Thursday, February 2, 2012

Confusing, Feb 2012

The first day of the month was a emotional one for me. We had group sharing in a park after lunch and the struggles of a friend touched me ever so deeply. The last time I felt this way was umpteen years ago when I left for continuing education at TEDS. The group comforted me with prayers and were very supportive, knowing by now my strong passion when it stirs. A day later I was calmer but the lingering effects were still there. I am looking forward to the trip to Macau tomorrow to attend a missions meeting and to meet other local coworkers.

I ran for my dear life after sending Wife off to the Sheung Wan ferry yesterday (6th). I looked at the cellphone and discovered that only 6 minutes were left, but the ferry back to Ma Wan is a good 8 minutes away. I decided to make  a mad dash for it rather than wait for another half an hour for the next ride. I made it before the departure bell rang. I swear I won't do it again at my age, but the temptation is always there. I preached on John 15:10-17 last week and also completed the translation yesterday, which I am proud to get done, not wanting to do it a year later and add to my misery.

We had our Valentine's dinner the day before the big day to beat the big rush and the expensive prices. Last year our favorite local restaurant made it a dinner set so expensive that we could not spend it in good conscience. As usual we had our German pork knuckle with extra rice and ginger ale for HK$189. I felt good and left a HK$10 tip, not bad for local standards. Tonight a friend invited me to meet an old friend for dinner. Otherwise the weekend was occupied by house hunting and church, where I taught Sunday school this week.

The last week has been another drama due a friend's mother passing away. Sometimes a relative's death triggers a peson's emotions, mostly a release, which happened to my friend. He talked to pastors, confidants and friends. At least I get to know friends better as a result. Other than that, I am delighted with the slight progress in  the three preaching groups I lead. I really feel that seminaries today do an inadequate job preparing their students in teaching and preaching. It is really sad that graduates labor and struggle to get a point across with the lack of Bible study skills, especially OIA. Tomorrow (19) I am off to Gentleland again for 2 weeks. Let's see if there is progress there.