Room B & then some

Our Father has graciously supplied our need for a larger room at our hotel. We now meet in Room B at a well-negotiated price. For just a little more cost per week, we have a bigger, better oriented room in which to meet. Lately we have consistently averaged about 75-80 people, from about 15 different countries. We had heard that many times during the summer, our numbers drop very low as many folks return to their home countries or travel, making the commitment to a bigger room a little dicey. However, this summer apparently many people stayed to worship together, meaning that when we all returned at the end of August, we had a full room. Now we have the bigger room indefinitely. We thank our Father for this gracious provision.

I still get amazed when I think of how so many nationalities come together to worship our Father. Yes, we see numbers increasing, but we also see people growing in their faith and living out the truth.  We get excited when we watch a husband wrestle with loving his difficult wife. How does he live out the gospel towards her? What does it mean to love unconditionally as Jesus loves him? What does it mean to forgive? How does he demonstrate the gospel in front of his children? We get excited when we watch a young man and a young woman work out the gospel in their growing relationship. What does that look like for unbelieving extended family members? How does he love her like Jesus loves the Church? How does she learn to love and respect him the way the Church loves Jesus? We get excited when we learn a young man takes worship and rest seriously on the Lord's Day. What does keeping the Lord's Day mean when Monday demands attention? We get excited when we see people hang out together, fellowshipping and/or serving. One lady went to an expectant mother's home to help prepare food ahead because the new mommy often feels tired. Three single ladies from three countries spent the afternoon chatting and hanging out together.

Isn't this what the Body of Christ looks like? Beautiful!! It also makes me realize how much of our small town American church life is so homogeneous.

New House Plants

Mark & I both love houseplants. When we left our home in Aug. 2013, I moved all of our plants to the two front rooms of our house to make caring for them easier for the girls. By October, we learned that several of our 21 plants were on life support. By the time we returned home that term, most of them had already died. My lovely African violets, Christmas cacti, and scheffleras were mere brown twigs. The pothos somewhat survived.  So after we settled in our own BJ apartment, we bought a few plants to add to our home.  When several of our plants died over this past summer, we decided to replace them. However, we bought a couple of bigger plants this time for green color. Hopefully, we can find a way to keep these alive over the months when we visit the US.

Botanical Gardens

Upon a closer look, all the flowers at the garden's entrance live in small pots.

A creative use of wood pieces

3-4' tall hosta blooms

A genuine lawnmower -  an resulting sound effects

A delightful dancing duo. He is 60 years old. We tried to give them some money for letting us watch them but they wouldn't take it.

Talking with a man we met on top of the knoll.

On the way to the Botanical Gardens

Tuesday, Mark & I took the afternoon to eat lunch at a new favorite restaurant, Green Tea, and visit the Botanical Gardens. On our first trip to the gardens last spring, we discovered a peaceful, green park outside the city where all kinds of flowers bloomed and dotted the landscape. On both trips we apparently just missed peak season of many flowers, like tulips (then) and roses (now). But just walking the paths bordering different sections, such as the peony garden, the rose garden, and the hosta garden brought enjoyable calm. Tuesday we decided to walk the mile into park to the Cherry Valley but got waylaid by cresting a knoll with a lookout gazebo. Naturally we found people to talk to there. As we sat admiring the plants and space and talking with a local man, we realized he was also admiring the Creation and telling us about how page 1 of God's Word explains why it is so beautiful. That led to more conversation, us quietly asking if he believes God's Word and has faith. He confirmed so we had a nice long chat as best we could in our limited Chinese and his very limited English. Eventually we exited the park together, him taking us out a different gate than we entered. That meant we didn't know where to catch the bus. He wound us through the neighboring streets, among the street vendors, cars, and people to the bus station. Upon discovering that bus he had in mind didn't go where we needed, he led us to another area to wait for the correct bus. He then rode the bus with us all the way until we disembarked the bus at a subway station. 

Just for fun, I stuck my camera out the bus window and took pictures on the way to the Botanical Gardens. It was about 2:30 going to the park. Coming back around 6, I realized I should have taken pictures coming home since people, carts, and cars bustling down the streets and alleys created a more lively scene.

Eating salad at the Green Tea Restaurant

a bus stop

commemorating 70 years of the end of World War II