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The Curling Eyebrow

Well, imagestation is bust up as many of you will know already. This means I am not even going to bother with pics, though there have been many good ones...

This moment in time is the lull before the storm. i am waiting for a cab. Indeed many of you will not see the significance because you will know my life is spent either driving or in a cab. But this cab will take me to the bus stop. GASP! No, the bus stop in itself is not important but rather the bus I am waiting for, the airport bus!! Me's a going mission trip babay!!!!! Cebu, Philippines is waiting, so pray for me to be of good use, be protected etc yea? cool.

It's interesting how i have never been able to go on 'holiday' since i started work yet I have been able to afford trips to Australia and the Philippines. Both of them beautiful places and i've only been working a little over a year! If it's God's will then He will make a way. Saying that I really feel like I need to go on retreat, by myself whither be it in HK or abroad I don't know. But the time is right.

Anyway cab here, me not! bless all!

Check out your bible, God wants to tell you something.

Alive

Well it's been a while eh? That is down to many things, but the main one being I simply don't have all that much time at home to update, especially when it comes to pics!

Anyway, I recently finished a 'detox' which was 2 weeks with nothing but water, some veg, no carb, no sugar, no fruit and meat. The first 48 hours were a nightmare, when you fast it is ok because you are not digesting but when you are digesting you have no high-energy foods in you then you really suffer. But after about a week it became great, my diet is very disciplined now and I feel fantastic! It makes a big difference! The reason I did it was because I felt very bloated and rather down about the food I was eating. But now I am really feeling good, I eat some carbs now, fruit is back in as well as a little more caffeine and meat is down more now but overall this has been an excellent boost in self-control as well as the way I feel, RECOMMENDED, there, that's my stamp of approval, though if you want to do it I recommend you visit Cliff's blog and talk to him...

The Vine is starting a month of fasting and prayer and boy am I excited! All this fasting will mean I can go to the rugby 7's on the money I save from not eating!!! You see not only am I on big budgeting scheme right now but also I am saving up cash for mission trip to Cebu, Phillippines in April. This means $200 a day, now for some that seems a lot BUT I spend $110 on transport alone!!! Anyway God is really stretching my finances so life is good.

My new year's resolution was to get so much closer to God than I had ever been. Now I know it sounds kinda lame cos for most people it's a given that as we live we get closer to God as long as we maintain a certain lifestyle. But I see people in the Bible, I hear of people and then I see peole in real life and I want to be like them! I don't gauge my relationship with God on other people but they can really inspire you. I spend about a month on 1 Samuel 16 (or is it 15?) where the Lord tells Samuel to go to Bethlehem and to anoint the one that He tells him to. Now in this verse we see some young shepherd whose heart is after God's come into the picture. God picks David because of his heart to be king over all of Israel, from shepherd-dude to king in one easy step. So I see this heart, how pure it is and how much it beat for God and I think 'I want that heart!' I want to be so close to God so that I may be considered a friend like Enoch was and Adam who both walked with God.
Then I see what God did with a man like David who sought after Him, David was the greatest king Israel had AND was the ancestor of Jesus. I feel like I am doing some right things but I really want to be used by God in ways that will bring about some good. I figure for someone who has been brought back from a horrible place and given a new life with God, whose selfish-ambitions are replaced by wanting to do anything they can for God, I do not seem to leave lasting marks. When you invest financially most likely you invest solely for financial gain but when you invest into people you help build the kingdom of God, you start storing treasure in heaven. I guess I just don't feel like I do enough of that. So I am mulling over all of this withoug a solid conclusion as to my POA.

Before I goes I shall leave you people with some pictures, some current and others not so current!

Spot Donald...




Ouch




Vine Picanic




Fireworks from Joshua's place...




Teet Bahn




Some guys like it hot!





Talking about hot...






Valentine's is in the air!




If I'm feeling lonely I look at this picture and smile...




Tom Read: failed acrobat




Hilarity at work...






It got a wee bit cold at work...




Just call him 'Hot Potato!'





Old and new...






Youth Alive!:rained out. Even the hawkers stayed away...




Some people love to display their wet-weather-wear...




Rain, rain, go away!




Where do I start...




The 'Still' drummer




Spot the difference...




Oh yeah...




Classic Mandy...




So scared...




Peas in a pod...




Pile-on!!




Duty calls...




SUKI!!! In uniform...




GABBY'S BACK!!!




I'll miss Miss Ong




One of my favourites...




Worship @ the Fringe Studio (courtesy of one_eighty )






I had a beard once...

A Picture Diary

Before anything I will admit that this post will be filled with tonnes of pictures, a lot of them low-res but still, I wanna share wiv u guys! so forgive me, it takes time to upload so many tho!!


Went back to work and boy does it hurt. I will admit to being quite highly stressed about it all. My problem is that I am in a job that I don't enjoy fully nor feel eqiupped for as well as being annoyed by work politics. Sounds like every job? I feel it is a testing time and character is there to be built but I just don't have the desire for this battle. Yes be excellent in all I do but my job is harder to see as being for God when so many people stand in between. Thank you God for my job and lead me on, not only in life but what I should pray for.

