being chinese

A few weeks ago I went to a Streams of Praise worship night. It was completely in Mandarin. I went with Sylvia who brought her friend Jen... who's Caucasian but spent a few years in Taiwan. Her Mandarin was so much better than mine! She knew all the songs!!! And I could only read bits and pieces...

But the spirit of the place was something that just gripped me. I loved it. I love(d) seeing Chinese people sing with passion, lift their hands... I love the "full sound" of Chinese worship...

It's odd for me to come to this place where I can say this.

Spending most of my life, thus far, being anti-Chinese... now I've totally swung the opposite way and I'm embracing it... more than that... I'm proud to be ME.

Albeit shocking, Chinese was the first language I learned. There's something about worshipping God in your "native" language. In India I witnessed the Bible college students come alive when worshipping with their Telugu songs. They wanted to learn our western worship songs, but the entire room and dynamics changed when their cultural worship songs were sung.

Perhaps that's why it felt so "at home" at that worship night.

Or maybe my heart is continuing to change...

I love being ME. Thank you Jesus for makin' me...ME! (a Psalty song!)

Too bad I didn't inherit the brains of the Chinese folks! Where are my smart genes? :p

school... enough said!

I brought it onto myself.

Yep.

I chose it.

School.

Ai!

I'm so not use to studying... reading... keeping up with assignments... so far behind! And this ain't no Mickey Mouse club no more! When you got 500 pages of reading due, you can't just read that in a week.. I'm learning...

So tired too.

I do love being in classes though. Love the interaction... the learning... being blown away.... having classmates cry in class every week because of new revelation and the Holy Spirit just touching the lives of people... I did miss school, my two years away. Love that learning environment! Not self-disciplined enough to study on my own...

Less than a week before I leave for Ottawa... I just want to be able to really prepare for Ottawa, but I'm playing catch up with homework!

God gave me a funny picture tonight. Pictured nailing homework, assignments to the cross... and then I got the word "It is finished!" The words Jesus said when he died on the cross... So it's conforting to know that my assignments will end...and that He will help me carry!

Ok, enough procrastinating. Sipping my Brandy Spice tea from Sri Lanka...

reconnecting

The last little while has been kinda like "a blast from the past." I've been seeing or interacting with friends from "way back..." People I lost contact with or just don't contact much anymore.

My Bible college friends have appeared out of the blue. Seriously! I got a phone call from my Montreal friend Shauna who found my cell number and called me. I got the message and not the call, but I was like, whoa..!!! Crazee! Earlier in the day, I missed a call where the caller didn't leave a message. I called the person back (yay caller ID!) and asked if someone there was looking for Shelaine. The response was "I most certainly did!" I was thinking...uh... who are you? Then he told me he was Matt...from Omega and I was like, aw man!! He saw a flyer from Sept 18th and just gave me a call!!! AND, I saw Jen S. at a pastors breakfast thingie... she's now pastoring at her home church! We had many conversations in the cafe at WPBC dreaming about going on missions. I think she was suppose to go to the Ukraine or something, and I am to go to China. Hmm... AND well... a few weeks ago, Jaci called me and just wanted to chat. Very cool. We use to be inseperatable. Kindred spirits, they'd call us.

And on the bus on Thursday I think I saw someone that I knew perhaps 10 years ago... it looked like Chris T, but I wasn't sure... until I heard someone call her name... but I still wasn't sure and I had to get off the bus because I was home.

Yesterday I met a guy who I think I knew back in the AFJ days too... and he's good friends with these two siblings that I went to Atlanta with... haven't seen them since 1999!

All these old friendships coming back into my life...

I am blessed with great friends. I truly am. Old ones, new ones, and current ones. Some that stay forever, some that are here for short seasons. Some are high maintenance others are extremely low maintenance... but I love them both!

So... do we need to reconnect? Don't answer that... :)

it's late

So much to update on... mmm... just email me ;)
I'm thankful...
Wake up. Call out... blew my mind. God just really "showed up" - why do I find myself surprised?
Now I find myself Ottawa bound... for Siege (check righthand side).
My two courses, I find myself learning... yet feeling so strange to be back in school.
And that... the grace of God will lead you, only where the grace of God can keep you.

Goodnight. I get up in four hours.