A Holy Night

I spent last night having a bonfire with a great group of friends.  After finishing our hot coco and roasting marshmallows, we began singing our favorite Christmas carols.  There was something so magical about proclaiming the truth of His birth.  It was such a powerful worship experience of all of us.  We were blessed to sing these powerful songs while seeing the starts bright in the sky (a rarity here).  It was a Christmas Eve miracle. 

This month I have been reflecting on the powerful lyrics of Oh Holy Night, particularly the third verse.

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.

Though injustice is all around us, love and peace are stronger.  Because of His birth love, peace and love will overcome all evil.  He came to overcome sin and its consequences.  His incarnation will break chains and will restore us to correct relationship.  He came to reconcile us to Himself.  He also allows us to be reconciled (restored to correct relationship) with each other. Though there are problems now, they will not exist forever.  He is more powerful than any divisions we can create. So powerful.

When it is easy to become overwhelmed with all the darkness, I can proclaim the truth that in His name all oppression will cease!

Christmas Cookies

This week I baked and decorated cookies with my local friends. Angel, this adorable 5 year old, really enjoyed this Christmas tradition. Enjoy some of the highlights from our day.

798 Art District.

I live close to Beijing's famous 798 Art District. Today I meet at friend for coffee in 798 and took a few pictures of the art instillations I passed.  I like the creativity of these local artists.

Rest

In my small group we have been discussion rest.  It is one of those concept that everyone seems to agree is important and vital to a healthy life, but very hard to implement.  Rest is a discipline, a practice.  Rest is not just disengaging and relaxing, but creating the space to hear from Him.

I am not very good at resting.  I live in a city with 23 million people who are eagerly striving for more. It is very easy to become so busy and worn out.  Practicing rest is countercultural.  The principle of Sabbath called the people of Israel to rest one day at week.  Sabbath teaches us to rely on His provision in our lives.  It is easy for me to always be thinking about other people, checking email, or worrying about a problem.  In learning to rest I am learning to trust His provision and power in these situations. It is not very easy to do and I have to admit that I have not been very successful so far in making rest a regular pattern in my life.  I hope to grow more in this area so that I can grow more in Him.

Delight

On Sunday we had a discussion about G-d’s delight in us.  He made us and He is proud of His creation! We are often thankful for the large things in our lives and forget to find delight in the normal (possibly mundane) aspects of life.  I like this practice of finding joy in the little things.  So, here’s some of things that I take delight in:

                Traveling

                Reading a good book

                Swimming

                Reading a book on the beach

                Cheap massages (thank you Asia!)

                Baking

                Good conversations

                My friends and family

                Smoothies

                Watching cheesy movies

                Learning something new

                Fresh flowers

                Blue skies

                Riding my scooter

                Playing games

                Laughter

                Mexican food

What delights you? 

Amen!

All Hands on Deck

While I was back in the States I heard from multiple people how much they admire my cross-culture work.  A few people said that “I could never do that.”  While I have been called to live overseas and serve a particular group of disadvantaged people, that does not mean that I am better than anyone else.  My calling looks different than yours, but that is the point! There are over 1.7 billion people on the planet. Imagine how boring life would be if everyone was the same.  He uniquely created each individual on planet earth.  We were created differently and that diversity is amazing.

He created me with a certain set of skills, abilities, and dreams which allow me to live overseas.  He has created you with unique dreams, skills, and abilities.  He calls each of us to use our gifts to influence those around us.  You have the ability to positively effect the lives of those around you.  Are you good at math or science?  Great! We need those people to help design buildings, plan cities, take care of our sick, and make sure that the budget is in line.  Those are important skills that should not be overlook because they are not as “intriguing” as living in a foreign country. 

We need people to serve where they are called, to realize that their vocation is just as important as any other.  For the Kingdom to effect reach each society we need believers purposely working in education, government, fine arts, health care, family care, church, and business.  We need dedicated people working in each of these spheres of society so we can see positive transformation.

Hopefully this is encouraging to you.  You are already in a position to impact those around you.