home...

I'll begin the trip back home soon enough.

We'll see what happens next.

No matter what that is, I know it'll be good...I believe that it will be good.

Is this goodbye?


I hope not.

Final week

Well, Final's Week has turned out to be Aaron's final week...

A week of testing and measuring to the end of discovering just what all has been retained...

I don't think I did very well.

My score is probably in the range of a C-, I would say. Not quite failing completely...but more or less an overall score reflecting a performance that contained no small amount of failure...

And so it went.

Wow, there are just too many things weighing down my little mind...

I wonder why I think so much about so many things...

Lately things have been interesting as I've begun to let my mind race with ideas about future study plans... A German/English friend of mine has managed to successfully infect my mind with dreams of studying languages and travelling the world...

It's been silly though; my mind lately.

Things have been good here at the house. We're getting ready for our nice little family Christmas. We have a fully decked out Christmas Tree on the 2nd floor that could even put many Stateside households to shame...fun stuff..

Sunday I really enjoyed attending a Chinese group's Christmas program. I think I can easily forget sometimes just who it is that I'm ultimately trying to be a blessing to here. Just in daily life I'm often so removed from groups themselves that I'd nearly forgotten what a Chinese group looked like; or simply a normal group in general, for that matter. It was refreshing, to say the least.

I'm now down to three weeks until I go back to good old America... : )
...not sure how I feel about that just yet...

Needing to always learn and relearn what it means to be content...needing to keep my imagination from running far, far away with every thought that comes floating by... it's a waste of time and thought, often resulting in a state of feeling slightly removed from reality...

Just thought I would write something down...

We had our School athletic competition last week. Very fun times. I really enjoyed the whole thing, but at the same time am kind of glad that it's all over and I don't have to worry about being beaten by rediculously fast track runners...

Check out some recent pictures on my Facebook. Friends have posted all kinds of different pictures of events and things.

Gonna start our Tuesday evening class. Hope everyone reading this has a very merry Christmas. : )

Thoughts

Falling...

Each handful of stability seems to slip faster than the last, desperately grabbing for something to hold on to, something at least less transient than myself...Slipping...from world to world, life to life, one day to the next and on toward the dark and void place that lies ahead...into it's clutches have I fallen, clutches that concede nothing but the cold grip by which I am constrained...a prisoner, it seems, to nothing; and thus existing as nothing more than something just passing through...

Just passing through...

And so, with such a paradox that has so firmly planted itself within the core of my mind, I wonder if man can ever be content...at one moment freedom is set as man's greatest ambition, to be died for if not had; to bleed for if only to gain but for a short time...and yet, with his freedom, and perhaps more than just that in some physical sense, will man go to look for his slave driver; to look for newer chains and some newer burden by which he might ensnare himself? Does this amount to the whole existence of a man?

As I move through the open sky with outstretched wings, careless and free, as only one such as I could be, the cool wind (though at times bitter) moves beneath my wings to keep me afloat and seperated from that land that is so foreign to one like me. And yet within the cold air, I can feel the warmth of the sunlight alight upon the arrangment of color and precision that make up my sleak design; this warmth, no doubt a special treat from the heavens above. His rays seem to slowly make their way down into my heart, until my whole body is being softly carressed by the one who has watched this all before, and, though seeminly indifferent to our little world, likewise seems to look down with an old and yet charming smile of understanding...At times I move along under the warmth of his presence, and at times in the cold and void air absent of such blessings. Coming now to this world that lies below me, what is this mysterious place that races past my eyes? People and their culture, a history and identity that is altogether unfamiliar to me. With the passing of time, my flights have become a bit lower; and now my observations, not from places of such great heights. I feel myself being drawn closer and closer, the distances between myself and the objects of my fascination being narrowed more and more. Floating in and out of their world, I find myself no longer simply intrigued by such a place worlds apart from that which I call my own, but have, of late, even found myself more and more longing to be a piece of their puzzle; a part of their world...

Taking flight...

But could I ever be anything more than just this passer-by, floating and drifting with the coming and going breeze? Is there a day, could there be, when contentment to stay could be found in just one tree? And amidst it all, I wonder what is meant in that smile of his; what lies within the wisdom of the one who has watched it all before...

