|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| I apologize for not keeping up with my updates as frequently but I have a valid excuse this time- I haven't been able to access this website for the last 3 weeks. The internet in China has not been working or if it is, then the connections is horribly slow due to the cables beneath the ocean being hit in the recent Taiwan earthquake. So we've all been complaining and realizing how much of our lives revolve around the internet or personal information we store in our emails etc.
I have been wanting to update though because I feel like a lot has happened since I last wrote. I've finally settled and found an apartment here on the east side of the city and I'm living by myself in a cute one bedroom place that I have just finished painting. Living by myself has had its ups and downs- I love coming home and having my house be a sanctuary- a place of rest but sometimes I get lonely and wish I had a roommate to talk with, cook for, and laugh with. But if anyone wants to come to Beijing to visit me you'll have a place to stay now!
So my dad's house that I've been working on for the last 3 months is finally completed! This afternoon I just signed off on the contract and paid my last bills and said good bye to my work team who have been diligently working day in and day out so that they can go home for the Chinese New Year. I'm very pleased with the result. The look is very simple, clean, and modern. I'll have to put up pictures of it on my next post. My dad comes in a week to take a look at it for the first time since I bought the place (using his money of course) and I hope he'll approve of what I've done with it. Doing this house project has been like a full time job. There are so many things in a house that I always overlook but having to pick out everything from electrical wire to door knobs to kitchen tiles, I've had to learn and pay attention to SO MUCH! I notice now that whenever I walk into a new place, I study the entire place up and down to see grout color, door frames, towel racks etc. It's kinda funny....I never thought I'd be into this stuff but it's acutally quite interesting and I wouldn't mind doing it again. So..now that this house is off my hands, this last week I was really praying and trying to seek the Father about direction for the rest of my time here. I really didn't want it to go to waste and I wanted to be wise and fruitful with the time I have here....and then the next day I get this phone call offering me an internship for the next 3 months at the World Health Organiation.
Some background info:
So in December I had interviewed with the WHO for an internship position. My friend who works at the WHO was leaving to go back to Australia and before he left, he put in a good word for me and so I got an interview there. Without the inside connection, I know I would never have even tried because the chances of getting an internship is very slim. So I suited up and went to the interview and man it was like the most intimidating experience. This guy who looks like Kofi Annan dressed up in a suit and is a doctorate and the head of all non-communicable diseases for the WHO in China interviews me with his secretary and proceeds to ask me questions. "So what kind of experience do you have with road safety and injury prevention?" "Do you have any experience putting on international conferences?" MAN! I have no experience with either of these and so after being upfront with him about my totally LACK of experience I left the interview convinced that they were going to hire someone who had a bit more experience than me. They said they would let me know in a couple days about the position. So I wait a few days and I get a call back from the secretary telling me that Dr. Tunion (the Kofi Annan guy) is on Christmas vacation and that he'll get back to me in the beginning of January. So then January rolls around, first week, second week, no word. I take a trip to Cambodia in the mean time with a buddy from high school and while I'm there I check my email everyday anxious to hear back but no word. (Cambodia is awesome btw- will post up pictures from the trip soon)
I get back to Beijing and it's like the 3rd week of January so I shoot them a quick email to check my status of the application and I get a call back the next day verifying my email address. Then the following day I get a phone call from the secretary asking me to attend a 3-day conference put on by the China CDC on Injury Prevention and Road Safety. I quickly agree without asking any questions and then the following afternoon I get the formal email informing me that they are welcoming me aboard the WHO as an intern working on China's road safety and injury prevention issues. Just when I was about to line up some work working at Compassion for Migrant Children this comes through! Gd is good and His timing is perfect! So I'm starting soon- maybe this week or next and I'm anxious to see what kind of stuff I'll be working on but a bit intimidated at the same time because everyone there is so serious about their work and I feel like I don't have much to offer....but I guess that's the beauty of an 'internship' 
So it's a new season and I'm pretty ready for it. It'll be a colossal change to my now relaxed schedule since the hours are like a full time job and the work is pretty full on but I'm excited for the challenge and I'm eager to learn all that He has for me in this next season. I'm anticipating it won't be an easy season- but a busy one filled with highs and lows and all the emtions that come with that.
In about 2 weeks time it'll be Chinese New Year in Asia so that's always fun. This year my dad will be flying into Beijing and then we'll go along with one of my good friends here to Taiwan to spend the new year with my family there. We'll be traveling the island like we do every year and I'll be getting some 'red envelope' money- enough to pay for my ticket to taiwan hopefully! Then I head to Hong Kong for Rebekah Chan's wedding on Feb 24th. I can't wait to see her and meet her husband!! It's been a long time since I've seen her- she was my only friend in China when I first got here in 2004 and then she left me to fend for myself 2 weeks after I got here and took off to Egypt.
There's always a lot more to write but I'm outta time so until next time....ta ta.
| | |
|
Waiting for the subway to come, I came to a realization, or
in spiritual terms, ‘a revelation’. I
realized that in a season of rest where responsibilities are minimal, humans
can either go one of two ways. The first
way would be to realize that there are not many ‘restful’ seasons in life and
to take the time to press in, get built up and prepare yourself for the battles
and the seasons to come. The second way
would be to relax and give into all your fleshly desires that you haven’t had
time for and to live it up.
Unfortunately in this season of rest, I’ve opted for the
latter option which has left me feeling unsatisfied and yearning for more. I’ve felt myself giving into natural desires
and seeking more temporal things in a world that will eventually pass
away. One of my tendencies I’ve realized
is to chase after people- not always an intimate relationship per say but even
with friendships. I find myself seeking
the thrills of new friendships just to keep myself entertained. I think there can be a healthy excitement
with anything new but I don’t think that I need to be seeking this to fulfill a
void in my heart that yearns for something more. So I guess my realization yesterday was that
people can never satisfy that hole in our hearts that was made to be perfectly
plugged only by our creator.
Friendships are exciting, fun and totally necessary but I’m
learning more and more in this season of rest that my identity is not
determined by the kind of friends I have or what kind of mini5try I serve in or
even what I do on an everyday basis but it is totally determined by how God
sees me. And one of my good friends here
in BJ reminded me that the way that God sees me is complete and beautiful so if
I can live my life knowing that my identity comes from this truth, only then
will I be able to love and serve others in a pure and selfless way.
I’m not exactly sure why this realization that nothing else
can satisfy except for Him hit me so hard- it’s not a new revelation by any
means but I’m encouraged. I feel like
God picked me up while I was walking down a crooked and rough path that
eventually leads to the place I want to go and He planted my feet on this
straight and smooth path that will not only be faster but a lot easier to walk
down. PTL! 
| | |
|
