Star Studded Line-Up

There are times when you know that an event is blog-worthy, so you bring your camera and you think up witty one-liners as the event is happening. This afternoon was one such occasion. Chinese love to put on performances. There doesn't really need to be a holiday or celebration, just perform. And do it with vigor.


This little doozy of a performance happened right in our apartment complex this afternoon. This guy kicked things off with a riveting song and dance routine. At one point he leapt off the stage and danced around and then sang to an empty car. With about 63 people in the audience. But to him, it was a sold out concert in Central Park. In my opinion, that made it even funnier to watch.





Next up was this adorable grandma-soldier-wonder woman routine. She marched around and shot an air gun...many, many times. I have to admit, I was brainstorming all the things I could do with these Wonder Woman leggings. Those would sure add some pep to my home schooling routine.






When an older lady performs, usually it's her personal rendition of Beijing Opera. I know that this is a cultural gem here, but honestly it sounds like cats in heat. And at least the cats have some potential good that could come from being in heat. There is no such possible good in hearing Beijing Opera. But the older people in the audience were on the brink of lighting their lighters, swaying back and forth and singing "Free Bird".



The entertainment only got better when I saw who was up next. This guy started by gliding his feet in a familiar fashion. Within the first 10 seconds, I realized that he must have watched Michael Jackson's "Bad" about 183 times in order to memorize not only the moves but also the facial expressions. When I say that his performance made me happy, that is a gross understatement. I looked and looked around for my only American friend that lives near us and she was not to be found. I desperately needed someone to experience this with me.





But alas, I was alone, laughing so hard I was crying. I love Selah's expression in this picture above. Just sums it up nicely. And to top it off, the wind was blowing, so this guys white over shirt was blowing, just like Michael's did. It was pure delight. This picture below was when he was running almost in place...fast. I think he stole this move from 'Footloose.' I couldn't blame the guy...it's a classic move.




As a sidenote, I just re-lived this routine while I was writing. I now have cramps and tears dripping down my face. This routine with be my new "happy place" for the week.





As he ended his song, he rushed to the front of the stage and reached out to grab some of his adoring fan's hands.

Happy place. Happy, happy place.





Makaria got to pose with yoga lady. She was impressed with neither the lunge nor the silver sequin leggings. This lady is super sweet.





Then it was the Europeans turn. That's how they announced my kids as they came to entertain the masses. Did they practice...no. Did they have music....no. But did they have heart....YES! So the DJ put on some Chinese hip-hop. (Which, for the record I really like)








Here they are, dancing and flipping and looking cute as ever up there. I love that our kids don't mind dancing and singing and having fun up on stage.



And when my kids perform, they perform. Malachi pulled out his favorite move..."the Triple Whip". You can see him in mid air in this picture below. It involves a massive wind-up, a jump, a turn in the air and usually a landing on all fours and sometimes a face plant. It's awesome.





Whenever I hear music in our area, I always rush the kids to go and watch. I love the performances here. The make-up, the drama, the suspense and the spontaneity. Entertainment just doesn't get better than this.

Family Photo Gallery

Here's a few from our family's photo gallery:





"I Could Take Him out, No Problem!"






"Sealing the Deal"





"Potty Contemplation"





"How You Doin'?"

Our 2 Days Away

Brad and I went away to Beijing for 2 days!

Two whole days of sleeping in until 7, drinking coffee as a luxury and not a drug induced way to stay awake after lunch, and walking around aimlessly with no responsibilities and no purpose. In our youth, our getaway would have been non-stop activities. We would have woken up early, pushed ourselves all day, eaten Mexican food and then crashed. We have grown up and grown old all in one fail swoop. So now we sit and read. We walk, we still eat Mexican food and then we talk. We people watch and read some more. I usually do more of the people watching and commentating and Brad does more of the reading. But by sitting with him while he reads, I just feel smarter. So that's an added bonus.




We went to an art district that we've been spying out for a few years. It's called 798. The area is an old built out factory. They have turned all these factories into individual galleries and cafes. They have even kept some of the machinery and signs, which I loved. It was amazing to see the paradox of the factories and photography displays. They have a few artists each month who are on exhibition and then lots of staple smaller museums/shops.




