GAP Camp 2006

Every one is broken baby - everyone in sight
Everyone is groping honey.. in the middle of the night
--Don Chaefer

I've realized you cant say a word to make everything perfect -- or i just havent figured out what that word is yet.
Truly everyone is sick in someway. . . Ha, why is it always the college student comming out with all the morbid stuff? But no, Maybe Im at that age where Ive figured out Im old enough to disagree with the way things are.
I dont know if it was the way things were at the camp, or the families where these boys came from, or the, just, evil that always seemed to creep into situations and these innocent little kids lives. I mean how can really fully protect them from harms way. I guess thats a parents greatest regret in having children - that they have to feel the paings of the world upon their sholders.
But no, I say if you are going to do it, you got to do it, meaning if your going to raise a son who is going to love God and not be rebellious your going to have to teach them obedience. And if you hope for your son to realize his hopes and dreams and be able to pick himself up off the ground when he fails miserably then your going to have to invest your lives. You are a reflection of your children. If you want to be proud of your children then you better raise them right! If you want your children to fully experience the fullness of life you better teach them the essence of life! The kids you have are going to experience the same sin, guilt, shame, sufferings that you had until you make a stand and say 'NO! Im sick of this sin and bondage and Im not going to have it anymore!' Then only when you break that cycle of continuous repetative slavery through sin then you will have that freedom that truly comes from Christ. "For freedoms sake Christ set us free". We have the power to stop the sin from passing on down to our children if we choose put an end to it in our lives. Our children and our childrens children are going to continue to feel the sin, and fears until we defeat them. Just as sin entered through one man, it has been inherited through every generation, but we can stop that sin through another man. Its all connected, our fears will be our sons fears unless we stop fearing.
Needless to say it was a bit of a frusterating but leanfull last week. It was harder not having a few friends to bounce things off of. But I'll leave you with the famous quote of the week:

"(I repeat) There is never a time when you do not flush."

when i get that feeling

so this is a really old picture, taken during SR, M and my's trip down to souther Yunnan province, a place called Xishuangbanna in chinese, near Myanmar (burma). this was a great sunset (picture never do a thing justice, do they?) after a nice bike ride through a small village, after a morning rafting trip down the mekong river. (it wasnt as hardcore as it sounds). maybe someday i will write more about that trip. what a great trip. anyway, i am sure most of yall have seen this, but i don't think it ever hurts to see it again. isnt this the kind of picture that just makes you want to thank god for giving us the chance to experience the beautiful world he has given us? i think one of the most tragic things is when we lose our sense of wonder about the world. i know i lose my sense of wonder many times a day, but then something like this just hits you, and you get this feeling in your gut that makes you want to laugh and cry and hug whoever is next to you. when does this feeling hit you guys? another time i get it is when i am enjoying a good meal with good friends and the conversation is just flowing, meaning and real, or when i hear a beautiful song with lyrics that really speak to me, like when don chaffer sings:

"when jesus raises up the dead, and gives sight to the blind; now there's a man that i can get behind."

-elias

hengshan church

this is a follow-up to the earlier wedding plans post. This is Hengshan Church, where we will hold the wedding. it is a beautiful old church, built in 1925 by missionaries in shanghai. they hold about 5 services in there a day, some for local chinese and some for the international community. the reception will be just down the street from the church.

keepin it real

my roommates and me after a trip to the sunglass store, sometime in march i think. that is fredrik, the swede on the left, and orion from chicago in the middle. yeah, we know we're cool.

the lunch hour

i need to talk about Kowloon Ice House. this restaurant is right around the corner from my office and i eat lunch there three or four times a week. it is a small Hong Kong style cafe, complete with cantonese pop music videos playing on a large TV. and i mostly eat there because of their bing nai cha, iced milk tea. it is my favorite drink in the city (though i am not sure how healthy it is). they make it by adding milk powder to black tea, along with a healthy dose of sugar. the food is ok, it is actually pretty similar to american style chinese food; what i have in this picture would be your typical sweet and sour chicken. i usually go there and read, a wonderful 45 minute respite from the office. i get a rice dish and a drink for about US$3, which is a little more expensive than most chinese alternatives, but i am happy to pay it because it is much cleaner than most other restaurants and they actually have decent service. i go here so much that they recently made me a VIP customer, that means i get 10% percent off each visit (except when i get a lunch meal deal, which is almost the only time i go!!).

