Our Christmas party was fabulous! We had over 100 people there... don't know the exact number yet. Our English Corner connections brought many people! We will for sure continue that ministry as soon as the weather permits. I posted on the other blog about the party:
The Christmas Party was great! I juggled... it was a lot of fun. There was a professional violinist, another musician was 15 yrs. old - she played an ancient Chinese "guitar", then there was a couple of singers, but the most precious were the kids from the orphanage. There were tiny, some of them only 4 and up to 6, they did two little dance numbers to Chinese praise songs.I worked out a little routine using a Jewish blessing, three Chinese idioms (chengyu - 4 word phrases that are constantly used), and juggling.
Worship was great too! We had so many blessings from God throughout this day... I'm sure I'll remember this for the rest of my life. One day I'll finally be able to talk with some of my Chinese friends about it too.
"May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi!" This is stating the idea that your Rabbi chooses you because he thinks you will be able to do what he can do. You can become like him. As you follow him each day, you are becoming increasingly like him. So, being covered in his dust means you are a great disciple and will one day be just like your Rabbi.
看破红尘 (kàn pò hóng chén), is a Buddhist expression that means something terrible has happened, and so you want to become a monk and run away from the world... it is a negative idea. "See through the emptiness of the material world" is a more literal translation.
与世无争 (yú shì wú zhēng), is a synonym of the one above. It is literally, "hold oneself aloof from worldly success", but it is saying that a person removes themselves from pain, sorrow, success, and all worldly connectedness. It seems to be going towards a Nirvana concept.
步人后尘 (bù rén hòu chén), to blindly follow in somebody's footsteps. More literally, to be covered in the dust of the person you follow.
徒 (tú), a disciple. The character has two people to the left side and dust on top of a foot. The connection between all of these is interesting, but needs explanation to the Chinese.
We are to embrace the sorrows, elations, failures, and success of this world... to learn from them and become more sensitive to the needs of others as we become more like Jesus. There is one and only one person that we should hold up as a great and awesome role model, as a person we can follow blindly, that is Jesus Christ the Lord. We are to be his disciples.
I taught them how to juggle, something most didn't know how to do. There were a few people that had learned as children. One lady had never juggled before, but in 5 minutes she was able to do three and catch for four or five times! She was able to correct her mistakes quickly... amazing muscle memory! She could do 5 balls within a month or two if she wanted.
I taught them to juggle, because it is a small example of the limitations we place on ourselves. We admire others for their abilities, but think we could never do the same thing. It helps when the teacher chooses you and believes you can do it!
Juggling takes less than an hour to learn, 10-15 minutes a day of practice and you can become quite gifted (according to your friends) in a week. Give it a year and you will see amazing results... what if we had the same notion with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control?
Jesus believes in us and thinks we can become like him! God and Jesus believe in us! This amazes me. Jesus even says we will do greater things than he did - John 14:12.
Our cookie ministry... well, that was originated by Marcus & Julia. We just borrowed the concept, made our own label, and decided we would try to give cookies to the entire building. 300 floors, 12 rooms each, but maybe 1/3 aren't occupied or weren't home, 1/3 took the cookies without much interest, 1/6 refused, and another 1/6 invited us in.
The first night (Saturday) Jaime went with one group of girls from the orphanage and Sunni, while I went Nikki and the other group of girls from the orphanage, we did 22-13. Last night, Jaime and Nikki rolled out the sugar cookies we didn't get to finish making. Jaime baked them and washed the dishes, while Nikki and I went to the 30th floor and worked our down to the 23rd. Nikki is a fabulous evangelist! She gets really excited about sharing with others and is constantly upbeat.
We almost finished the 23rd floor, when we ran out of cookies. We came back home, decorated the sugar cookies, made some more bags up, and went back out.
Just before we went out the first time, our lovely Nainai (grandmother) next door came over with warm chestnuts and required us to eat them! She pealed them, and nearly put them in our mouths. She is wonderful! She is probably 70 years old, but just a delight, full of life!
John 13-16
Jesus believes in us! He blesses us to do greater things than he did. He gives us direct access to the Father's power, the Holy Spirit indwells us, and we are the temple of Jesus! Ask in the name of Jesus, believe that he will provide, and step out in faith to take the actions God desires. Faith is the prerequisite for asking and believing... then there is the matter of action. If all those people Jesus told to, "Get up, take up your mat and go!" hadn't gotten up, they might never have been healed. Jesus commands obedience and provides the power to obey.
Power of a Praying Husband - Trust
Such a vital area in our lives. We need to trust God for everything. He provides, he may use others, but we must know that he is the source of every good thing. In trusting him, we can learn to trust others.
We need to be healed of the times our trust has been broken. We need God to reach in and mend our hearts so that we can trust him fully and trust each other. Trust is the basis of relationships.
Prayer
God grant us healing from our past brokenness, forgive us for breaking trust with you and others. Help us to move into greater levels of trust with you. May we have faith that depends on you completely. May we follow you with full confidence that you will provide all that we need and so much more because you love us! God thank you for your healing and providing! We eagerly anticipate your daily intervention in our lives.
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