Morning Breeze

Another early morning here but it was great! Isabella and I took about an hour walk and then played at the park for another hour before making a diaper run. I made a deal (can you really do that with a 1yr old? lol) with her that if she let me walk first, we could play at the park and she was awesome! Never complained once or whined to get out and walk herself. We walked down to the Hung Hom ferry pier and then squeezed through the fence to continue walking along the harbour. What was so great about that was there was grass (well more like weeds but that counts nowadays!) and mud! My shoes finally got dirty! Funny how your perspective on life changes. I was so excited... and I saw wild daisies!

I so wish I had my camera at the park! For most of the time we were there, we were alone but probably the last 15 minutes or so a girl and her grandfather joined us. The girl was swinging and the grandfather sat on the bricks around the tree. Isabella first decided to swing next to this little girl and then promptly got off and went over and sat right next to this man. I mean... RIGHT next to him as in touching him. It was so sweet and the man was very gracious and loving towards her. She has already taught me so much about stepping out and meeting new people and has helped me to overcome my shyness. I think I will continue to be stretched in this way the older she gets. She is definitely a people person.

Her bad sleeping habits are for sure due to teething. I see two top teeth pushing through and all evening she has been chomping on her fingers.. must be those molars. So please continue to pray for her.

Gordon McCarty visited us this evening! He's another Minnesotan and a dear friend to us. He was to arrive in HK Thursday but due to the typhoon didn't get in until last evening. So our time with him was limited but it was sweet. Made me really miss Betty Jo and the girls too.

And Tim, Cindy and Lillian are back from the states! Wohoo! We have missed seeing them but are glad they were able to introduce Lillian and see their family.

Other things.... well I actually finished a layout tonight. I've got about 10 in my 'to finish' pile so I guess I better get moving eh?


Emily Powers new For Her-Casual Kit available at www.sweetdreamsshoppe.com, Journal Tag/Tape is Andrea Burns, Love charm mine

My in-laws got us a subscription to a-Life (the Christian and Missionary Alliance magazine) and I just love it. It always has such challenging and encouraging articles and it's fun to look through and see if I recognize anyone. Anyway.. The most recent one had a lot of great articles but if I had to choose one to point out I'd say... 'Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone.' Why? Because I'm a shy person (well at least until you get to know me) and I like stability. It's hard for me to do something I'm uncomfortable with, hard to be the one to start a conversation, hard to try something I've never done before. But I know that there are times when God is telling me to do this and it's obvious that I will bedisobeying if I don't.

So this article was a great reminder that God calls me to step out and be uncomfortable. The author used the example of Epaphroditus (Phil 2:25-30/4:10-19) and how he risked his life for the sake of Christ and it made me think of all the things I have complained about in the past when it comes to ministry or just serving the Lord in general. Whether it be attending a lock-in, having to deal with students questions after you've already explained what seems like 300 times, having to give up something you want, having expectations put on me just because I'm the pastor's wife, etc... I could go on and on. I may have had those struggles but in comparison to what Epaphroditus suffered of Christ for that matter... it's minute, tiny, small, etc. Unfortunately we're human and we will have those frustrations but it made me realize that I need to get a better grasp on those 'minute' inconveniences because I think Satan can really grab a hold of those and make us bitter at the world, ministry, even at God which in turn would obviously affect our joy and ministry to others.

So in the end... I loved the sentence that was highlighted in the side column: "A desire for safety is good and natural. Yet if we must be safe at all costs, our walk with God will be hindered." And with that I realized that it's okay for me to desire what I call 'my comfort zone' but if I want to grow deeper in my relationship with God, I can't stay there. I need to step out... do those things that I'm not comfortable doing, do things that I just don't want to do and do it all with a joyful heart and attitude. And I need not be fearful because God is on my side!