I'm flying, and not as though I must exert such effort so as to flap my wings in desperation or hurry, but moving along; carried, as might rightly be said, from place to place, scene to scene...to what I do not know, and just how; I suppose I'll learn as I go. But amidst it all, I wonder, and must continue to wonder, what is contained in that smile of his, what is contained within the eyes of the one who knows more than simply what is...

bicycle rides in typhoons

I've been thinking...hmm

Monday we went for a bike ride to get some exercise. The rain had already begun to pelt the ground in bucket fulls by the time we set out. On the road, in the midst of traffic and lights and those normal sorts of things mixed in with flooded streets, we were averaging about 40km/h .
There was more than one occasion, which is usually how it works with our "fun" bike rides, when I really could have just been smashed by cars or motorcycles if they had just done something besides what they did...but they didn't...and not that I was counting on them not to, so much as, (which is what I've been thinking about lately) I wasn't so concerned about it...

So, lots of thoughts...

We've had continuous rain for the last three or four days that has resulted in the whole delta island that we live on to be completely flooded. It seems like most of our island is under a foot or two of water...the two kitchens that we have here at the house sit below ground, and now as a result of the sewers being backed up in the streets, our sewage and perhaps street water have begun to come up through the drains in these kitchens. We also discovered that we may have some sort of spring under our house. Today we discovered water coming up through the tiles in our dining room area on the first floor, which also sits below ground level. It's been quite a fun day.

Life seems like it's going pretty good. School has been going good I suppose. It's been nice to be able to spend a good portion of my days just speaking chinese with the students here. Extra-curricular activities have been going pretty good. Things are gettin' goin' and everybody is developing their "schedules".

Things are going good.

Been trying to do a little more exercise...riding bikes and thinking about trying to do some kind of other work-outs...it really does make such a difference in energy levels when you're exercising regularly...

Also, been thinking a little bit about the future...wondering about going back to the states to visit...

so anywho...life in china...moving along. : )

Back to good ol' Hong Kong

This week I was able to come to Hong Kong to hang out with Tommy and other brothers and sisters for a refreshing gathering aimed at kind of recharging the spirits of Calvary peoples here in Asia. The conference was definitely much needed in my own life, and I'm really grateful to Him for working everything out for me to come.





So anywho, here's a pic of yours truly in September 2008... : )

I'm standing with a brother from Fiji. He's an American citizen but was born in Fiji, and eventually moved back as an Adult to serve there.

It was really incredible meeting some of these people and the stories they had to tell. It was a great reminder not only that He can get us through whatever storms lie before us, but also that there are brothers and sisters all over the world feeling and facing the same challenges I am.

Praise Him. : )

I'll write about some things that He spoke to me maybe at another time. It's difficult to gather my thoughts right now, so I'll have to write again later.

Thank you everyone for lifting things up here. When you're able to step back and take a look at all the things that have taken place in the last eight months, it definitely helps change your perspective on everything.

Hope everyone is doing good. : ) Pull in close to Him. He has promised to get us through to the other side. Sometimes it takes longer than at others, but it's all in His good timing. Love you guys.

Back in Haikou

Over the rivers and through the woods..
..after two days on a train, I finally arrived back in Haikou earlier this evening...

I'm not sure what to think...

It feels really wierd being back here...

I'll go back to school tomorrow morning, that's exciting news. : )

I wish I would have studied a little harder over these last three months so that I could slide into C-ban. (the level 3 class).. but I don't think it'll happen.

Things are still kind of crazy, but maybe I'm getting over it now.

I suppose it all comes down to a simple matter of just choosing to trust Him...choosing to let go plans or needs or wants...Have I stopped believing that He already knows all those things, and that He truly is good? ...perhaps...

Anywho, I'm back. Back to the place that I think He wants me at for now. Just waiting. No plans....

Hoping, however, that He will soon enough give me some sort of commission or confirmation or I dunno...something... maybe I just don't like walking without sight....

Time for bed.

I want to say thank you to everyone who has been lifting me up. He manages to work out His will and purposes through all my confusion and doubt...He likes to work in spite of me.

Goodnight everyone. : )