What I have enjoyed most about the last year: The enormous change that happened in me from my post-uni slump to God really speaking to me and using me.

What I have enjoyed the most about the festive season: Unity in family. Even though it was a fairly quiet Christmas it was a genuine effort and triumph. It was awesome to be as a family (bar papa) @ the Vine on Christmas day.

What I am most excited about in the long term: THE VINE!! We have two senior pastors and I feel God is going to release some mega anointing. In 1 Samuel 15 Samuel anoints David and he walked in power from that day forth. I feel that is what is happening with the pastors and that is huge for the church! ALSO my future! It's all in God's hands with my utmost trust and gratitude, I have exciting times ahead! (not an arrogant thing but an awesome God thing)

What I am most excited about in the short term: CNY HOLIDAYS! Still things to do and people to see but I feel I am more prepared to fully utilize this break... and CIRCUIT BABEE!!!!!

Words of wisdom? Cereal first then add milk, Dan has a car in HK and plans to use it so be careful and Exodus 14:14 The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace!


So anyways tonnes (British has both ton and tonne) has happened, new years, Christmas, ppl coming ppl going, Chinese new year coming up but it is all a bit boring to recite so these pictures will tell all:

Christmas eve



IFC Christmas thingy




Ann and her antlers... don't ask!



My crazee sister Rachel



Carollers at The Peninsula where we ate our Christmas luncheon



Present time



Christmas from where I sit



A meaningful relationship



Family pic



My Dad... post heart-op!!



Carlos was here with his band Still! but no 'Fall On Me' grr!!!



Linnet, Ann and I pose...



Dan and chopsticks: they're here to stay



Old friend Lily



Lily shocks Dave and a restaurant of people



He's still got the attitude



Amy Kwan satisfied with her armful of a choice



Paint-removal at Crossroads: Bob skates on acid! As in there is acid on the floor...



Fun angle Yum Cha



Nic picks the table with all the ladees



The car getting a spanking new sound system



Driving to the airport at dusk



The Commissioning



Art at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum in Shatin







Mirror fun at the HKHM (Warning: low-res)



Ann, Linnet, Mandy, CeCe and I as Chinese Opera stars...











bless!!

December Drain

I am writing after enjoying my first sleep-in for ages. By enjoy I mean endure because I was too tired and sick to enjoy it and ended up picking up my phone every five minutes to answer calls. I am always too curious to ever turn off my phone. Hopefully this will change!

Since i last blogged I have gone non-stop. Dan arrived and we went straight to the Star Sailor concert which Whence He came supported. Thank you so much to WHC not only for a complimentary ticket but also a chance to see you outshine some British yobos! On the weekend I went to Stanley for Bethany's Christmas 'do' which was fun: me and a bunch of girlies! Well, until the blokes arrived! Sunday I played a centurion in the one_eighty part of the Vine Christmas Pageant as well as a tree for the Primetime contribution (and though I think I played the part very well it was a part that Keanu reeves was made for!)

Sunday evening my Pappy went into hospital for heart trouble. He has had three heart attacks and 2 operations and so this is the latest in a line of minor trouble for him. By Tuesday he was operated(angioplasty) on (another stent) and by Wednesday he was out so praise to God for such a quick solution to it all.

Anyway I am gonna stop saying exactly what I have done and talk a little. I guess i will never go through two weeks like I have recently, I spent energy like it was going out of fashion. Not necessarily being energetic but by constantly doing things, staying up, waking early as well as having stresses that just zapped my energy away (my Dad). Today is the first time I have been alone (well, since Dan left and apart from on the MTR) for a very long time and I feel even being with people can take energy simply because you have to concentrate and interact etc. So I have done what I rarely do and have stayed in. Half an hour ago I helped my Mama decorate the tree (we are usually xmas eve decoraters and February cleaners) and now i am locked up in my room contemplating how it got to 11pm without me rushing off to the Starbucks for a fix before it closed at half ten(in shatin). Anyway the rest of my time I will simply illustrate with pictures:

Star Sailor and the concert.








School Santas:




Did I mention I saw the TWINS!!!!!




The one_eighty Christmas party: Soiree de Noel




Hard to read I know but it says "Poo Ultra Potent"! Oh the jokes that abound in my head with this...




How tired I looked at the end of it all.




Fun on the way to Bethany's




My Dad in good spirits...




A busy HK market street, it is soo busy right now...




Ben & Russ




Dave looking good...




Strange but true: Danchopstix




Circuit babeeee!!!




Camillo bowling...




Bob and tree...




Dan in Hong Kong




And how I pass these cold winter nights...



I have felt challenged recently by how hardcore I am. I read, I pray (not enough, always need to pray more) I worship all alone. I am even getting off my butt enough to memorize verses weekly now instead of every 10,000 years. But still i don't feel that my time with God, alone and in public, is as passionate as it should be or as my heart feels. I guess I need to express my heart more. This time on Earth should be in perspective of Heaven. God is not gonna care how much I earn but how much He knows me and I Him. My bonus, my dvd collection or my penchant for tight shirts are not gonna bless God. My heart, my worship, my excellence and my time. These things matter.

