PASSION 2010

Go tell it on the mountain. Over the hills. Everywhere.

I am on a temporary pastry-sous-chef break while the head pastry chef of this kitchen [April] and I wait for the homemade cinnamon roll dough to rise... um wow. Can't wait for those in the morning. So, for our first Christmas Eve away from home, away from family and dear friends we made the most of things. Tomorrow, our team [we love them so much] will be here for brunch, so we are in the thick of baking [which is fun for us]. Earlier, we had a leisurely dim-sum lunch at a local restaurant. For sure... we were the only people... like us... there. And that's beautiful. Caleb loved the noodles. Josh loved the dumplings. April was a fan of the jasmine tea. Me? I was just happy we made it there, could order, and had a great morning.

A big temptation in the blogosphere is to pretend or portray the right information. So... here goes. We love being here. It's hard being here. We know this is where we are called to live and serve, but we miss the people and places we have served alongside in the past. We are not suffering, but there are real costs involved in living away from family and close friends. We see God at work, around us, and sometimes painfully within us. Many days can be discouraging. We see our children thriving. We know their grandparents are missing them. For things that used to be familiar, like face to face family gatherings, easy to find gift wrapping paper or shredded coconut for cookies --- on the altar they go, in one humble, yet steady reply, "Yes Lord, walking in the way of your truth, we wait for you, for your name and your renown are the desires of our soul." [Isa. 26:8].

Hope in Christ NEVER disappoints. NEVER.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. [Romans 5].

Tonight, I took the boys on a bike ride (and Luke in his red push car). We had a great time. April was at home finishing last minute gift wrapping. We had the best time. I took them to get cheeseburgers and chocolate shakes [McDonalds just moved in, replacing the cat restaurant] We got back home. Quick baths for them. Put Luke in bed. Then, roasted chestnuts and hot chocolate with Josh, Caleb, and April. We talked about what we are thankful for. Drew pictures. Izzy slobbered on us. We prayed together. Josh suggested we all pray one long prayer together. Wow. Read the Christmas story. We sang "Go Tell It On The Mountain". They opened a few gifts. Then, they went to bed. I walked to the grocery store to get more flour. I looked at the faces I was passing. Prayed. Surrendered again.... And now we're in the kitchen. Norah Jones is singing familiar songs. We are laughing. Experiencing real joy from Him. Cinnamon rolls anyone?

meet Izzy.

It's been nearly five months since we moved to HK. One of the things our boys have missed the most is Lucy, our beloved American Bulldog. She was a part of our family for about 8 years and before our move, some dear friends in ATL adopted her. After hearing them Caleb and Josh pray for Lucy every day since we've been here (no exaggeration) -- we decided to do the next best thing this Christmas: Find Lucy's cousin. We did. Meet Izzy.

dales steak sauce and...

These boxes of goodness arrived from Pike Road, Alabama. Thank you so much Brewer Memorial Church and to a very special 5th grade class at Macon-East Montgomery Academy (your letters to the boys were so meaningful). You have blessed us and given many things to remind us that we are loved and prayed for.

gingerbread village

While not comprehensive, hopefully this gives a small insight to life as we know it.

Lately,I have been:

Watching April teach the boys about polar bears, which included a hands-in-ice-filled-water bowl to demonstrate why they have fat and fur coats. I participated. Glad I'm not a polar bear.

Sitting in a meeting with leaders from the largest Chinese church in HK (10,000+) about how we can partner together in reaching university students in HK, and leaving the meeting with a great sense of peace and unity about things that matter most.

Enjoying the people on our team, thursday night team dinners, and laughing together about some of the random experiences we are all sharing together here.

Hearing Luke begin to form more words, including "stinky", "help please", "wa-wa", "ba-ba", and the very entertaining "ow".

Working on what feels like the never ending appeal letter process for our employment visas in HK, and confidently trusting the outcome is not up to me nor the very helpful people assisting us. Hands down - this has been "the thing" that God has been using to place my dependence upon Him these days.

Building a mini-gingerbread house village with the boys and team. Best part? The icing war that resulted in April and I wrestling in a gingerbread-house-icing-food-fight. Worst part? Caleb crying because he thought we were being mean to each other. We weren't.

Enjoying rooftop BBQ with 40 people that have connected with our team during the past semester. So encouraged to see what could be ahead for this team, these people, and this city.

Trying to have a Peking-duck dinner... DE-NIED because all great local restaurants were overbooked. So what did we do? The obvious next option: Amarone's Italian Restaurant.

Enjoying our new church home (Island ECC) and being so thankful for the way its leadership has welcomed us and our team here.

Having weekly date nights with April. We treasure these times. [Thank you Jason and Malorie ]

Watching NBC nightly news and The Office thanks to AppleTV.

