The Searchlight of Insight

Spectacular Youth Sunday

Today was Youth Sunday at Union Church and it was extraordinary. The title of the service was, "Where You Lead, I Will Follow."  Sebastian, who is asking more and more about what it means to be baptised, decided to skip Sunday school to sit in the sanctuary with Tess and I for the entire service. Next year Seb will be old enough to enter Union Church's Youth Group so today gave him a taste of what's ahead: seriously fun, and extremely moving, times. Despite the message title being, "I Will Follow," I am convinced the service was so powerful that people walked away thinking much bigger thoughts to themselves. Read on to find out why and how.

I watched the crowd closely today to gauge their reaction to each point of the service. I doubt a single person made it through the service without shedding a tear. For starters, the Youth Group performed all the music for the entire service, including Jesus Culture's "One Thing Remains". They did a great job, staying in complete control, never letting the congregation get ahead of them.

During the earlier parts of this year, several members of the Youth Group ran a Youth Alpha Course, essentially a modern, introductory course to Christianity. They did this on their own initiative, organising the entire eight weeks with guests speakers et all. Today one of the partcipants shared his experience of being in the course and one of the leaders shared their experience of leading the course.

These testimonies were followed with a sermon delivered by three Youth Group members, most of whom are on their way to university next year. They handled the sermon with tremendous finesse and humour. Their message was based on scripture in Exodus 13:20-22 and 14:19-20. Each shared about their trials and tribulations as young Christians in ways we were each able to relate to and had a good laugh, too. "What is your Red Sea?" we were asked. When we find ourselves between a rock and a hard place:

1. God knows that you are there.
2. He has equipped you, prepared you.
3. He desires for you to remember that I am God. There is none like unto Me.
4. He has the situation under control. The situation is not more than you can bear – there is a way of escape. He will not let it destroy you.
5. He says, "You have My spirit inside of you." You will come out as more than a conqueror.
6. Start singing. This shows your faith in the Lord... and sang the Youth Group sure did today!

Next came Confirmation for seven individuals who had been mentored through a confirmation course the last few months. Again, each shared a short testimony about their experience during the Confirmation course and walking with Jesus. (At left: Kyle Koster stands with his guitar while he and the rest of the group watch the Youth baptisms.)

Finally, a handful of Youth were baptised. One during the service by sprinkling and three others by immersion immediately following. Overall the service was very moving and Sebastian told me afterwards his favourite part was the baptisms. Seb did well to sit through the entire service, listening, getting only slightly wrestless. I allowed him to doodle on a piece of paper to keep himself occupied. At one point I looked down. He was holding the service bulletin that read, "Where You Lead, I Will Follow" but had changed the I to We.

For what are you grateful?

The month of April is upon us and I just finished my "Gratefully." This is an expression the kids throw around easily and have done so since 1 January, 2012. This year we rolled out a new project with our family. During the Christmas holidays the kids and I went to a small shopping centre (Chi Fu) to purchase 2012 planners. We bought the very small ones for Tess and I, while the kids got the next size up to make it easier for them to write. No, we have not abandoned the calendars in our iPhone and Blackberry. We use the planners for our "Gratefully Project."

For the month of January the project started off with the kids and ourselves, each day, writing three things for which we were grateful. Each day the sentence starts off with, "I am grateful to God for..." The kids stuck with the project with no prompting. Remarkable.

In February the project shifted slightly - the daily Gratefully consisted of two things for which we were each grateful and one person we each thought we needed to forgive. Forgiveness can be difficult for anyone. The kids know what it means and with some trepidation typically hand out forgiveness when they upset each other. At the end of each day we often hear stories of little tit for tats at school, which is why we added forgiveness onto the Gratefully Project. Now each day we write, "I am grateful to God for _______ (two things) and I forgive ______." Even if the kids feel they cannot forgive someone at that moment, they will still write someone that they know they need to forgive in their heart.

What I find most remarkable about the Gratefully Project, is how willing the kids have been to partake. Now we are into April, everyone is up to date, and the kids rarely need to be reminded. In fact we don't prompt them at all.

"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." Ephesians 4:31-32

Wonderful, but hit and run visit...