so even though this is the restaurant i frequent the most in shanghai, i wouldnt say it is my favorite. that may have to go to Guyi, a hunanese restaurant (mao's home province and known for its great spicey food) i have only been to once, but it holds a special place in my heart because that is where i proposed to SR; well, out on the steps of the restaurant at least. plus, they have great ribs and a great fish head dish.
-elias

Wedding Pics, finally

Well, the people have spoken (ok, just Dad and Matthew), so here we offer some more wedding pictures to tide you over until you can see the rest. These were taken near Shen Rong's hometown. Some were at a park, and others were at an old town near her home called Tong Li.

We know Shen Rong is wearing a lot of makeup, but we thought we should make it clear that she doesn't normally wear any at all. She is all natural, baby! The wedding dress was borrowed from the photography company, she got her real one later on a trip to Suzhou. She has three dresses now for the wedding; at Chinese weddings, the bride usually changes outfits several times, so SR has one for Wujiang wedding, one for Shanghai ceremony and another for the reception afterwards. Pretty nice, huh, girls?

I am wearing my own suit in these pics, had it tailor made and the photography didnt have any clothes in my size. I think i will get a new suit made for the wedding.

In other wedding planning news, i have asked M to be my best man, and SR has asked an Indonesian friend of hers (Risah) to be the maid of honor. We have also asked Abi to be a bridesmaid. We are trying to decide who else we want to stand up there with us.

We have a cool venue picked out for the reception. It is just down the street from the church in an old redone villa. It is entirely enclosed with a nice yard area. a cantonese restaurant, called Abundant Green Garden, pretty sweet, huh? It has a nice deck and fountain with fish in it. So the ceremony will be at 10:30 am, with the reception following at noon - 3pm. we are still working on the plans for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

we are working on the invitations, but are planning on chinese-style, with english and chinese writing.

i know i havent posted in a long time, i will try to be more regular. but you know, we have been busy.

Wedding Plans

For anyone who doesn't already know, Elias is getting married in Shanghai, China on October 7, 2006. We are all excited and in the middle of making travel plans. The bride to be is Shen Rong, and they have sent this one picture from their wedding photos. We asked for more, but this is all we got. There is a wedding celebration in Shen Rong's hometown the weekend before and the church wedding at 10:30 am on the 7th. We hope they will be making a visit here soon after the wedding (Christmas is a possibility) and we will have a reception for them then. Be sure and offer comments to the news, they will enjoy hearing from everyone.

Some Lyrics

Here are the lyrics to a song from an old white guy, rapper/poet ....T Bone Burnett:

Blinded by the Darkness

The laws of man
They don't carry the same weight as the laws of God
Or the laws of nature. In the nomenclature

Do we want to inject the concept of sin
Into the Constitution. Is this really necessary
Does this not make you somewhat wary
Shouldn't sin be left to the laws of God
And to the laws of nature
Can we trust this to the legislature

And shall we trust sin to the wisdom
Of the criminal justice system
Which can't handle the criminals we have now
Why create a whole new class of them

Isn't crime dealt with by the laws of man
Isn't sin dealt with by the laws of God

If sin were dealt with by the laws of man
Everybody would be in jail for life in solitary confinement
With no one to go his bail. Or would have gotten death
Maybe I should save my breath
But this lunacy is bound to fail

But there would be no one to get the food
Or run the machines. Mercy on us dude

You shine your darkness on me
I am blinded by the darkness

In seven days God created evolution
When shall I expect retribution
From the counter revolution

You shine your darkness on me
I am blinded by the darkness

Not terrible profound, but kind of interesting. I wish I could link you to the song, but I think that might be illegal!!