Rainy Days and Mondays

Karen Carpenter sang a sad song that stated, "Rainy days and Mondays always get me down," . . . but, those thoughts are not for me! I like the rain and most things about it.

The sound,
the smell,
the echoes of light.

It's therapeutic.

I understand that rain can sometimes be inconvenient. You're wearing good clothes and don't want them spoiled by water, like on "Jerry Seinfeld" when they spent an entire episode on Jerry having an expensive suede jacket that got wet in the rain and then smelled to high heaven. He ended up giving the jacket to his neighbor, Krammer, a guy who'd take anything that was free!

I don't care. I like the rain.

Rain is - refreshing.
It's like a shower for the world. And let's face it, sometimes the world could use a good shower. Yes?

"Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that he did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful season, filling our hearts with food and gladness." - Acts 14:17 NKJ

I'm looking at the new year, 2009, as a gift from God. If I use it properly, it will be a witness of God's goodness and mercy; a year in which He blesses my efforts and even brings fruitfulness to unexpected areas.

Some folks see God as armed and dangerous; a God with lighting bolts in his hands. But I see Him as our loving Creator who wants us to be fruitful; to experience the joy of growing in our relationship with Him, and in accomplishing forward momentum.

In three days the new year begins, but I'm not making any big resolutions this year. Instead, I'm going to focus on living for Jesus and trusting Him to shrink the difference between my potential and my accomplishments!

It's raining in Shanghai today . . .

and I'm glad.

A Doctor Who Prayed for a Miracle

I asked Dr. Kpozenhouen permission to tell you this story:

Please meet, Dr. Pascal Kpozehouen, who is a medical doctor (surgeon) in Shanghai where his wife, Elizabeth, is also a Medical doctor. They serve at one of the local hospitals in Shanghai. A year ago, Pascal accepted the responsibility as the Minister of Prayer at the Shanghai Community Fellowship Church. In addition, he also serves as one of our worship leaders. (Talk about a man who has a lot on his plate!)

Recently, Pascal received a phone call from his family in Benin, West Africa that advised him that his older brother who lives in France, was gravely ill and would not survive much longer. Pascal told us that he had been praying for his brother and a younger sister every day for a long time. He prayed that his brother would have his eyes opened to the truth and receive Jesus personally. His brother had his Ph.D in science and therefore always had an answer from science whenever Pascal tried to speak to him about God. Now Pascal was taking a few weeks to go to help his family through these difficult days.

Originally he was suppose to fly to France to see his brother, but at the last moment, his brother decided to come to their home town of Benin. He wondered how God would work it all out, but had prayed and now was trusting Him.

Pascal said that his brother's health had deteriorated to the point that he was in a wheelchair, unable to walk unless he stood with a cane. He was growing weaker by the moment. When he first saw his brother, he could hardly recognize him and in the natural thought that certainly unless God intervened he would not live long.

They had a time of sharing and prayer with the entire family before they went to bed. That night, about 1:00 a.m., Pascal's brother woke him up and said, "Pascal, when you were praying there was a wonderful light that was all around you and it came over me, too! Pascal, I want to know this light; you've got to show me how to know this light." Pascal, told Him about Jesus, and how to know Him personally. His brother said, "I want to know Jesus!" Together they prayed for his brother's salvation and healing. The next day, his brother shared with the family that he had come to meet Jesus in the night, and that he was also completely healed physically! Praise God!

But that's not all...

His sister had received Jesus when she was a young girl, but now as an adult, she was far from God. At 3:00 A.M. God awoke Pascal and told him (whispered in his heart) to go to the room where his sister was sleeping. He told the Lord it was late and that she was probably asleep, and asked if it could wait until the next day. However, the Holy Spirit urged him to get up right then and to go to his sister's room, which he did. When he walked in, his sister was sitting on the side of the bed and did not see him enter. She was weeping deeply. On the night stand beside the bed, she had put together poison to take in order to end her life. As she reached for it, Pascal, said loudly, "Wait, please don't take your life! God loves you and will take you back!"

They walked into the yard in the night and wept together. His sister asked him if it was true that even though she had turned her back on God, that He would take her back. She was so ashamed of her life. She had previously been married, but was separated from her husband and children. She was in such despair that she was going to end her life rather than face another day.

Pascal shared this scripture with her, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." - 2 Peter 3:9

He told his sister that God was longsuffering toward her - He was patient, and full of mercy and wanted to receive her back. He told her that if she would just turn to God, God would forgive her and help her. Together they prayed and Jesus, indeed, forgave her sins and gave her a new life! She too, shared with the whole family what God had done for her.