From our guest blogger, Maureen...

Editor's note: As I sit here and post this blog, Carys is in bed wailing because she misses Blake and Mo. We all do! We had a wonderful 44 hour visit, alas, it was only 44 hours. Blake and Maureen left this afternoon. Maureen's report follows.

Two delightful flights from both Heathrow and Frankfurt has brought us to Hong Kong - had a fab sleep on the last flight, thankfully.  The Caldwell gang were at the airport to meet us and we were wrapped up in endless hugs and kisses on our arrival.  By this point Blake and I were feeling odd from jet lag and lay down for a few hours.  Tess and Charles have given us their bed - sigh, it has been bliss.  Lo and behold, Tess and Charles had a dinner party that evening: Terry and Nick, and Tess' boss from ICM, Deanna and her husband, Dave.  It all made for very interesting company and the kidlets had made settings for us all with handwritten menus.  Blake lasted until the first course and knew he could not manage the meal and instead had a bowl of breakfast cereal... and was then off to bed for the night by approx. 8:30 - 9:00 pm.  I lasted another 30 - 45 minutes and bid my adieus. (At left: Jasper waiting at the airport and Sebastian later on in the day at home.)

We both slept all night long and did not get up until 8 am, feeling so much better.  We lazed around and drank tea whilst chatting and finally got dressed and headed off to church.  So wonderful to see familiar faces at church who greeted us all so warmly.  A fine sermon on humility and what humility is - "not thinking less of oneself  but thinking of oneself less" ... "knowing who and what we are in Christ".  Laurel (a fellow Rafa fan  : )  and her daughters joined us after church at The Flying Pan (in a new location in Wanchai) for a fine breakfast.  I fondly remembered Fintry "Fat Boy" breakfasts as I enjoyed an "English Breakfast." And now we are home with thoughts of going for a hike but after the late night the girls are having a nap and I may join them.  Not sure if Tess and Blake are actually going to do the walk but they are the most stalwart, I must say.
 
This evening we are going to the Aberdeen Boat Club for dinner and more friends of Tess and Charles will be there as well.  So, it has been vintage Hong Kong and soooo worth coming.

The new flat is excellent.  Very high ceilings with a much improved paint job, greenery out most windows, quieter as they are well off the main drag.  The girls have their own room, the boys theirs and of course, a master en suite for Tess and Charles.  They have decorated brilliantly, in my humble opinion  : )  A cosy living room with couches and bean bags, art work and family pictures throughout the flat, a small but efficient kitchen with Liza's bedroom and bathroom off the kitchen.  A large area has been designated for the dining room and makes for a spacious feel to the whole place.  We feel very comfortable.

Sebastian turns 10 and leapfrogs technology

Today Sebastian turned ten. We finally caved and bought him an iTouch. Generally we are not on the leading edge when it comes to technology. The computer I am using to write this post is eight years old: younger than Sebastian but older than the triplets. Tess and I have Kindles but we don’t have ipads or much else when it comes to gadgets. Naturally the kids have been pressuring us to get their own gadgets, especially phones. I have a lot of fun answering the question, “But how old were you when you got your first phone?” I will cock my head to the side and say with a cryptic voice, “Twenty seven!” This is true and that phone was the size of a shoebox, weighing the same as a large bag of rice. (Left: the first picture taken on Seb's new iTouch just before the kids went to bed.)

Shoeboxes and rice have come a long way since I was twenty-seven, lugging around an almost briefcase sized phone during the BC Yachts years. Today, most household phones no longer have wires attached to them. “Oh I remember them!” reports Sebastian triumphantly. The kids marvel in disbelief at the notion TVs were black and white when I was their age, cartoons were only on the television Saturday mornings and the Internet was only a sparkle in the late Steve Jobs’ eye.

What I didn’t know about Jobs’ latest version of the iTouch, is that the device -0 even though it is not a phone - is Skype enabled. Last night after the kids fell asleep I set-up Seb’s iTouch, loaded on some of his favourite apps, created a Skype account for him and charged the battery. Then I carefully slipped it back into the package.

