Each day is a gift, right?  The older I get the more I am made aware of this truth.  Even with Mafan breathing down my neck, I can still see the blessings–the surprising goodness of life.

I think writing for this blog the past two years has also shown me how much actually happens in any given day.  Oh sure, right now we are experiencing a lot of unique (often perplexing, hilarious, and absurd) situations because of where we are, but even before moving to Asia the days were just packed; and when I take time to actually reflect on my life (as it is being lived) I can see so much of the abundance that Aslan promises to bestow.

Today, there were a few small packages of note–opened, experienced, and written forever into this story I find myself in:

   
1. I memorized a short scripture passage today (a spiritual discipline I have decided I will try once again to exercise regularly.)  The passage was Romans 5:1-2, "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we exult in the hope of the glory of God."  Repeating this verse the past two days really felt good…like I was exercising a neglected muscle that needed to be exercised.  What was really cool about this though was that every time I said the phrase, "we have peace with God" I would find myself smiling and taking it in; really believing that I once stood in opposition to my Creator, but no longer (through faith in Christ.)  It was an odd sort of joy I can’t really explain, but it was sweet.

   

2. I got my haircut.  Not an overly significant event, but doing so in a foreign country trying to speak with very limited language, using a lot of hand motions, and actually enjoying the surprised laughter of the "locals" as I muddle my way through the conversation made it memorable.  This time I even remembered to put my head forward (instead of leaning back) into the sink when it was time for my hair to be washed after it was cut.  I also got to say "haokan" somewhat tongue-in-cheek at the end of the cut.  Haokan means "good-looking" and doesn’t usually apply to the weather which was how I had tried to use the word earlier in the day with a student from the college (ha!)

   

3. Waiting for carry-out I found myself staring at a Tibetan who was dressed very Tibetan.  (Imagine!)  He was dressed so Tibetan in fact (with yak skin coat, bandana, etc.) that I thought he might actually be from a different country…that’s how foreign he looked to me–even here!  While I was gazing at him, his buddy caught sight of me and was gawking at this white guy with the haokan haircut.  As they swept past me out of the restaurant, I noticed that the buddy had caught the attention of the archetype Tibetan and he also turned to look at me.  At that moment it felt like we were two alien lifeforms making contact for the first time.  It was funny to me and reminded me that I often miss these moments in the busy-ness of my day.  I dismiss them and they get tucked away and forgotten like  Christmas gifts hidden in the closet…