We ate at this wonderful little cafe. The walls were covered with Andy Warhol pictures of when he visited China. I couldn't resist taking a picture with big Andy.



I also couldn't resist the picture of the police doing his patrol around the art district.






My favorite part of this courtyard filled with sculptures was the beautiful display the Lord gave us with the blue skies.




Here's the typical "riding on wolverine with cell phone in hand" shot.




We had a great time! It was so much fun to catch up, pray together, eat slowly and just relax. Thanks DY!

Swagger Wagon

What are all the cool kids doin'?

They're all drivin' mini-vans.



A rap about mini-vans. 'Nuf said.

"Nap Time"

Kesed wanted to take a nap with Makaria the other day.




Needless to say, not much napping happened.

Cultural Musings on Birds

As I was exercising this morning, I thought of a picture that explains some of the differences between Chinese and American culture.


Birds.

I'm always looking for ways to describe the vast sea of cultural differences we find ourselves swimming in culturally. This one dives into what we value.



One of the hobbies of the older and much, much WISER generation (your welcome, mom) is to take care of birds. You see the old people take them for walks, whistling to them, carrying them on long, wooden poles, teaching them to gamble, and whatever else they can do to fill up a 16 hour day.

I've asked around and have found out that most people here believe that by getting a bird and putting it into a cage, that they are protecting and loving the birds from the predators and evil elements that are found outside of cages. They will tell me "inside the cage, the birds are safe and well fed. Outside of the cage, they can be eaten or hit or abused." So, the cage offers safety, security and consistency. This is the most loving thing the caretaker can provide for the birds.



Now, we Americans on the other hand, see a bird in a cage (I realize that some Americans still have birds as pets, but I just don't think it ranks up there with dogs, cats, or even ferrets), we think: "Fly away! Fly away while your owner is changing your newspapers!! Get away and find your soul mate and make happy birdy babies while sipping lemonade in a Florida retirement community."

Fundamentally, we believe that birds were meant to fly and soar, to scale new heights and experience the world from a view that nobody else gets to see. We value the freedom that birds have. We see the cage as oppressive and stale.

Neither one is good or evil, just two different perspectives on the same thing...a cage. But it unpackages a lot culturally for both sides.

And to prove just how much we Americans hold dearly to our worldview, I leave you with this:

today i saw...

today i saw...

This is Makaria asleep in the bathtub. No fears, for she has squeezed herself into a plastic box. Such a safe girl. She's must have been lulled asleep by the T-Rex, white rabbit and toy monster truck that surround her.

I Hate Frustrations (duh)

Ok, so this week, I've become especially aware how frustrated I get at life's common, daily trials. I get unusually 'offended'. I act put out (in an odd sort of way). Basically, I want all of life's blessings and excessively detest any form of evil that gets in my way. This is just one more manifestation of selfishness, to say it plainly. Selfishness is a form of self-worship. I (and we) was the world to revolve around us, to glorify us.

Now, here's some reality: the anger or frustration is a rejection of God's wisdom in arranging THIS kind of world, full of setbacks, delays, and daily trials. When people talk of suffering, death, and cancer, we cite Romans 8:28; yet when small things hit us, we are so unprepared. We get angry that so many "trivial" things would get in the way of what 's "really" important (i.e. whatever WE are doing). Yet, today, it dawned on me how trivial our days are in God's eyes. He is sovereign and all-knowing. Our ambitions and challenges are nothing for Him.

However, the incarnation reveals a God, whose glory is made manifest in mercy, "put up with" our humanity and inefficient world. In His wisdom, such a world system works together for our good and His glory. In the most profound sense, all evil and pain exists so that Christ might die, thus exhibiting God's glorious grace (cp. Rev. 13:8, Eph. 1:6). As Paul suggests in 2 Cor. 4, our lives are to be small expressions of His gospel-incarnation.

This should radically impact the way we impatiently listen to the "trivial concerns" of our kids. All our lives are full of normal, trivial stuff...that is, until that point we remember the gospel is precisely God's enjoying us amid our trivial concerns.