Tonight we went to the ABC for dinner. The kids played in the pool for Floaty Wednesday – the only time the lifeguards allow inflatables in the pool. After dinner Sebastian opened his presents. (This involved closing his eyes and reaching into a recycable shopping bag because Seb doesn’t want us to waste paper on the environment.) He acted suitably delighted at each small present, strongly suspecting that at the end of the tunnel was the grand prize iTouch.

Back at home we set-up the wireless connection. Sebastian tried calling me on Skype. It worked. Then he called Auntie Pammy and Uncle Ed in Canada. It worked. I sent him a message via Skype chat, “It’s time for bed.” He wrote back, “Hi, ok.”

The idea dawned on me that perhaps, by the time Sebastian does get a phone, it might be obsolete. In fact he may never own a phone, as his parents now know them. Instead, at ten years old, Sebastian, long beyond copper, discarded even fibre, and leapt over technology into the wireless world of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP). That subtle but transformational technology shift is not one I anticipated when he was born ten years ago this morning.

Thinking, thinking...

Tess blogged about being willing to leave Hong Kong but not Pokfulam… and that she is processing. Here’s why. Three years ago we seriously considered moving to Sai Kung and looked for property to buy. In general there is more space for less money. We could likely get a house. I know Sai Kung is not everybody’s cup of tea, but we seriously thought about it. We viewed at least 100 properties online and 30 in the flesh. One property caught our eye. We saw it twice: once by ourselves and once with the kids. The kids loved it but the area is somewhat isolated. Tess and I said to each other, “Not quite right, but IF there was a house built immediately in front of that house, it might be perfect.” So we said, “No,” to the disappointment of the delightful realtor because it really is a charming village.

Flash forward three years later shortly after the July snowball fight in Canada. I’m on the phone late one Hong Kong night with Tess back in Canada who says, “I think it’s time to start thinking about Sai Kung again because the kids really need more space.” (I thought: “Start thinking again? Who stopped thinking about it?”) Having just spent a week in their own rented house with a huge yard, and then back on Lake Okanagan for three weeks, the kids were thriving in the wide-open space.

The next day for kicks and giggles I did a quick search. The first property to pop up looked much like the one we’d said “no” to and listed through the same agent. I email Delightful Realtor and asked her if it was the same house. “No,” she replied, “It is a new house, built immediately in front of that house.” Okay, so that’s weird.

Once Tess and the kids returned to Hong Kong we drove out to look at the property, along with four others to bring our in-the-flesh total to 35. The house we like is a shell, with an occupancy permit – ideal for renovating according to one’s tastes. (Read slightly easier and cheaper – no walls to knock down during reno.) There is a plot of land attached to the house (about 1,000 sq ft) so it would come with a small yard. The whole village is surrounded by woods for the kids to explore (one of the things they love about Canada) and a deserted road. Yes, the village is isolated, but not that bad compared to other parts of Sai Kung or Clearwater Bay: off the beaten path you have to work it out. Most people who live in Sai Kung rave about it. Most people who live in Pokfulam rave about it. (At left: view from the third floor master bedroom.)

Back to the village: the deserted road is not a thoroughfare. Essentially it forms the street into the village, plus another half click, and then comes to an end. (It’s politically incorrect to say “dead end” but there is in fact a teeny cemetery about a fifteen-minute walk from the village.) A trail follows onwards from the errrr, end. Eventually the trail comes to an end because it turns back into a road accessing another major road... from the other side. I am thinking ahead at the possibility that someday these two roads might connect and that…  would be huge.

So Tess and I are processing this situation, weighing the pros and cons to determine the way forward. The fact this would be a HUGE, long project is not lost on me. The kids love the idea of moving into this house but they despise the idea of switching schools and being separated from their friends. (BTW, one of the girls' good friends just moved to Sai Kung.)  "But just think, playdates would be three days long: arrive on Friday night and depart Monday morning!"  (Their friends' parents love that idea!) Truthfully, only Sebastian is old enough for this move to have a big impact. Although, my parents switched classes on me when I was in kindergarten and I harboured a grudge for a few decades. Silly really. For the triplets, new friends would emerge quickly and eventually for Sebastian. Jasper is bereft at the idea of anything changing in his life if it involves effort. Carys is digging in her heals a little. Sela has already packed her bags.