Blessings Galore

I'm currently staying with the family friend who took care of Terry whilst I was away in Sydney. This place is really like the Buddhist equivalent of a Church. They hold religious services and events here. It is also the residence of a few religious leaders, including my family friend, Aunty Hong. It's a humongous complex with seemingly endless land. There are 3 other dogs here besides mine, Whisky & Goldish the retrievers and Ocher the pomeranian.

I get my own room beside the kitchen. It's a decent room except it gets a bit chilly and the kitchen certainly doesn't smell like roses. However, I'm blessed to have a place to stay. When I arrived yesterday, Aunty Hong and I cleaned out my room. It was stacked full of mattresses and cartons of belongings the previous tenant left behind. So one by one, we moved them into the store room. Then we wiped, swept and mopped and brought my mattress over. It was hard work for 2 women but finally, my room was ready.

Aunty Hong and her 2 other acquaintances have been extremely hospitable. They helped to make a cover over my room door, as part of it was made of see-through glass. Aunty Hong brought me a rug and a sensor light for my room, so that when I switch off the main light, it automatically comes on. They also make sure I have food to eat and tell me I can use the facilities freely.

Of course, there are downsides to this place. Every time I want to leave or come back, I need to tell someone or ring the bell and wait. A big gate separates this compound from the outside world, and it's operated from the inside. It also slides open in a painfully slow speed.

Today, I had to sit next to this old man at the dinner table. He burped and farted out loud several times during dinner, which really made me scramble to find my lost appetite in order to finish my meal. They are vegetarians so I can't bring any non-vegetarian food back. It's also a must to finish whatever's in your bowl. It's part of their religious belief not to waste any food. I also wash the dishes as Aunty Hong is cooking and again when everyone finishes eating. I am learning to have a servant attitude here.

I believe God is using this experience to prepare me.

My parents can whinge about how "clean" I am all day if you allow them to. From a young age, I was greatly obsessed with how nice and clean everything had to look before I would go near them. For example, we would be at a coffee shop and I would refuse to sit down if the chairs looked patchy and old. Once we were in China and one of the restaurants used bowls with gold coatings. Some parts of the coating had come off to reveal the black material underneath and because of that, I squatted outside the restaurant, refusing to go in despite my dad's fury. If ever any sand got into my little shoes, I would kick up a big fuss and demand to be carried.

And here I was tonight, absorbing the pungent smell from the old man as I took another bite of my noodle. Everything in my body wanted to scream disgust and walk away from that table. Jesus was my strength to stay. And I need to get ready. The mission field, or perhaps it should really be called the rest of the world where unbelievers are, may not always be a comfortable place.

I want to get to know these people. They had a hunger for God and thus have been following this "god" that they know. I don't believe that hunger has been filled. They need to know the truth.

I also have a question in my mind. I wonder why we as Christians are sometimes nowhere near as hospitable as these people have been to me. Would we gladly open our homes to someone in need without taking anything for it? Would we be the good Samaritan? We have our reservations. And why is that? I believe it's because we need to take another drink as Jentzen Franklin preached at Hillsong. Another drink of the Holy Spirit. Maybe when we get drunk enough, we'll lose our reservations.

God has blessed me so much. I thank God for loving me, taking care of me.