relaaaxxxx

it's pretty incredible. saturday afternoon, and cliff is at home sleeping!!! ahahha i LOVE it!!!! wat a day today. the Vine Center is officially SIGNED! i have to say, it's GREAT kwowing the part you play in God's plans in this life.

just over a year ago, i was here wondering what the heck i'm doing back in hk... and what the heck it was God had planned for me. it was a vision i had in SF when i finally dropped to my knees and asked God where it was that i should be, whereupon i received a vision of getting an apartment in hk, and somehow big enuf for me n my bro. it was by desparation that i dropped to my knees in church and received prayer and a word (from someone that prayed for me) about getting 'out of my shell and commit to the vine'. it was by more prayer that i asked,..no, told... bob that i was free to do/help out in any way possible - and he then started training me in sound and setup for both church and 180. it was by pure faith that a friend introduced me to real estate (and the company i now work for), after one nite praying with his wife (whereupon his wife was the one to actually suggest asking me if i'd be interested). this all happened w/in one month from may to june last year.

a year later - i still don't know wat the heck i'm doing running around china and hong kong selling buildings (big buildings). but i'll tell you this. a year later, the vine center is fast becoming a reality. i remember when i first approached the elders last december, after they had been looking almost a year and a half unsuccessfully. how i told them our company can and will find them a space. now, 7 months later, we are signed sealed and delivered on the lease, where we can officially start work on monday! a year later, bob shocks me with his departure from hk (argh!!!!). but then, he's had a year to train me for both 180 and church, so that now, despite his leaving, we have a stop-gap measure (i really do not have any talent in this area, but God gives grace and patience to the musicians!!!). with the vine center now starting its renovation (we had the kick off last week w/the designers and contractors), i know i'm at least supposed to stay in my current job for at least the next couple months.

i'm living large. it's a great feeling to know that when i really opened myself up to servanthood, i was able to be used in ways that furthers God's kingdom. after the events transpired this past year, i'm definitely ready for more challenges!

next up... who knows, but i DO know that i will listen and obey!

i wanna be BOB!!!!!

i actually do learn tidbits from the SCMP. there was an article today bout an airplane going from Oz to the u.s., which got turned back 90mins into the flight due to a bomb scare. it turned out that the pilot had found a sick bag in the toilet with the letters B-O-B written on it. he took it to mean 'bomb on board' and so turned the plane around. BUT, later he found out that that was the air crew's own li'l cryptic acronym for 'best on board' given to the best looking passenger on a flight!!! haahhaahah ... ok - so i'm not completely sure this is endemic across the industry, but hmmm... i'm wondering if people like lolly, suki or ben used to or still do do this??

last fri nite, i saw mamma-mia finally... it was SO GOOD! there's like 4 days of shows left (i think it ends w/last show on sunday) - and it's definitely worth watching. we had good seats about 10 rows back, close enuf to catch all the goofy facial expressions which made part of the show so entertaining. but yeah - it's a great time, and altho i only recognized like 3-4 songs, it's just as fun not knowing.

i played golf 2 nites in a row.... is the world turning for the better??

shred this!

a couple weeks ago, i recounted this story with linnet, and just today, i was reminded of that frightening experience oh so long ago....

i was just into the second year of my job... newly turned portfolio manager assistant at merrill lynch asset management (now known as merrill lynch investment management). i had never used a paper shredder in my life, but yet, here i was, called to the higher purpose of shredding some important, for 'internal use only', documents. despite my inexperience, i dutifully accepted the responsibility - after all, what did i go to university for??? as i was standing over the unimposing 3ft tall machine, various strategies began circulating around my brain as to how to approach this task. i really didn't know how this thing worked, but seeing as how there were only 3 buttons, a red one, "fwd" one, and a "rev" one, and a jagged looking opening just longer than the length of a sheet of paper, i thought, "well, simple MIS class taught me not to make a seemingly simple situation (only FOUR variables!!!) into a complex algorithm; and philosophy class equipped me with the power of deduction. i AM prepared for this task!, i thot."

obviously, i was supposed to place the sheets of paper in the opening, and press one of 3 buttons. having driven in the past, i deduced "fwd" should mean shred and red would mean 'stop'. however, the "rev" button had me stumped... i mean, how do u reverse a shredder (yes, i was naive once). so with bated breath, i implemented the strategy set forth. everything started fine until everything just stopped. sweat beads formed as i sensed a certain abnormality at that moment. as the shredder is located in the pantry, i knew that there existed a possibility that somebody might walk in.... any second. trying to control the panic arising in my stomach, i frantically pulled at the jamed, half-shredded paper in my hand, but found that it was a futile effort. in all my un-wisdom, i leaned over to rip shreds from the other end!, thinking that might free the stack in my hand. as i'm leaning over this machine, trying to figure out what in creation was going on, my eyes focused on the li'l 'rev' button... genius i am, i thot, as the paper started to actually reverse out... so i'm still leaning over, marvelling at this wonderful innovation, and start to "fwd" again.

next thing i knew, my neck felt tight, and my entire upper body was being sucked into that small little opening! if you've seen those movies with people tied up to conveyor belts inching closer to doom and oblivion, then u know how i felt. my birth, my childhood, my college years, my LIFE was flying right past my eyes! but then, as certain disaster approached, i remembered the red button. so simple. red, in actuality, was the panic button. red as in the red phone in the white house directly connected to the pentagon in case of nuclear war. red as in 'emergency stop' buttons for elevators and escalators. red as in defcom 5, for the highest danger alert in america! how could i have been so stupid? i slammed the red, and the earth came to a standstill. i looked down, and i was half a necktie from death. reversing my tie out of the shredder, i was overcome with exhaustion from my struggle, yet relief with the narrow escape.

luckily, no one came in. i casually shredded the remaining papers, removed what remained of my tie, and confidently returned to my desk.

********

it's kinda funny how life has it's turns. i'm proud to say that today, i shredded TWO documents without incident.

HK babeeeeeeee!!!

well... while everyone is off to hillsong conference in sydney, i just feel bad for them... cause the action is right here in hong kong!!!!!

i just had a nice li'l 4 day w/end last week, from thurs to sun! reason? the wonders of comp days for working a public holiday! so i spent the day finally getting on the golf course and shooting a respectable 86... derek also played - but i dunno what he shot. however, he did ball up a bunch of dead skin off his boobs and throw them at me, which then stuck to my chest! ewwww... my mom suffered something real weird, which normal docs couldn't figure out... after she swung, she had a big pain in the head - and then could barely stand. it was actually pretty scary. i had thot a bug bit her cause that's what she was saying - and then went all woozy... dad took her to the hospital from there - as we all thot it was just a bug bite... derek and i finished the round and waited for dad to come back to get us. ended up that they thot it might have been a pulled tendon tha tconnects to that part of the head... i dunno... but PRAISE God she ok!

i think i need more sleep....

AND.. check it - the NEW AND IMPROVED one_eighty discussion board is back up!!!!