Now I don't feel I have expressed myself well but I will not change it. I don't feel down spiriitually and neither do I feel like I am not excited or anything I guess I just want to do more, to give up more for God. I can't wait to see what God does with my life!

I also can't wait for my younger sister to come back from Nashville! I haven't seen her in a year and she is only back for five days. FIVE DAYS! This is the sort of frustration swear words were invented for!

Bless and merry Christmas! May God give you blessings beyond what you have hoped and may He reveal to you the awesome gift that He is!

Work, Christmas, travel and rest... No I lie! I shall name this post "Stuff". Thank you.

It feels like yesterday the last time I posted and it only really crept up on me during the weekend that I had not updated for a while. I guess time is going too quickly, all of a sudden term in near the end, Halloween has been replaced with Christmas and I have too much blah to do before the real Christmas spirit can sink in.

This will be my second Christmas in Hong Kong since I came back from Wales and so much has changed. My social circle is completely different from before, I go to a different church, I have a job (!) and my relationship with God has really moved on in exciting ways! I guess one_eighty, Church and social group all go hand in hand but a year ago my job (or lack of) was the hard part. I was used in my Welsh church and so to come back to HK - land of my former back-slidden self - and to my family, Chinese-speaking church was quite a challenge. I wanted to serve, to do stuff, to be part of my church as I was in Aber (Wales) but it just didn't happen.

Then I got sick, not completely bed-ridden sick but in-between sick(with some-worrying side-effects but I'm a shy guy!) and this lasted for months - October to February. I finally went to the Doctor (to let you know more about me: I hate having to go to weddings (except yours...), airports, hospitals, administration places (passports, id cards etc) and to the doctors). I hadn't been in 10 years and after all that time the doc eventually told me that it was pollution. I mean what a let down! No 'here's an antibiotic and you should be fine in days' or ' you have bla bla disease and need immediate treatment' but simply a 'you will not get significantly better, here is an off-the-shelf decongestant'. After I raved on for a while I took the decongestant and have been fine ever since BUT to carry on with last year's comparison, I was sick, unemployed, unused and also slightly insomniac. I would not sleep for days and yet I did nothing much in my days anyway so it got rather frustrating.

Finally Christmas rolled around, friends returned and life picked up but it could only be short-lived because they would all go, which they did. But God took my life into another chapter (ouch! cliche...) and I got two jobs at once, joined a gym to lose some (some!) weight, properly entered the one_eighty circle (in my mind) when I went to Christian, Janice and Suki's house-warming and then felt God's presence in my life once more.

To be honest that was one of the weird things; that through all my time before God's presence wasn't felt. It was hard not feeling God and so I found my self asking how could I go through such a rough time while being a Christian? I had had bad times before I came back to God (God brought me back) but why was I going through hardship when I was trying to live a Godly life? Well a couple months ago God revealed it to me that His presence and the feeling of His presence are two completely different things. When He let's that 'feeling' depart we have to rely on all He has told us before and realise that He is in fact still there, always has been and always will be. It's a test but God equips us. I'm not saying everyone goes through it like I did or at all, in fact I know people who have gone through so much worse that I know my experience was small yet big enough for me.

Anyway I didn't mean to harp on, I haven't double-checked what I wrote either so excuse the errors!

Here are some pictures from my last two weeks...

Some students pig out...



Naughty boy looking innocent...



Student tries out a rock-chick look...



I try out my Elvis look...



Dawn and Cliff try their hand at one-finger wrestling, with Dawn coming out on top... no no better: with Dawn beating Cliff by a nose... hyuk!



Apple: it's a status thing...



Mandy searches for love...



The airport at dawn after driving my pappy there...



And from the driver's seat I can still see Admiral-tee (imagine Tom's voice and the *actual* rhythm etc.)...



And in honour of Dan who returns tomorrow (11.12.03): the bald and the beautiful (sorry about the quality!)...

Update!!!!

Well first things first... I FINALLY have my phone! It is great to be organized again as well as take pictures! i iwll warn you that as my phone is a do-it-all device it means the camera quality is not top by any means but rather quite simple so I apologise in advance for that...



Apart from that I had some friends from Hawaii in for the weekend which was awesome! These are people who have really invested in me through my whole life and even though it was just for a weekend I was blessed. First up is a group pictures of my family and the guys together in Starbucks (babee!).



And then this is Jodi who made me walk around Mong Kok on a Sunday(!) just to look for pink shoes... So much walking that Vinny had to pray for my knee at work the next day!



Also on Saturday I had new student interviews from 8-5 so I am really missing a sleep-in and actually considering getting a bit more sleep soon... But this is a picture of the students getting taught a quick lesson by a Chinese colleague (colleague not pictured). 'Cute little terrors' I think is the phrase...



Sorry for both the delay in blogging and the lack of any info this time round but I just wanted to make up for the lack of original pictures on this site... Oh and if you haven't found out by now the Vinny link is to a clip of him doing morning exercise today for the kiddies... but which doesn't seem to work...hmm, if you really wanna see it ask me for it!
I'll leave you with a shot of the sunset on Monday from where I was sat marking books. Bless.