July 2nd , 2002

wow. this is what a blog is. how interesting. so now all of you who are reading this can peer into my puny little brain and figure out whats happening here in my life. cool template eh? Being in architecture, of course, I'd naturally have to pick something having to do with architecture. ah good ol' Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome. what would we have done without you? too bad the world isnt living in geodesic domes as this fellow once prophesized.

Anyway, now i am in Hong Kong for most of you folks who have probably gotten some hold of this blog site. Thanks to mr. Josh Szeto for introducing the world of blogging to me. Now, my life is now freely accessible to the entire world through the internet. pretty amazing stuff. well, I hope that this site will be used to encourage whoever is reading it and that my corny jokes, thoughts of the day, words of wisdom, and pennies of thoughts might help you guys along the way wherever you might go.

First things first, i finally got into master's of architecture at Mcgill university. whoo hoo! So thanks for all of you who have been praying. God is faithful and for all those who do love Him, things do work out according to His purpose. (Rom. 8:28, Phil 1:6). For those of you struggling along and chugging along and trying to find out the next step in your life. Know that in all things that you do do, live to worship. That's all that matters. nothing more. 1 peter 1:15 says Be holy because I am holy says the Lord.
Well, i've made and seen old faces, here and there while i have been here this past weekend. Ange and Sam came to visit the North Point Alliance. Cool people. but the sermon kinda lost me. I had a hard time following the sermon. But anyway, thats another topic all together i wont go into today. then i saw joanne chan who i met at Cuar 98 who also is my good old buddy mr. 8 W's godsister and a good friend of mr. Justin cow. (ok just kidding justis :) ) and we kinda talked about adrian mainly but also about career choices and being a christian in a non-christian world (indirectly of course) ALso got asked by danny chan to play for worship team next sunday so practise is tomorrow! Timmy chan also asked me to help co-lead a praise and worship in a few weeks. so i'd better get cracking. what an awesome privilege to serve God with music.

Oh one funny story well not so funny, is that we went to korean bbq at this super ghetto place but it was cheap and they had like free alcohol (which they inadvertently served us) . actually it was chrysanthenum sweet tea. Joanne said that they used too much syrup. I swore it was alcohol , that the tea had fermented (having prior experience to creating my own brands through leaving minute maid OJ long enuf in the fridge) and anyway, that wasnt the best part. The little dishes they give you with korean bbq for those of you that eat korean bbq, had something funky like a rat pooed in it or something cuz the bak choy (a little green vegetable that usually tastes good) tasted like a cross between bad cheese and detergent and i kept chewing it and commenting that it tasted weird. Anyway, joanne told me her story of gastritis and i was like, er better not eat anymore but i swear there was something in it that made me have the runs all the next day. in the wise words of Mr. David Olson. 'Raw anus'. i was on the can at Auntie Helen's place 3/4 of the time we were there. oops. i thot i was gonna poo out my guts. anyway, i'll spare you the rest of the details. Take note: do not eat funny tasting foods unless someone you know can verify that it doesnt taste funky. and that it really does taste like that (for example: the 'stinky' tofu really isnt bad for you)

Well tomorrow is my big day where i will begin to slave away (lets hope not) at some architectural firm in Sheung Wan (for those of you who know HK.) and hopefully edify my oh so small view of the field of architecture. It's always scary to think that I will be working with complete strangers but hey, it's always neat to meet people right? Now some of you are probably planning to plot how to make Jon pay for the next meal you'll have with me cuz you're probably thinking he's getting paid big bucks. Wrong. Thank God for family and a house to live in. I'd probably not make it on my own with the amount of money they're gonna pay me. But hey, they say experience is worth more than gold right? Umm.. we'll have to rethink that one. BUt for now, it'll do.

On a more personal note, life as I know has been bittersweet. Despite how i do feel, I know God has blessed me greatly with life and is teaching me constant dependency on Him no matter where the wind will take me. It's always a challenge to connect the mind to the heart. So often we know what we need to do in our head but yet, our heart is elsewhere. It's a struggle isn't it? to stay real in this world where everything around us often fails us in some form or another? There is a higher faith, and a higher calling that won't fail as far as I have come in the past few years. Something that exists far beyond outside the boxes of our humanity but yet reaches down to come inside and let us experience that which supercedes human emotion and rational. This something made known the Truth over two thousand years and so simple was the Truth but yet it seems that the degeneration of society has taken this Truth and tossed it aside causing even those who have come to know this Truth to so often doubt it.... yet , when we return to the roots, we discover that this Truth of Jesus Christ, describes the human condition. I still search long and hard for answers to those questions that arise in my limited mind and being but who am I that My Creator should be mindful of me? (Ps.8) so take time out from what you are doing right now. Tune out the noise around you, the drone of the computer fan, the hum of the air conditioner, the noise of technology and listen to the song that our creator has sung . (zeph.3:17)

Along with some more thoughts that i have written are in a more some what poetic form... a song in the making? maybe but regardless, just some thoughts and feelings put into script.

Aimless floating, no where to go
Riding the random breath of wind
Where is the sign pointing home?
Forgotten pasts, scattered in the breeze
Fleeting waves of memories,
Retreat into a sea of history
Lost, lost, into the distant horizon of time

Standing alone, tossed and turned by an angry storm of forgotten past
Forgotten pain now gather to push against you
As you sink into the gripping depths of nostalgia
Haunted by the dark abyss of hidden pain.

Until much later, this blog has gotten long. Adrian if you've read this far, its time to throw those tissues into the garbage.