A Beautiful Night

Our friend Gail was married today. Everything was beautiful. The bride, of course, and the church. Ray's face as he watched his bride approach. Their vows.

My girls, who were in the wedding party, dancing and giggling and marvelling at the reception.

Love blanketed all of this wedding. The body of Christ was in action to bring about a seamless celebration - from finding shoes for the flower girls, to arranging beautiful flowers for the church, to providing food for the rehearsal dinner, to writing a song for the bride and groom.....and the list goes on. It was a privilege to witness.

2011 Testing 1, 2, 3...

It has been long (very long) since I have blogged. In fact, when I logged on to recall last years' journey I found I could not read my posts. So, I'm posting a test blog to see if we can start up where we left off. To see if my memories are still stored somewhere. Time to start printing out these pages....

The last day of 2010 was special, lovely, full of hope for the year ahead. Ethan, Ash, Shae and I headed over to the Caldwell home for a play and homemade pizzas (actually Tess and I had turkey and gravy sandwhiches which made me very happy). Then we all cruised down to Cyberport for some frolicking outdoors. All the kids built a castle in a thicket of trees out of rocks. They got leaves in their hair. It was sacred.

Our new year celebration entailed a family dinner at home on our new (finally!!) dining table, with chocolate puddings and Piper champagne - sparkling lime Perrier for the kids. It was a special dinner and I took the opportunity to share with our precious children how proud I am of them for transitioning back to HK and blossoming all the while. We followed up with a couple of games of Uno Attack and floated to bed basking in love and wonder at the gift God gave us in creating families.

Happy, happy new year.

Hot Church

There seems to be a hot theme running through my week.

Today it was hot church.

Our church is refurbishing a new premises. It is a fantastic venue which, on completion, will be an awesome centre for worship, ministry and outreach in Wan Chai. It is a 10-15 minute walk from our apartment (quite considerate really). Today we had our very first Sunday service at the new premises. The demolition work is complete and we worshipped in an empty brick and concrete shell. It was fab! And it was hot (30+ degrees and 90%+ humidity). There wasn't air con or toilets in the venue. Like I said, it was a concrete shell. I wore my lightest summer dress and my most comfortable construction site heels. And I still sweated. But, praise the Lord, I didn't once feel like passing out!!!!

NB The children met for sunday school in an air conditioned venue nearby. They had fun and they were cool and safe - but I don't think they had as much fun as I did!

Hot Yoga

Two days ago I went to do a yoga class with my friend Fi. She is a member and I was able to tag along for a free trial. I made sure that the class would purely be a practice in exercise and didn't involve any spiritual chanting or such. It didn't.

The thing that failed to sound an alarm for me was that is was a "hot" class (even though Fi did remind me that it was going to be pretty warm in there). For some reason that sounded absolutely fine to me (more sweating = good hard workout). I don't know why my brain didn't immediately recall the numerous heat induced fainting episodes and blood noses I've experienced since I was a teenager. Is this really a minor detail????

Anyway, in we went and sat chatting (well, we whispered cause you're not supposed to talk in the studio so technically I think we were okay) in the quite warm room. We were sweating already. Then we started. I was just as inflexible and lacking in coordination as normal, but it was kind of fun. Until the sweating increased and the stars started encroaching on my view..... Now I had an important choice to make. Do I keep going (because I do love a good hard workout) and risk passing out? Or do I stop for a drink and a little rest and see how I go? My face was as red as a tomato. I had a drink and a rest. Did this help me cool down? Not one bit!! After all, it was 40 degrees in there! I tried to do a bit more. Nope, the risk wasn't worth it. I gritted my teeth and decided to make a bee line for the door (which was at the front of the room). My safety is, after all, more important than how silly a bunch of strangers may think I look.

I got intercepted at the door by the instructor, who suggested I sit down right there and drink some more water. Whether I wanted to or not, the decision seemed to have been made for me. There I sat at the front of the class, cooking. I moved back to my mat next to Fi and made a galant attempt at some of the floor work but just couldn't find the inner drive to push myself to fainting. I sat still. The instructor suggested I lie down. I did. And there I lay, cooking. Feeling ridiculous (as well as thankful that I am now old enough to not really care whether I looked foolish or not).

And so, hot yoga is not for me. I am pleased to report that I didn't faint. Neither did I vomit on the way downstairs to the changing rooms (though I felt like I might) or have a blood nose. And ironically enough, while I was quite definite I didn't want to do a class that involved any spiritual elements, I spent about a third of the class lying down praying to my Father God....

So You Think You Can Dance?

Hmmm. This is a tough question. I certainly don't think I have what it takes to be Australia's or America's favourite dancer. That's for SURE. But the question I have is, when I get to the end of the day, or wake up at the beginning of a new one, do I have a reason or the inclination to dance?

That would be nice.

Anyway, enough philosophising. I am dance focussed again because we are just coming to the end of the American SYTYCD Season 6 and it is making me homesick for my Mum and Dad and family. When we arrived back in Australia at the beginning of 2008 my Mum told me that if I wanted to be in the know when it came to family conversations I might want to start watching this dancing show. I did. And I have been glued to every Australian and American season since. Except that I missed the latest Aussie season. It was starting just as we left for HK.

Last night I sat and watched the penultimate episode of the American season and I had a little silent cry as I missed my family and being able to share it with them. I love you and miss you all.

Thank you for introducing me to the dancing!

An Anniversary ends the Silence!

I have been busy. And I'm tired. Blogging has taken a back seat to the craziness of life right now. When will things slow down?

But I am taking just a few moments to give thanks in words for the miracle of Shae's life. Today is the anniversary of her surgery. She is strong and happy and keeps pace with the best of them. She stands out from the crowd because of who she is rather than because of her colour or fatigue.

So, today I take time to say thanks - to our Heavenly Father who made and has provided for Shae. Who sent His Son to free us from sin, sickness and death. And for the opportunity to recall every Easter from now on the new life we have witnessed before our eyes.

Look At That Tall Building!

We have re-expatriated. 5 nights back in the big city and it all feels incredibly normal. What a long forgotten feeling that is! I like it.

On a purely geographical level everything looks, smells and feels familiar. Yes, a little bizarre and frustrating in places - just like the good old days - but so familiar. There are decorations around for Chinese New Year. Red and gold strands of fire crackers, lai see packets hung on blossom branches, stylised fat jolly statues of chinese men dotted around IFC mall (one of which Ethan was convinced was Santa - go figure!). Yesterday I was fascinated by a display of canned abalone for sale in Park n Shop - prices ranging from about $130 to $400HK. For tinned seafood that really did seem rather excessive to me (even with the bonus of a free saucepan with the purchase of any 2 cans).

The funniest comment so far has been from Ethan when, with great enthusiasm, he exclaimed "Look at that tall building!". Of course, the instant response was "which one???". I hope the wonder stays for a long time. This is a very exciting place to be.

But on to the people. We have been so welcomed and loved since we touched down here. The kids do not remember everyone who has embraced them (and there have been lots of embraces!), but they have certainly not gone hungry for attention, playmates and entertainment. It was a joy to see them scooped up into the after school frenzy by the sons and daughters of our Hong Kong family - swinging on the monkey bars, playing follow the leader and various other assorted school yard games. So much love at every turn - familiar faces making the landing soft and easy. Thank you.

There have been moments. A few tears. A few tantrums. My hair is curly again. We have not seen the sky yet (on our very first day Asha asked me "why is it so grey here?" - she'll get used to it). And I wish we could send some of this rain down to Adelaide.

But we have not been without sunshine.