Advertisement

This is a sign near our home for a local business. We have laughed so many times at how it looks just like our kids. When we pass it, Kesed even says "That's my pigu (Chinese for bottom)! And that's Makaria's pigu!"

Joe Wong at the RTCA Dinner

"Big Mak"

Makaria no longer smiles like a sweet, almost 2 year old. Instead, she puts on her "strong" face. When she does her strong face, she shakes her head, bulges her eyes and throws her hands up to her chin. This face has thrown me back to to my WWF days. Yes, I admit that I was very into "Macho Man" Randy Savage, "Hulk Hogan", Jake "The Snake", the whole gang. I even watched the cartoon. I'm not ashamed.



This is her WWF "The Sheik" pose. If you know him, then you were just as desperate for entertainment in the late eighties as I was.

We thought of a few other wrestling names for Makaria. Here are a few:

Makaria "Large and in Charge"
"Big Mak Attack"
Makaria "The Tummy"
The Rumbler
Xiao Fei Zhou (it's what some of our kid's friends call Makaria. It translates "Little Africa)








On a much more feminine note, these two skirts are some of the things I have made recently. I like the way they turned out. And no, you may not see the inside or the seams. Let's just sit back, far back, and enjoy how fun they are.

Hermeneutics and Children's Curriculum

I would say this applies to adults too. These hermeneutical problems are all too typical in sermons and adult books.

Here is an excerpt from Hermeneutics and Children's Curriculum by John Walton

...I have identified five basic fallacies that appear repeatedly:

1. Promotion of the Trivial: The lesson is based on what is a passing comment in the text (Josh 9:13, they did not consult the Lord), a casual observation about the text (Moses persevered in going back before Pharaoh over and over) or even a deduction supplied in the text (Joshua and Caleb were brave and strong). The Bible is not being properly taught if we are teaching virtues that the text does not have in focus in that passage. We would like children to be virtuous, but we dare not teach virtues rather than the Bible. The plague narratives are not teaching perseverance nor is the feeding of the multitude teaching sharing (as done by the little boy in one of the accounts).

2. Illegitimate extrapolation: The lesson is improperly expanded from a specific situation to all general situations (God helped Moses do a hard thing, so God will help you do a hard thing. But the hard thing Moses was doing was something commanded by God whereas in the lesson the hard thing becomes anything the child wants to achieve). In these cases what the text is teaching is passed by in favor of what the curriculum wants to teach and biblical authority is neglected.

3. Reading Between the Lines: This occurs when teachers or students are asked to analyze what the characters are thinking, speculate on their motives, or fill in details of the plot that the story does not give. When such speculations become the center of the lesson, the authority of the biblical teaching is lost because the teaching is centered on what the reader provided.

4. Missing important nuance: This occurs when the curriculum pinpoints an appropriate lesson but misses a connection that should be made to drive the point home accurately. It is not enough, for instance to say that God wants us to keep his rules—it is important to realize that God has given us a sense of who he is and how we ought to respond in our lives. It is not just an issue of obeying rules—God wants us to know him and respond to him by following in his ways and being like him.

5. Focus on people rather than God: The Bible is God’s revelation of himself and its message and teaching is largely based on what it tells us about God. This is particularly true of narrative (stories). While we are drawn to observe the people in the stories, we cannot forget that the stories are intended to teach us about God more than about people. If in the end, the final point is “We should/shouldn’t be like X (= some biblical character)” there is probably a problem unless the “X” is Jesus or God. Better is “we can learn through X’s story that God . . .”

If we are negligent of sound hermeneutics when we teach Bible to children, should it be any wonder that when they get into youth groups, Bible studies and become adults in the church, that they do not know how to derive the authoritative teaching from the text?

We all have a working hermeneutic, even though most have never taken a course. Where do we learn it? We learn it from those we respect. For many people this means that they learn their hermeneutics from their Sunday school teachers. Teachers in turn teach what is put into their hands. Perhaps we ought to be more attentive how Sunday school curriculum is teaching our children to find the authoritative teaching of God in the stories.

