Good News!

The kid turned sweet sixteen this week. Most of our international friends and acquaintances have fled the 90+ temperatures and 90+ humidity of the Hong Kong summers for the friendlier summer climates of Europe, Canada, the U.S., and Japan.
So it was just us, and our immediate neighbors to serenade the boy. Does he look utterly thrilled, or what?

Thick gooey homemade brownies, ice cream, a US$10 can of whipped cream (yes, VERY expensive here) and the celebration was complete.

One more thing -- WE GOT AN OFFICIAL, WRITTEN OFFER ON OUR HOUSE BACK IN THE USA!!!!

Life is good.

"Rejoice with those who rejoice!" -- Romans 12:15

The god of money

Yesterday I found out that these little altars we pass everywhere in the alleys of Hong Kong are not actually something in honor of the ancestors (which I had thought they were!) but quite a few of them are specifically in honor of the "money god". Or at least that's what our Sino-religious -studies -just-accepted-an-offer-to-teach-at- Yale-scholar friend told us. "Yup," she said, peering down to look at the inscription on one of the little red-light lit niches in the quaint, ramshackle town of Tai Wai (within walking distance of our home in Shatin). "This is in honor of the money god, hoping good fortune and money will come to this little shop."

I felt quite superior for all of about 5 seconds and then thought, well at least these folks are being honest about it. Whereas I have been having trouble getting to sleep, worrying about our house that hasn't sold yet and what should the fair listing price be.

The chief topic of my conversations with God lately have been much more about what He's doing to get my house sold than about, say, better ways to serve the poor and the lost of this world.

I awakened extra early just this morning... was it to worship up at the seminary for Morning Prayer? Was it to see my son off to school? Nope, usually I sleep through anything like that. I got up early in order to .... call the U.S.A. & talk to our realtor about the sale of the house.

And guess what's been the desktop picture on my computer for these last five months... yup, there's that big colorful picture of the house that we're still hoping to make a little bit of money on...

I may not be offering oranges and electric lights to the god of money, but he is certainly getting my thoughts and my time.

Maybe it's time for a dethronement.

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. -- Jesus, according to Luke 16:13

Job Interview

"[your Father in heaven] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." -- Jesus (as quoted in Matthew 5:45)

I may have mentioned that I’ve been looking for a part-time job to supplement Wayne’s ELCA Global Mission salary (and a huge thanks to churches & individuals who give to ELCA Global Mission… without you we could never be here!)

So while Wayne is working full time as a professor of Pastoral Care at the Lutheran Theological Seminary, I’m looking for a part-time job for these reasons:
a) to help pay our bills including two college tuitions
b) to use my God-given talents and experiences to make a difference in the world
c) to be able to give generously to God’s work here in Asia and back in the States
d) to learn about, and become more a part of the local community here in Hong Kong

(the order of importance of these four things vary greatly, you understand, depending on the circumstances!)

And so it came to be this week, that I, a middle-aged matron, holder of a Master’s degree in a not so very sought-after field, have managed to snag an interview at a children’s center.

It is drizzling a bit the morning of the interview. I meant to leave early, yet somehow it is still pretty much the last minute when I discover my fabulous new umbrella won’t stay up. Fortunately, Wayne has seen to it that we are well supplied with umbrellas, and I find an extra. Off again in the now driving rain, I walk very quickly to the metro station, only stepping in one large puddle on the way.

The train has just left which means waiting precious minutes for the next one. In the train, out of the train, then I’m racing up the steps of the MongKok station with ten minutes to spare. Has the rain lessened? No, actually, it's a mini-monsoon now. I have to flag down a taxi and actually get one, only to discover the driver speaks no English. "Waterloo DOE" I proclaim, proud of myself for remembering that "doe" means "road" in Cantonese. I show him my damp map. He grimaces, but takes off. I just pray, religious person that I am, just pray he will know where to go. He drops me off at a huge seven- way intersection, pointing down one of the roads. I see no street signs, but splash through the puddles in trust until, voila, I am at 1117 Waterloo "Doe". Enter a little elevator up to the 53rd floor. Breathlessly into a minuscule room, two of the cutest little kids you've ever seen are playing on the floor, anxious looking moms hovering over them, awaiting their child’s turn with the “English tutor” (job I’m applying for). I practically have to step over the children to get to the receptionist's counter, only to realize I have dripped rain all over the floor. The receptionist is kind. She takes my umbrella, shows me where to place my shoes, and says, "You can wait long time."

Not sure what to make of that, I look around for a place to sit. None. I observe the kids and smile, wondering if this is a test to see how well I interact with kids. I am ignored.

Finally after several painful minutes of standing in my stocking feet in the puddle I have just created, I am ushered into another teeny room, the office of the interviewer, where I am given a half hour lecture on the importance of RESULTS and PROGRESS and rigorous TRAINING METHODS (Did I tell you... these kids are 3,4,and 5 years old?)

I nod enthusiastically at what I think are all the right places. The interviewer tells me there is an opening in our area of town for just one day a week, which is beginning to sound like plenty enough time for me with this particular organization.

The interviewer warns me I will need an additional interview if I am to get the job. I find myself wondering what his topic will be for the second interview.

I think I will take the job, if offered, as it pays a very impressive sounding $250 an hour in Hong Kong dollars, and will give me some great opportunities for getting to know families and beautiful children from the “real Hong Kong” instead of just the expatriate community.

The rain has slowed when I leave, and I am able to walk in leisure back to the Mongkok Station. My umbrella works perfectly.

lost coin, found money

From the Laughingbird translation of Luke 15:

"One screwed-up person getting back on the right track causes far bigger celebrations than ninety-nine respectable people who never left it...

...If you had ten coins — all collector’s items — and you lost one of them, what would you do? Like anyone else, you would turn on all the lights and go over the house with a fine-toothed comb until you found it. And when you found it, you would call all your friends and neighbours around for party, saying, ‘The shout’s on me, for I have found the coin that I lost.’

Let me assure you that the angels party like that over each wayward person who turns their life back towards God.” -- Jesus

Our big news is that we sold our car!!! It's been for sale on Craigslist, Facebook, word of mouth, any free venue I could think of, for nearly two and a half months . Finally it sold... and just in time for us to pay taxes (yes, we owe this year) and a few other of our transition costs not quite covered by a missionary's salary.

I looked up our bank account online yesterday, and there it was. "Lost" money, and now it's found. And just think, we'll be getting a little refund from our car insurance company too!

So I've been walking on air for two days. We were so ecstatic that last night we walked to the store to buy treats for our neighbors. "We sold our car," we said! "Here, have some cookies!"

One of the (many) things that I like about Jesus is that he doesn't frown on our happiness over "finding" a sum money. Instead, he uses our joy to make us dig deeper.

Just think, he says, how much more than that even, the whole Company of Heaven gets excited about "lost" people who make a turnaround.