He shared with us Sunday that he wanted to tell the whole world that God will forgive our sins and heal our bodies through Jesus Christ!

His prayers for so long for both his brother and sister were answered - all in one night!

Thank you, Jesus!

Happy Hour

Depending on when you were born, and how much world news you’ve watched in years gone by, you may have gotten the impression that China is made up of people who all dress alike, want to conquer the world and certainly do not have values like Americans. I’d like to share our recent experience with you that sheds a different light on the people of this nation.

Nextage is labeled as the 2nd largest department store in the world just behind Macy's in New York City. It's ten stories tall. They even sell automobiles! We were looking for something much more mundane, a coffee maker. Yes, that's right, we have caved-in to our taste for a cup of fresh brewed coffee in the morning. I've tried four or five different kinds of tea. But after drinking coffee this many years, I've decided that tea is no substitute. Besides that, Daisy, one of Debbie's employees told us that tea is what the old people drink. Young people drink coffee!

Out of the mouths of babes!...

After shopping we met another Oklahoma native for early dinner. Her driver, Michael, also joined us. We chose to meet at 4:30 p.m. because it was Friday, and if we had waited until 5 or 6 P.M. traffic would have been extremely bad. We had the restaurant almost to ourselves. The waiter asked us what we wanted to drink and reminded us it was "Happy Hour." When our Cokes came we talked and laughed and eventually realized that the restaurant had almost filled to capacity.

The "Happy Hour" for me was talking to this 29-year old driver who was born and raised near Shanghai. He had learned to speak English over the past two years. We talked openly and candidly about his hopes and dreams. Because of his experiences in life, he thought that there had to be better ways of being successful and helping this nation he loves than just “living for yourself”.

He told me that he lived in an apartment that he purchased with the money he saved. His father had helped him to literally build out the inside of the apartment, i.e. all the cabinets, wiring, plumbing, etc. When he purchased the apartment, he purchased an empty cement shell of rooms. Everything else he had to either build, or hire someone to build. He and his father had done all the work. He loved his parents very much.

When we spoke specifically of dreams one of his involved a small kindergarten school that met close to his apartment. He said, if these young children could be taught to think properly, to have dreams, and to learn how to move toward those dreams, then perhaps they would be better people when they grew up, and would in turn influence their children. "Dreaming without doing is not good," he said. A scripture came to mind. "Let us be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." - James 1:22

I sat amazed at what I was hearing. He had no formal training, yet, his thinking was spot on. I told him that he had given me a great sense of hope for China.

"As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." - Proverbs 23:7

Some things are taught and never learned, and some things are revealed and never forgotten. Yes?

Smog Detector

Shanghai is known for sometimes having heavy smog; so bad, in fact, that it could make a difference to your health! It's always better to know what you're up against if you go outside for a ride in a taxi. If the air quality is too bad, I just stay inside rather than add insult to my lungs.

I've never seen a smog report on TV or in newspapers, or if I did, it wasn't in English. Therefore, I created my own way of telling if there's pollution in the air. I look at this dark building to see if it is clear. Depending on the degree of clarity, I know whether it is safe to go outside.

I look at it every morning from the office window of our apartment. One might surmise that the smog would have to be pretty bad to hide such a large edifice. However, don't let photos deceive you.

It's a long way off. Some mornings I can barely make it out. The smog hides it from my eyes. And on mornings like that, it seems further away than ever.

The neighboring apartment building close by doesn't seem to change regardless of the smog. If I only had it as an indicator, I'd probably think, "The air is fine. I can see clearly." But the real test is my smog detector. If I can't see it clearly - there's a problem in the air.

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith..." - Hebrews 12:1-2

The daily routines may not be clear indicators of the fitness of our relationship with God. We're use to seeing them. They're close at hand. But when Jesus is blocked from my heart's view, it's an indicator that there may be something polluting my spiritual life.

The challenge is - if the pollution gets too heavy, I might forget He's there altogether. The domino effect of that would be, well . . . bad.

Bite Your Tongue!

The Bible indicates that our tongues are hard, if not impossible to control with our own strength. I came across the following list which made me laugh out loud. I thought you'd like to laugh, too!

10 Things You’d Love to Say at Work ... But Can’t

Thank God there is a filter in place between my brain and my mouth. If I said everything I thought, I would be in constant trouble.

