!! ( I may or may not have participated in those) Okay I did win a few arm wrestling matches, but who’s counting?
Then, we watched Toy Story 2, enjoyed a few laughs and some hyper children, and went home to a comfortable air conditioned house. Praise the Lord for spring and a wonderful loving family at Gospel For Asia’s School of Discipleship!
I wonder what the sign for summer is, don’t you?
Please like and share this post:
Nov 28, 2012
Boot Scoot Boogie
I awoke that morning on the train, on a bed that was to short for a 6’ 1” White guy (my feet stuck off the end). But that was okay, I was in Asia BABY! This was the day a lot of us were looking forward to, why? Because we were going to visit our first Bridge of Hope center that evening! Almost my entire background in ministry is children’s ministry, so needless to say I was AMPED. But nothing I had ever experienced before could prepare me for that evening. The day went by like a blur, our schedule was packed full, and I was so focused on what we were doing that it seemed like time doubled its speed. When we arrived at the center, I saw them, dozens and dozens of smiling, laughing, joyful kids. This didn’t surprise me, we were here to see kids, what did surprise me (maybe even shock) was how joyful these kids were, my heart melted right there! Here in America whenever you hear of “poor children” or “underprivileged kids” there is always a sense of depression and hopelessness associated with them, but not here!
We hurried inside and sat down so they could start their program. And so began the most epic night of my life. A few kids came in first and shared a memory verse, and after that the man who was announcing said that it was time for the dancing. The children danced to three songs that night, multiple times! The first time through the songs we sat there and watched, the second time through, somebody in our team started dancing too! Then everyone joined in! We all started jumping and dancing around! Needless to say the kids were delighted, and so was everyone else. But in the back of my mind there was this little voice asking me one question: “WHY ARE YOU DANCING?” That kind of caught me off guard, why was I dancing? If any of you know me, I have probably told you “I DON’T dance!” or more precisely I can’t dance, nothing in the world (I thought) could ever get me to dance, so why was I? Plain and simple, these kids were dancing for Jesus, I wanted to praise Him too, so I started to dance (although it probably made Jesus laugh more than anything else). It made me think of a verse: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:17.
Even though this may be a funny story, it does have relevance for me everyday. Do I do everything for Jesus? Or do I go through the day and complain about every little “unimportant” thing that I have to do? Am I filled with joy when I get to serve Jesus, even in the small things? 1 Corinthians 10:31 says this: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” I am so thankful that God gave me this story because it gave me a permanent defense against pessimism and complaining! Now whenever I start to feel like I want to complain about how “normal my job is” all I have to do is think of those kids laughing, singing, and praising Jesus, and that makes my whole day better!
Please like and share this post:
Oct 19, 2012
Recently my friend Sieka and I were going to hang out at our friend’s house after work and just chill. A seemingly simple task right? Well, it didn’t quite turn out the way we expected, but I think it was better that way.
After work we had decided to take her car to the store, pick up some super healthy ramen, head over to our friend’s house and eat it there, then just hang out the rest of the evening. We got to her car, and our plans were changed right then and there, as she went to turn her key in the ignition, it wouldn’t budge. Her car was locked, we tried everything from holding in the brake pedal, to turning the steering wheel while trying to turn the key, but nothing worked. Eventually we called our friend Kevin who knows cars better than most people I know, and even he couldn’t fix it! So, we decided to just take my car instead.
We head over to my apartment, so we can change out of work attire and into comfy clothes. As we get to my door, on the third floor of the apartment complex, I discover that I left my house key on my desk at work, behind a locked door. So instead of changing, I drop Sieka off at Kroger to pick up the food as I drive 10 mins back to the office to retrieve my key.
As I get to Gospel for Asia, I realized that my key, to get into the building, is with my housekey behind the locked door (and the key to get into the office is with the housekey as well). So I call Sieka, and at this point we just laugh at this interesting adventure that our simple journey turned out to be. Thankfully she left her purse in my car when I dropped her off at Kroger, and her key was in her purse. So I took her key, let myself in the building, tracked down someone who could help me get my keys from behind the locked door, drove back to Kroger, picked up Sieka, drove back to my apartment and changed, and then FINALLY we arrive at our friend’s place with a rather exciting story to share.
Overall I am glad that I had Sieka with me, would have been very frustrating to go through alone. And this way we are building memories as our friendship continues to grow. 🙂
Please like and share this post:
Sep 18, 2012
So, I love my friends, I’ll start by saying that.
I was on my way home from work today and it just so happens that some of my friends drive home the same way as I do. I got to a shorter light and was in the process of changing my CD when all of a sudden, out of nowhere there is an arm reaching across my windsheild and puts up one of my windshield wipers. (A harmless prank that my friends and I usually do to each others cars when they are in a parking lot).
I of course jump a mile in my seat, and look over in time to see one of my friends running back to another friend’s car which is in the far other lane away from mine, and he’s laughing, a third friend pulls next to me, and I have very short time to act.
With barely 15 seconds before the light turns green, I quickly roll my window down, put my car in park, take my seatbelt off and reach out my window to put the windshield wipers back down. Of course my arm was too short so I had to really reach for the thing. Just as the light turned green I got back in my car and drove off. Putting my seatbelt on as I stole a last glance back to my friends who were laughing in the car.
Gotta love my friends 🙂 I couldn’t stop laughing about it till I got home. Hehe
Please like and share this post:
Feb 27, 2012
Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase
Hakuna Matata! Ain’t no passing craze
It means no worries for the rest of your days
It’s our problem-free philosophy
Hakuna Matata!
Hakuna Matata?
It means no worries for the rest of your days!
Please like and share this post:
Recent Comments