Re-reading books on fatherhood, humbled at the privilege and responsibility of raising three sons to know and love God.

Trusting God's perfect timing on the adoption referral. Yes. We are still waiting. We started this process 3.5 years ago.

Celebrating Christmas as a family, regardless of our mailing address or location. The meaning of Emmanuel, God-With-Us, has never meant more. The implications of our faith has never required more ... that Christ did come, and through His death and resurrection entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5).

Christmas Story

A Christmas Story from gcmhk on Vimeo.

For their school project, Josh and Caleb made the costumes and cast the roles.
Quite funny. Just watch. (Thanks Z.B. for making this work).

ebenezers

During our staff meeting this week, we paused to remember and celebrate what God has done in and through our lives. Throughout history, God’s people have raised stones (ebenezers), building monuments to remind them of God’s goodness. “Thus far, the Lord has helped us” (1 Sam. 7) Here are some of the things we want remember and thank God for; good works He is doing in our team:

• "God’s faithfulness providing all we need...
• "Drawing us to greater dependency on Him through difficulty and disappointments...
• "Seeing Him at work in many lives around us who have little or no understanding of Jesus...
• "Character forming in our lives as we made every effort towards unity during the first months here...
• "Remembering how we pressed forward in the face of discouragement...
• "Finding hope in the promise of His word...
• "Deepening of faith and trust in Christ as the savior of the world...
• "Experiencing the joy of salvation with a new brother and sister from China...
• "Learning to re-articulate what it means to hope in Christ...
• "Experiencing the reality of sharing Christ with others...
• "Expanding our worldview...
• "Witnessing how Jesus transcends culture and language through love...
• "Seeing marriage for what God designed it to be...
• "Acknowledging the work of the Lord around us with students and neighbors...
• "Recognizing the favor He is providing us in places throughout the city...
• "Clearly seeing Him work through authentic love and friendship...
• "Watching our children thrive in a new environment; seeing their eyes opening to God’s global purposes...
• "Increasing our trust in the Lord; being confident our future is secure in Him...
• "Experiencing joy in refinement and in being humbled...
• "Walking in greater boldness to share the gospel...
• "Celebrating with people as they place their hope in Christ for the first time...
• "Experiencing unity as a team after choosing to make every effort to do so...
• "Recognizing God in the details of all He has provided us...
• "Relying upon Him to do what we cannot do...
• "Deepening my desire to know Him more...
• "Stripping me of false identities; counterfeit sources of hope...
• "Renewing my wonder with God...
• "Finding a new filter for childlike faith as I explain who Jesus is...
• "The privilege of living among so many unbelievers...
• "Increasing my burden and desire to speak the gospel...
• "Surrendering all that I am and all that I am not...
• "Watching walls come down...
• "Seeing how much God can do in just a few months...
• "Waiting to see what God is preparing...
• "Remembering what God was doing in our lives a year ago...
• "Finding great joy in obedience...
• "Seeking Him as my reward...
• "Experiencing the steadfast love of Christ...
• "Embracing the humility required to live and serve as a team...
• "Finding contentment in planting seeds...
• "Being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see...
• "The peace found in living from God’s unconditional love...
• "Trusting God in our circumstances; believing Him to work all things for good...

Set apart time in your own life to remember what God has done, embrace what He is doing in you. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate Christmas, the reality of Emmanuel... God With Us. In a season where so many people experience profound futility and loneliness, we are called to be people who know what it means to be rescued and loved by God.

it is a small world after all...

For my 33rd birthday, April planned a day at Hong Kong Disneyland. We had such a great time. Highlights include holding Luke on the jungle river cruise, Caleb's childlike wonder on the dumbo ride, and Josh being willing to brave Space Mountain with me. Not to mention, I recorded the entire 10 minute Christmas edition of It's a Small World on video. HK Disney may not be the largest place or have as many attractions, but it's definitely worth seeing. And yes for our local HK readers, we did get annual passes. At that price, why not?

around here

A year ago, our family was doing the very same thing. The tree (u.s. version) was going up. This is one my favorite traditions we have. This year, I even tried to talk April into merging Thanksgiving and Christmas into one really long holiday season since Thanksgiving is not really a Hong Kong holiday. She didn't go for it. That's ok. The tree is up now. Obviously it's more than the tree for me. But I have to say, that it doesn't matter where we live, the tree she decorates makes any place we've lived feel more like home. I love how she does that.

I remember last year, wondering what it would be like to be in Hong Kong and follow what He had placed on our hearts. We were a week away from the final encounter on Auburn's campus. I can remember how difficult and right that decision was. I remember a layer of reality settling in my heart that night when I shared before our community of students the decision to move Grace Campus to Hong Kong. We still believe that was the right decision. So, the tree is up. The lights are on and our hearts are set on Christ - who is our hope of glory.