Yesterday, while cleaning out my closet, I stumbled across an article I had saved. It is called “Things You’d Love to Say at Work But Can’t.” It had thirty-eight items. Here are the first ten:

1. I’ll try being nicer if you try being smarter.
   
   
2. I don’t know what your problem is, but I’ll bet its hard to pronounce.
   
   
3. I’ll pencil that in for never. Does never work for you?
   
   
4. I see you’ve set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public.
   
   
5. It sounds like English, but I can’t understand a word you’re saying.
   
   
6. Ahhh ... I see the screw-up fairy has visited us again.
   
   
7. I like you. You remind me of when I was young and stupid.
   
   
8. I have plenty of talent and vision. I just don’t give a rip.
   
   
9. I will always cherish the positive initial misconceptions I had about you.
   
   
10. The fact that no one understands you doesn’t mean you are an artist.

What would you like to say at work, if only you could?

© 2008, Michael S. Hyatt. Used by Permission. Originally posted at www.michaelhyatt.com.

Mongolian Meal

Mongolian cooking is a little different than having Fondue in America, even though it might look somewhat the same from a distance. Regina took us to a genuine Mongolian restaurant because she wanted us to experience the kind of cooking style and food that is served in Mongolia, that part of China that is far north and where she was born and raised.

Each of us were given our own "boiling pot" into which we were to place various elements of our meal. There were two kinds of shaved beef and one platter of shaved lamb for meat. Then there were many, many kinds of vegetables, mushrooms, a few slices of potato, and some kind of fish paste (I think) we were to squeeze into the boiling broth.

Each pot had flavored broth. Mine was flavored with mushrooms, Debbie's was fish broth, and Regina's - well, I don't know. We added each sliver of meat, tons of vegetables, a little slice of potato, and other "stuff." I used my chop sticks to pick each item out of the pot...ok, I tried to use chop sticks, but when my slice of potato hit the floor, I switched to a soup spoon, and then to a soup spoon AND a semi-western style fork.

It was an enjoyable evening of cooking, eating, and most importantly getting to better know someone from this land called, China.

Regina said that in Mongolia, when they had visitors, they would set one large boiling pot in the middle of the table. Everyone simply tried to follow the items they placed in the pot. It was an easy meal for her mom, because the guests did the cooking. They sat and talked, and took a long time to finish the meal, because the object was not just to eat, but to be together, to fellowship.

There is something inherent in each of us to want to be social. Other emotions of inferiority, shame, or fear may keep us from it, but still we want it.

Ultimately, there is also a part of who we are at our core being that also longs to fellowship with the One who made us and paid the price for us to be one with Him through Christ.

"Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends.” - Revelation 3:20 ( New Living Translation)

One of These Things Is Not Like the Other

It sort of looks like a "bear claw" from Daylight Donuts, or a sea shell. Debbie was excited to find this delicious looking cinnamon roll in the bakery department at the grocery store where we shop. She hadn't had one in a long time. It would taste great with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. If we had coffee, that is.

There was a song they used to sing on Sesame Street, the lyrics of which said, "One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong, Can you tell which thing is not like the others, By the time I finish my song?" Do you remember this children's song.

Well-l-l-l, for Deb, the cinnamon roll didn't seem "right" when she took her first bite at her office with a bottle of lukewarm water (we haven't found a full size coffee pot yet). It tasted different. If you had three cinnamon rolls lined up and this was one of them, you'd say, "This one doesn't belong."

It just didn't fit in to the "cinnamon" category of flavor. The bread part was tasty, had good texture and was nice to look at. But the cinnamon wasn't as sweet as Deb was used to having in Tulsa. In fact, it wasn't very cinnamon-y, either.

She showed the original package it came in to one of her employees since it was written in Chinese. "What kind of cinnamon roll is this?"

They replied, "Cinnamon? No cinnamon. It's red beans smashed on the bread. It will taste very good."

I'm afraid for our western taste buds, even a cup of coffee with cream and sugar would not have made it taste like a warm cinnamon roll.

A View from the Balcony

Here's a view from our apartment. A boy on a skateboard, while his sister watches. Or is it a girl he is trying to impress? Getting along with others begins at birth. It can be challenging and exciting, but not always both!

This courtyard is the walking entrance to our apartment complex. A guard normally stands beside the gate by the wrought iron fence. If you're walking, there's no other way to go.

I discovered that the phrase, "wrought iron", is the correct spelling. I thought it was "rot" iron. However, it means iron that has been "worked." The look or finished product has been wrought through the hammering, fire, and shaping of the master blacksmith.

