Week 7 is Favor

This week has been a phenomenal week, to say the least. The Lord has been touching my heart and my world in so many little ways that I can hardly take it all into my soul. This post will be me reliving a few special moments from this week. I hope they touch your heart as much as they have stolen mine. :)

Let’s start with Monday. This day was like any other here at HOLF. Recently, a missionary family from Japan has come to visit Hong Kong for 2 weeks. As a project with the kids here at HOLF, the 3 boys and their father made origami with the HOLF kids. It was so cool. Willem, the oldest boy at 11 yrs, helped me make my first crane. Then, Tai (8 yrs) made me a frog. Xavier (4 yrs) is still learning to make origami, but I still had a wonderful time. Judy returned later that day from appointments and Kalok put the cd “Jesus is my Superhero” by Hillsong into the cd player and it was awesome. Willem, Tai, Xavier, Val, and I were able to dance around with Siu Yan, Hephzibah, Shaun Shaun, and Dibs. Kalok and Fung Tai didn’t want to dance and actually left the living room. Haha. Too funny. But, dancing with all those kids was such a blessing. The children appeared to be radiating such pure light and joy. That worship experience was such a great happiness to my spirit. Our God was definitely with us in the lower Ark as we danced for him. At one point, I was spinning Dibs in her wheelchair so she could dance. When I looked at her, I almost began to cry. Dibs was smiling so wide her eyes were shut and she was squealing like she always does but this time it was different. This time it hit me that these last 2 weeks with her would were precious. I needed to cherish them with all my might and strength because I don’t know when I will see them again after this. That “dance party” will be a highlighted moment for me and this trip.

Wednesday had a couple of great things about it. First was swimming. Val and I took Shaun Shaun swimming first. She kept kicking and kicking. Her smile was huge as she swam in the water. Next was Kalok with Hephzibah joining later after she got home from school. Val, Kalok, and I made the pool into a wave pool. So much fun! The best part was when Hephzibah joined us in the pool. Before that day, she has played in kiddie pools or been restricted to holding the wall or someone holding her in the pool because she can’t swim. Judy bought her an inflatable lifejacket that let her go around the pool by herself. For almost 2 hrs I witnessed her play in the water, spinning around and splashing all by herself with a contagious laugh that DID NOT STOP. I have never seen her so happy. For those 2 hrs. I was literally in Heaven. I was content to letting her stay in the pool forever if that was what she wanted. Just thinking about that memory brings tears of joy. I seriously have not heard a better sound before in my life.

Judy let me off work early so I could go dancing since I didn’t go last week. When I got there, there were a ton of hugs and such as I arrived. The dances were just fantastic!! It has been a while since I have laughed like that at a dance function. Maybe CBUS 6 in Columbus, Ohio hosted by SwingColumbus? Haha. Anyway, a new friend, Willis, that I made here had just arrived and so he asked me to dance since it was my last week with him. We were the only ones dancing because it was a bit of a faster song. After like a minute of us being the only ones on the floor, people start clapping to begin a jam circle. So much fun!! Unintentional jam circles are the best. It was a blast. Two different people will not be here next week and so I had to say goodbye early. Sad day. One’s goodbye was just great. He is a youth pastor and is a lot of fun to dance with on the dance floor. When hugging me goodbye he said, “See you in Heaven or before.” How awesome! Later on, me and my friend, Michael, were cheered on by a lot of bystanders. It was a night full of fun. hopefully, next week will be even better because it’ll be my last one before I head back to the States.

Now, my freeday from Tuesday was so awesome. Val, Lindsey, and I went to Lantau Island for our day off together. First, we went to Mui Wo Beach by bus down the mountain where we rented bikes and rode around in the countryside. Okay, one of the things on my bucket list was to ride a bike in China before I die. Well, that can be crossed off the list!! It was so much fun! We found a few temples and a waterfall. I have never been in a waterfall, let alone see one that close up before. It was beautiful. Val graciously took some pictures of me and the waterfall. Then, we took a bus back up the mountain to go to the Big Buddha and the Lo Pin Monastery. The Buddha was seriously huge. You can see it when you are low on the mountain. No joke. It was a phenomenal sight. There will be pictures on Facebook in a day or two. :)

Finally, yesterday was an outing to Sai Kung with Judy, Fung Tai, Shaun Shaun, Wing Sze, Emmanuel, the missionary family, and FA FA!! Fa fa was able to join us and it made my day. Fa fa was a little down which was upsetting. I spent the entire outing cheering her up. I used to be able to do something silly and get a laugh from her and today she wouldn’t laugh. By the end of the day, she was her old self again. But, I got my first (and hopefully only) sunburn here in Hong Kong. I am still a little red this afternoon. Haha.

That is my week thus far. I have only 8 more days working here not counting today and August 7th because I leave that day before anyone is awake in the Home. God is answering my prayers for peace and joy to fill my last days here at HOLF. God i s definitely showing me favor in these last days. Keep me and my team in your prayers as we finish our stay here in Hong Kong.
Walk in Love.