-----------------

Personally, in our family, we highly recommend the curriculum from Children Desiring God.

Jonathan Edwards on Balancing Family and Other Ministries

How did Jonathan Edwards view his roles as both family man and pastor?

Here's an excerpt from the article:

"Edwards would agree that one is to "spend and be spent" for the souls in his congregation and the souls in his family. He was one day to stand before the Judge to give an account of the souls in his care, whether in his congregation or in his family. There was no dichotomy because both were the 'work of the Lord.' "

Art in the Church

Honestly, I'm not even sure who I am writing this post for. Maybe it's to clear my head of the stories that I've read tonight. Maybe it's to check myself and make sure that I am putting first things first. I also feel like this post could dribble on for pages. I'll try and save you all from that.

The deal is the purpose of art in the Christian body. I won't go on a long diatribe as to all the ways art can both benefit and hurt the name of Christ. But I will say that I am frustrated at something. A majority of the friends that we love and hold very dearly to us are artists of some type. Photographers, painters, musicians, song writers, etc. We love them....dearly. But, I'm noticing a trend that is happening by artists that also claim to be Christians. There seems to be a value placed on the art being "honest, organic, authentic, raw...." And it seems that those things are being held above the idea of that artist striving for holiness. I am all about authenticity. But I also see that there are times when I am "just being honest" that I am also just being sinful. Yet, I justify my sin because you know I'm "just being honest" in my expression.

I've read Christian music lyrics that never mention God, Jesus, or anything close. Art shouldn't be the thing being worshipped above Christ. There's this strive to become so "relevant", that we've forgotten that Christ also desires for us to be set apart and holy. That doesn't mean arrogant. But it does mean that we need to filter our 'honesty' and be slow to speak and slow to produce artwork that would distract people from knowing who Christ really is.

I have a lot more to say about this, but it's late and I need to go to bed or drink caffiene. My voice of reason is telling me to go to bed.

Our favorite new t-shirts

These are our favorite new t-shirts:









Carrie's is a little blurry, but it says:

"Shenme Shang" -What's up?
"Wo bu leng" -No, I'm not cold
"Dui, wu ge dou wode" -Yes, all five of those children are mine"

A friend made them for us. We love them.

The Plant Park

There are many times here that you get invited to do things and you aren't totally sure where you are going or what you will be doing there. We had dinner with Selah's good friend and her mom one night last week. After the meal, they invited Carrie and the older kids to go to a "park with plants".

Monday was the "Sweeping of the Tombs" holiday here, so the kids were out of school. So we packed up and met our friends. It was about an hour and a half drive to get out there. The mom that was driving the car we were riding in and I had wonderful conversations. We talked about why we discipline our kids, why we named our kids what we named them, and some of the most important questions people can ask. It was fantastic.






Once we got there, the kids went running out to the obstacle course portion of the part. These nets are dangling over water. There is about a 12 foot drop between the net and the water. The kids were brave....for the most part :).










After some time on the obstacle course, the other mothers thought it was time to pick a group leader. This is a funny part of Chinese culture. There is always a need for a class or group leader. In universities, there will be students named class leader, recreation leader, party planning leader, the list goes on and on. Selah has previously been assigned "check hands and throat for sickness" leader. So, each older child gave a speech on why they would be the best group leader. "Um, I'd pick up trash, push my friends on the swings, drink water, etc." That's how most of the nominating speeches went. Then we voted.





Next, we all loaded up again and headed to the "wilderness", to pick vegetables. We really only found some "bitter vegetable". But we had fun foraging and digging up the leafy veggies. As most things are here, we had a competition on who had the most. But there was not declared a winner. Also a very culturally appropriate outcome.



Then, we took the veggies to a nearby eating place. I don't really call it a restaraunt because it was outdoor eating. You bring in the fish you caught or the veggies you pick and the place will cook it up.



There were swings and hammocks that the kids loved.





The food was great. We dipped our bitter leafy vegetables into a salty sauce. We also ate fried tree leaves. That was a first for me. They were actually pretty good.



These ladies were wonderful company. We laughed and shared and had a great time.