I dedicate this posting to all my "wrought-en" friends who are still in God's blacksmith shop.

O, come on, I just couldn't help it.

Yu Garden

This huge stone greets you when you enter the YuYuan Garden, which is primarily a rockery garden built in the mid-1500's by a noble Chinese man for his parents. This stone was added as a sign for visitors like us.

I'm hoping my kids will read this and save money to build us a nice retirement place too - but only when I get OLD!



This is the main entrance, and it's ornate gate and courtyard was a place to welcome visitors. When I was a kid, my family's friends would all use the backdoor. I can still hear the long spring making a "creaking" noise as the screen door would open, the inner door next, and then a voice, "Hey, Cole's, got the coffee pot on?" And of course we had the coffee pot on. I learned to drink it in Kindergarten, and make it when I was eight or nine.

This is a beautiful place to think. The rest. To take in the beauty. That's exactly what this nobleman wanted for his parents. Th older I get, the more I am wanting that myself. A place of quiet in a world with very little quiet left. A place where I can meet with the King of Kings and share my heart - and listen for His.

Yu Garden - Shanghai

Yu Garden
The Yu Garden is a beautiful preserved garden which was built for a noble Chinese man for his parents in the 1400's. He wanted them to have a place to live where their needs would be met, they would be honored for their lives, and they would have good and peaceful thoughts in a tranquil setting. We don't speak the same language, but our concerns for aging parents or our concern for ourselves as we advance in years is apparently universal.


What is it that brings peace? Is it beauty? Yes, but even we all know that beauty is fleeting. (look in the mirror!) Even these gardens are more lovely in the spring and early summer when all the flowering trees and other blooming flowers are in their glory.





A welcoming courtyard where guests could be met and welcomed to their home. When I was a kid, our family friends, always came in the back door. I can still hear that long spring of the screen door as it would open and one of my relatives would shout out, "Got the coffee pot on?" And, of course, we had the coffee pot on. I learned to drink coffee when I was in Kindergarten, and to make it when I was nine.



A place like this would provide a wonderful opportunity to think. Quietly think. We don't have a lot of quiet these days, do we. There is something needful about appropriate quiet.



Not exactly the kind of furniture that we had at our home, but none the less, a place where tea could be brewed, life discussed, and decisions made. I've made some of my most important decisions in some of the most unlikely places. What was important was WHO was with me.
"Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." - Jesus

YuYuan Garden and Thanksgiving at the Marriott

Thanksgiving day, Debbie and I took a taxi downtown to the Old City, or the Yu Bazaar. It is an ancient (by US standards) part of the city which also has a preserved area called the YuYuan Garden, which was built in the 1400's by a son for his parents. I hope my kids will build us something nice when we get old!!

I thought about our cultural differences.

Our architecture looks nothing like this, and yet, the son who built this wanted a place where his parents could find peace and tranquility in their old age. Is that not a wish we all will have as we get older?

Last night we tried to hail a taxi during rush hour to go to the Marriott Hotel for a "traditional Thanksgiving Dinner." It was very cold. It took us a half hour to hail a taxi that was empty, however, once we got there, the setting was beautiful and the turkey delicious!

We had reserved a table a few days ago. When we arrived, there was a large placecard on a table with our name on it. As I turned to my left, only about two feet next to us, was the pastor of the church we attend! What luck - or was it? He and his wife are from Ohio (my home state), and in fact, lived in two of the cities we had lived in early in my adult life. Go figure!

We talked and enjoyed each other and our neighbors for Thanksgiving dinner, then took a taxi home. It was 8:30 p.m. and I realized that our driver had probably been driving for 16-18hours today. He was a pleasant, hard working (hard driving) man, who probably had a wife and child at home. If he complained about his hours, he would be unusual for people here. They work very hard, long hours usually without complaint.

They have hopes and dreams like us all - without thinking that they ought to be handed something
free.

We got up at 3 a.m. to Skype the kids and Deb's parents who were eating together. We had a great conversation and they showed us several different kinds of pies they had not yet finished off. It was a good day.

I am thankful.

Turkey in a Foreign Land

Thanksgiving will be different this year. We are separated from family and the familiar. We went shopping at Carrefour, a huge four story hypermart (grocery/department store) down the street from our apartment. We primarily shopped for items we could recognize. Was that shampoo or conditioner? Are these green beans or something else, similar, but different? Is this toothpaste or hemorrhoid medication?

