Thank God for parents

My parents came to Shanghai from Taiwan last night. They are seriously fun together.

My dad's a hobo =D.

confessions of a (drunk) sinner.

If only. If only I was taller, if only her hair didn't catch on my glasses every time she leaned in, if only I had the courage to monopolize her attention (and if only I had the freaking arrogance to do so).

*(Sigh*, she was beautiful, more than I could ever expect to pay attention to the likes of me - not that I have a low self-esteem when it comes to myself, but she was... she is... she is beautiful. (they invariably all are) And the combination of alcohol and so much more (hips, skins, whatever) drove me to follow her as she tested my self-confidence and resolve again and again (I'm not THAT stupid).

If only. jajaja, IF ONLY.

In retrospect, losers go home alone and winners go home with the prom queen (copyright "The Rock"). But then again... winners also tend get divorced after a couple of years.

It's too hard to pretend to be something I'm not - I like being alone, I like dwelling in my own thoughts, I like drinking, I like dancing with random strangers, and above all... I LOVE Jesus, but I like to sin, I...

I am not perfect - and I haven't been for the past 26 years. But yet HE still loves ME.

Thank YOU for loving me. And really... I'm so so sorry - until the next time I meet an incredibly cute girl. Until the next time I'm tempted. Until the next time... THANK YOU FOR LOVING ME.

I have to lead Cell Group tomorrow... PRAY.

April 13 to April 19

Was a pretty uneventful few days. Thank God for business trips. They can make the work week seem so much shorter!

Thank God for weekends. Oh man... do I need those weekends.

April 12

Thank God for helpful co-workers. They can make all the difference when your day isn't going exactly has planned. Even if all they do is offer to help... that can make all the difference. Thanks guys. As an aside, remember the question posed in "Office Space" - what would you do if you had a million dollars? Your answer is supposed to help you figure out what it is that you enjoy doing and to then go choose that as your job/career. But the main character's answer is "nothing". And my answer is similarly "nothing". Or maybe I'm not really thinking hard enough (or asking God's guidance enough).

April 11

Thank God for the bible. Specifically, biblegateway.com's 1 year program for reading the bible. It's keeping me accountable. Work is seriously starting to pick up. Funny how when things begin to go wrong (or when they really go snafu or fubar do I really begin to surrender to God). I've tried time and again to change this useless pattern of behavior. Time to actually surrender and quit trying to surrender.

April 10

Thank God for Car Gods, Tax "collectors" and Karaoke queens.

I have such great friends here in Shanghai. They make this place bearable. Also thank God for ice packs. Twisted my left ankle two times in the last two days.

April 4 to April 9

Thank God for tomb sweeping day!

Went to She-shan with some fellow Mana M@X people on Monday and Tuesday. My friend tried to teach me the proper technique for swimming the freestyle - yeah... choking on water, still can't get the stroke down or breathe correctly. What. an. embarrassment. Oh, and we sat in the dry sauna for a good few minutes too! It's such a blessing to have friends that are willing and able to organize events. I am such a lazy person that I can't be bothered to plan vacations. Thank God my friends like to play (and play in groups!).

Thank God for my new GEE-TAR!

It's made in Taiwan too! I'm taking small baby steps to learn the acoustic guitar (steel strings), but so far I like my progress. Switching between chords is hella difficult for me still, but playing the guitar allows me to connect to God musically. And it's an awesome way to relax as well.

Thank God for airport restaurants - due to Chinese visa reasons, I picked up my parents at Pudong Airport and had dinner with them... then promptly left to go to Hong Kong. It was a pretty terrible trip (as most Hong Kong trips are), but it was made a lot more bearable when some of my Hong Kong colleagues took me out to get Cha-siu for lunch! Man... HK people know how to roast pork!

Thank God for forgiving friends. I've been neglecting my friendship with people back home (distance, work, Shanghai friends, w/e). Those are not excuses. I have to get better at this.

One week behind.

Thank God for visitors.

And by that, I mean Stephen, my friend from NYC, who came to visit China. Gave me the excuse to go hang out and meet some of his fellow friends.