Today's weather (2nd) is the best in the year so far, with temperature over 70 F for the first time this year, bringing in the bright sun for a change. I feel good after telling the school two days ago my plans for the coming months. The school started on a right note this week, but already my assignments weigh heavily on them. For this weekend, I have to teach a pre-study today and Sunday school tomorrow and preach twice. What a load, but I have learned to thank God for the health to do so. Wife, also, has a talk today, so we are equally busy.
This is my second day in Macau due to a public holiday today (5th). I traveled yesterday after school, hoping to catch the regular 630p ferry but Chinese tourists have reserved all the seats, so I had to settle for the 645p ferry. Wife and her sister had booked a place at our favorite Italian restaurant at the mall but the food was not as good as before. My favorite breakfast cafeteria Savory was closed for the holiday but lunch more than made up for it. We went to Fernando for the first time and enjoyed good roasted pig, quail and salad for lunch. No wonder it is such a popular tourist hot spot, with a line forming before its noon opening. At night we had buffet at Royal Kitchen by the new Yaohan. The food was good, including sashimi, but we could not take in much. Tomorrow I will head straight to church from Macau for 10a training, the second time round for a smaller group of seven this time, unlike the 12 last time.
My heart was burdened yesterday (6th) by the weight pastors have to bear in ministry, but today a chapel speaker inspired me with the same principles I have always believed about ministry: serve God and not men, dwell on the positive and not the negative, faced them with grace and not the gripe.
We were talking tonight (8th) about what to eat when we get back to Los Angeles in August. Both agree on CHeesecake Factiry, Wife's list has Savoy Hainan Chicken, I have Buca di Beppo and Sushi Gen. It's been so long we forgot Buca's name for three days.
My wife made a classical statement today (9th) when looking at the latest real estate flyer in our box: "Flipping homes is better than going to work (抄樓後過返工)." Yes, homes are that pricey in Hong Kong. A less than 700 sq ft house in Ma Wan sells for HK$350,000.00
For the last two days sleep a struggle. I woke up at 3a yesterday, and 5a this morning (14th). The night before was probably due a night class but I have been thinking about my future. What do I do best? How do I fit in? Why am I uneasy? These are the things I have to work on these few weeks. By July I would have earned three precious years of working experience in Hong Kong, which allows me to have a better perspective of things.
Since its opening this month, Wife exclaimed about how refreshing it is to swim in the outdoor pool, which she tried once, after which she said she could never leave Ma Wan, so today (16th) I joined her. The weather was perfect, 80 F. I didn't feel the sun over my head. We enjoy the pre-study today, and Wife volunteered to teach the next two lessons as well since she had done it with her students.
Yesterday night was stuffy and murky, so we turned on the a/c unit in the miiddle of the night (3 am) for the first time (17th) this year. I drew the curtains to dim the lights beaming into our apratment, waking both of us at the same time. The morning sun in spring might have contributed to my lack of sleep. Rain, for no reason, poured and dampened the island in the afternoon.
I am looking forward to attending Good Friday service for a change tomorrow (22th) instead of leading one, which was what I was doing for the last two years here. My close friend from USA came by to visit two days ago, and Wife's close friend from Canada will visit on Sunday. We had a good cry. It is always good to see old friends, a benefit we do not have presently due our short history here. Speaking of friends, a quiet day at work makes me dull and the day long, so I prefer to talk and share than sit in an office the whole day without much verbal conversation and stimulation.
It has been a good day today (23rd) even though Wife struggled with the gloomy weather. We went to the Starbucks at TST's I-Square for the first time since it opened last year. The seats were very modern and the view overlooking Nathan Road is fantastic. Slightly before noon, we had lunch at a hamburger restaurant there, which was better than we thought. In the afternoon we napped and then swam before we headed to Sai Wan Ho for dinner with relatives. Wife's brother-in-law, who has not accepted the Lord, gave me the best compliment for a long time when he said my evangelistic sermon a month ago was not boring! Naturally, I paid for dinner in exhcnage for such kind words and also to treat her sister in San Diego who has returned to visit.
My eyes have switched from seeing a roach to a fly in the last few days, so there must be something wrong with my eyes. I consulted my brother-in-law but my symptoms are not as bad as his when he saw black patches and plenty of flies. Yesterday I started sniffing from a long day at church, but I am not sure if it caused by allergies or tiredness. There is a funeral to attend maybe today (25th) or tomorrow, my first in Hong Kong.
Attending a funeral in Hong Kong is different from one in USA, as I found out yesterday (26th). There, it is formal, here merely three people wear a jacket, including the hosts and I. I tried frantically to call last minute for advice, to which a friend texted in reply, "Dark color is OK." Here, the funeral service and the graveside service are on separate days, there the graveside service commences immediately after the funeral service. I had to take two roundtrips by ferry to Hong Kong for that day but decided to take one on train instead because of the choppy waters, which makes me wonder how Wife survives all the traveling.
I wanted to speak on Ephesians 5 for Mother's day in one church but Wife said women dislike the passage on submission, yet I was determined to do it. Surprisingly the Lord calmly moved me today (28th)to change it to Hannah's story. When I told Wife she said she did not want to convince me to change to another text even though she had Hannah in mind.