Thanksgiving had always meant roast turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, and a 55-gallon bowl of gravy! What would we do for Thanksgiving in Shanghai this year?

The chickens stared back at us in the poultry department. Their heads and feet intact making their death seem more like murder! But what about a nice frozen turkey the way God intended!? Two lonely gobblers weighing in at 10 - 11 pounds were all we found. Two reminders of home and heritage, pilgrims and pumpkin pie. But at what cost? Over $50 US!! My home sickness was inspiring me, driving me - "Let's buy this one!"

My wife looked at me pathetically as I hugged one of the birds - "Honey, we don't have a pan to put it in and we don't know how to light the oven. The knobs are in Chinese!"

Sigh . . .

What Triggers Your Passion?

That was the question a French-Canadian woman shared at the international church we attend in Shanghai. She spoke with such conviction and purpose that it was startling. We were surrounded by people from over 60 nations, all focused on this person who said, "I'm not an official minister, but I am a practitioner of my faith. I wear my faith on my sleeve."

She challenged us to find our place of service for Christ. She said that she knew we were all busy, but that Christ calls us to serve. "Let your faith define your calender!" she exhorted.

She concluded by saying that she and her husband had recently attended a retreat where someone shared that there is a new name for God - "Jehovah Nike" which means, "GO - do it!" We all laughed, but she had made her point.

What triggers your passion for God?

Goodbye Mom

I had just turned on my computer in Shanghai, China, when an email arrived with an urgent message from my cousin to call concerning my mother, Etta Cole. He told me that she had just started out of the apartment driveway in her 1992 Dodge Dynasty to pick up volunteers for a food pantry the Tallmadge First Church of God operated in Akron, Ohio. Instead, however, she became ill, and ended up in the hospital where they had done several tests and were awaiting the results. When I called, the doctor told me she had found her laying in her bed not breathing. They had tried to revive her, but were unsuccessful.

She had left the planet for her new residence in Heaven with Jesus her Savior.

She lived and died exactly the way she believed she should. She awoke every day with a purpose which was shaped and colored by her Kingdom of God perspective. She believed that God wanted to use her life and would empower her to accomplish each day's goals even if it meant sacrifice, a little pain, or a lot of effort. And God did not let her down. She never felt sorry for herself, and always, always answered that she was doing "great", when asked by anyone.

She thought of the needs of others almost always more than herself. Since I was separated from her by so many miles, it used to bother me to think of her in need of any kind. If only she would move to Oklahoma where I lived, I'd tell her. But she wouldn't have it. She loved me, my wife, the kids and grand kids, but Ohio was her home, and the Tallmadge First Church of God was her place of ministry.

Two or three days before she died, she told me that she had prayed that when it was her time to go, she wanted to go "working." Her prayer was answered just as she wanted.

She loved people by offering grace and mercy, regardless of their lifestyle. Her one desire above all was that her family and friends would know Jesus, practice their faith at a local church, and go to heaven when they died.

She was raised on a farm in West Virgina, one of nine children. She loved and married my Dad, Jim Cole, right after World War II. My Dad used to say that he felt like the luckiest guy in the world to be married to Etta. She and my Dad had been teenagers in the church youth group. That spiritual upbringing served them well during the depression years of the 1930's, World War II in the 1940's, and raising their only child.


When I was a youngster, my mother instilled in me the stories from the Bible as she tucked me into bed and read to me from Egermiers' Bible Story Book. As she prayed with me each night, I became convinced that she believed every word in the Bible, and that I could bank my life on the Author of life, Jesus, just as she had.

She was my most loyal and ardent supporter. I was never without her love regardless of the miles. I will miss her more than I can say, but would never call her back from that glorious place in God's forever kingdom.

Finding the Familar

Standing in front of the Emperor's Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City in Beijing, I found myself looking for the familiar. Windows, doors, chairs, anything that would allow my compass to give me a sense of security. Fortunately we had a travel guide by the name of Emma who had studied for two years to pass tests to receive her "official" guide status. She certainly knew how to navigate her way around this huge complex.

Because she knew where she was going and what she would find before we got there, we relaxed more and more as she moved us from one building to the next pointing out features and history that were important to life and times of China. The knowledge she shared permitted us to realize our similarities and differences with the Chinese culture. Had we tried to do a "self-tour" we would have missed a lot.

Personal guides are vital to our life's journey, too. To know that One goes before me who knows where to go, and what we will find when we get there allows me great security. There may be much I don't understand, but it doesn't matter . . . my guide knows the way.