Why hello there, it's been awhile! Sorry we haven't been on here so much lately. We will be sure to make this post extra long so that we can make up for all the missed blog posts, but don't worry, it's all good content.
So strap on your seat belts, and click the read more button to find out what we have been up to lately!
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| Here we are Kayaking on the South China Sea during Hari Raya! |
Last time we posted we showed you a project we had worked on and mentioned that we had recently visited Kuching, Malaysia. Since that trip we have had a lot going on.
When we got back from Kuching we decided to start doing a Bible reading plan where you go through the whole bible in 90 days. That's 12 pages a day folks. Its been hard, but not as hard as we thought. It actually has been really great! We are already in 2nd Samuel after just 22 days.
After we got back from Kuching we spent a few nights in Kampung Taburan, which is about an hour away from K.K. We had a really good time there, and had the chance to visit 4 different Multi Lingual Education Play-schools and shoot some great footage! We also had some awesome rest times, so we were able to get a bit ahead on our bible reading also which was really nice. We then took a bus back to K.K.
The following week was a holiday known as Hari Raya. It's a public holiday, and it's as big as Christmas is in the U.S. Everywhere you go there are decorations, and the malls are crowded with people buying food and presents for the holiday. No one has work for three days in the middle of the week. We got to take the week off and stayed at an inexpensive hotel by the sea.
It was great to just relax and have lunch by the beach and to enjoy the break.
This week we have been cranking out the editing of photos and videos. Next week will be traveling to Kuala Lumpur. The first few days we have scheduled and the last few days we will spend with one of Rachel's friends from back home in Michigan, who has been in Malaysia for quite a while now.
Now on a totally different note, I want to take some time to share with you about what God has been teaching us lately.
As we were preparing to come to Asia, we assumed that we would miraculously all the sudden have this great time with God always, where we would see him and feel him moving and it would be really easy to be dependent on him. The things we struggled with would go away because we were more close to God. It would be way easier to hear from him, and we would know exactly what his will was for us.
I don't think thats something we ever vocalized but it was kind of what we felt might happen. I'm exaggerating for the sake of explaining my point, but God had other plans. I don't mean to say that I'm not closer to God now, and I don't mean that he isn't speaking to us. He is just doing it in his own way that was completely different than I expected.
What I didn't expect was for God to remove a lot of the emotional elements of worship and relationship with him from us. What I mean by that is, when I pray or worship or read the bible or listen to a sermon; I don't get chills up my spine, I don't cry, I don't really feel very emotive. Thats not to say that I'm not in awe, that I'm not moved, but its just less of something that will make me cry and more of a comfort.
Previously, when God was teaching me, convicting me, or revealing things to me, I reacted very emotionally. It moved me to tears. Now I have had to get used to learning from God and recognizing his leading in different ways.
One of the ways we have noticed God speaking now is through repetition. We will hear a phrase, a piece of advice, a bible verse, a song, and we will be like, "Oh, thats cool, I like that." Then a week later, or a day later God will send someone else in our lives to repeat it. This keeps happening all the time! It's pretty intense. It's kind of neat because it always happens when we least expect it, but it's awesome to see that God is teaching us to listen to him in a way we haven't really noticed before.
I will share with you and example of one of those repetitions.
We talk to other people in similar situations to us about how weird our lives have become. One night we will be sleeping in a village home with no electricity under a mosquito net to the sound of chickens and cows walking around, and the next night we have air conditioning and a king sized bed.
That is really hard for us, because you have these great experiences in the village where God teaches you that you NEED a whole lot less than you think you do. He gives you this awesome time where you say, "I will live differently now" and you have a slight tendency to judge riches because you feel guilty about the way you have lived before. Then the very next night the Lord will decide to treat you with luxurious conditions on the beach... you will have no idea what to do with yourself. On one hand you are super thankful for the treat, and on the other hand you wonder why you need all these accommodations. When you see how nice even the lamp is, and you wonder how many people could have been fed instead of buying that lamp, your mind just doesn't know what to do!
We brought up those ideas with some friends of ours and they shared this verse with us from Philippians the Apostle Paul wrote.
"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.I can do all this through him who gives me strength."
Another friend without prompting shared this verse, and then on Sunday morning this verse was shared from the pulpit as well. Thats three times, we are listening God!
We basically have realized in a huge way that we have been seeing things as black and white. When we are with the rich we assume this is the proper way of life and everyone that doesn't live this way is poor. When we are with the poor we assume that everyone that has more is not frugal at all and is just throwing their money away on stupid useless things and they don't care about the poor.
God has been teaching us a third way. Our standards are not the worlds standards, so we shouldn't put that on them. Like the western toilet... people that don't use western toilets, are not gross or stupid or poor because of the type of toilet they choose to use.
Also people that you see at a nice resort are not always there because they love to just waste money. They could be there because someone gave them a gift to be able to go, or perhaps they have been saving up for a really long time to take their family there.
Rachel and I have had to learn to appreciate the gifts God has given us. Whether that gift is phenomenal hospitality and company in a room with no electricity or a weekend at the beach with western food, all are gifts from God and are meant to be cherished.
This may have been a ramble but I hope you appreciate walking through what we are learning with us. We are always encouraged by your feed back so please comment and let us know if you have any questions or comments on this post! thanks for your time!
-Colin
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