Harbin, Generosity, Blessings

Yesterday
Well, yesterday was more like four days, than just one because I haven't written down my thoughts for the past four days. I did have my computer, but didn't follow through with journaling because the first day I was on the plane and the next few days I didn't really want to for various reasons (lack of time and privacy being the main reasons). Now I am back in our spare room, happily journaling my life's events.

We left for Harbin on Wednesday at some seemingly much to early hour. Then we arrived in the frozen land of Harbin... where there were ice sculptures everywhere... and we stayed there until very early Saturday morning. We flew there and back, no train tickets to be found anywhere and not wanting to take a bus.

While there we met up with Enya, Shirley, Daniel, and Tony. Enya and Tony are Christians. Daniel is Buddhist, and Shirley wants to claim Christianity, but hasn't been baptized. We ate dinner with them a few times and I had a good talk with Daniel about the teachings of Jesus. Daniel was very receptive and said the teachings of Jesus were true, right, and good. Now if only Daniel would read more and understand, maybe he would be moved to accept Christ. Maybe the seed that was planted by his grandmother and the watering I gave it will heighten his sensitivity to the Spirit's call on his life.

While there we went to the Russian church building that has been converted into a museum, the Russian cobblestone street down the middle of town, the flood memorial, walked on the frozen river with hundreds of other people (some doing donuts in their cars), saw the ice world, and finally went to the tiger park. Everything the Lonely Planet says about these events is dead on. The one thing the lonely planet got wrong - 1914 Russia cafe was terribly slow, didn't even have what was on their menu, and weren't very kind about it all. They were swamped, it was the holiday, but they needed to plan better.

On my birthday, I learned how to play one version of Landlord - a very simple game (with a high level of strategy) that seems like a three person version of War where you get to look at your cards. I had hotpot and a pretty good Chinese cake. I was very happy to share my birthday with my new friends in Harbin - it was intimate, enjoyable, and a pleasant surprise.

On returning home I had a mess of birthday greetings; more than 100 on Facebook and a few more by email.

Last night was Gary's birthday. Danita threw him a great party and tons of people came for a Mexican feast. Gary opened his presents and we heard someone read statements about Gary's life and had to decide which were true. We also met the Miller family (LST group) for the second time, the mom and dad were here last year.

I've been watching TED Talks... and must say I am amazed by the diversity of it all and love the interesting topics they present. They really are worth watching. It is definitely better than watching a movie or TV. I learn something and am entertained.

The Daily Bible - Exodus 35-38
The Israelites followed God's directions in making the Tabernacle. They were very generous, so much so that Moses had to order them to stop giving offerings to the Lord.

Boundaries in Marriage - Chapter 7, Value Two, Love of Your Spouse
Truly loving your spouse means your spouse is of great value - you love her as you love yourself! You identify with her, that is you feel the effects your behavior has on her, thus changing your own behavior to be more suited to her. Loving your spouse as yourself means you think of making your spouses life better. You want what is best for your spouse, even when they don't know what that is.

Prayer
God thank you for putting wonderful people in my life. Thank you for Jaime, her desire to bless me with such a wonderful birthday. Thank you for the friends we made in Harbin, for all the help, and for their desire to bless us. Thank you for using all these people to provide such wonderful blessings of relationship and joy. Thank you for Gary & Danita, Sal & Andrey, Jacky & Alicia. God thank you for my family here in Wangjing. I pray that you help us to grow in every way. Help us to bless you with our lives, our worship, and every desire of our heart.