Journey mercies

I'm moving to Shanghai in a few days time :)

The opportunity to live and work there came up very unexpectedly and despite it taking a few months to finalize, I was in disbelief that I should take it up, even up to the day the offer came.

I actually "pushed" away the offer 3 times, and each time they came back revising it to suit me. I'm not even all that qualified for this position!

They say if your interview stretches for a long time, it's good as the interviewer enjoyed chatting with you. In my final interview with the US boss, it only took 20 minutes and out of that I probably only spoke for less than 5 minutes. Probably my shortest interview ever. All I did was to ask one question and it was answered and the conversation came to an end soon after that. 10 minutes later my Shanghai boss called me back and said he didn't want to repeat exactly what his boss in US said, or I might get big-headed, but whatever I said to him, he absolutely loved me.

Now all this is what I call favour of the Lord!

There were 2 major reasons that cast doubts over this opportunity for me. First was language... I don't speak much Mandarin at all!! But He already spoke to me about this area since last October that He would be the one that helps in that. The second thing was... move? Again?? Each move gets a little more painful than the last as I accumulate more stuff in my life. I got too complacent in my flat in Singapore and I was honestly tempted to stay behind just to avoid all the moving.

Even now as my flat looks like it got robbed (movers are coming tomorrow), I am reminded every step of the way why it's so painful. But. I have to say, the Lord had already seen to every detail, especially to the ones He knew I would be most worried about.

As my packing started to look like it was under control, my mind fleeted to the next big worry and that was in finding an apartment in Shanghai quickly enough. I spoke today to my future colleague who I've not met, and he was very insistent about helping me all the way from when I arrive to settling down.

So the anxiety in my heart is settling bit by bit as I see how God has considered every single detail and saw to it even before my heart began to worry about it.

I feel like a dolphin these days, zooming through the waves with speed and occasionally jumping out into the air with joy, and learning to move with His children like a pack of dolphins. Dolphins move together as one and communicate together through sounds and movements (I know because I just watched a Korean variety show where the entertainers went in search of dolphins in Jeju and I'm now an authority on this subject).

Like a dolphin, I'm starting to learn how to move in a pack and it's starting to make me see how boring it is to go alone.

I found in my beloved Juliana in Malaysia a partner to trust and work with in the work of God. Our frequency is so similar we communicate in some ways just by looking into one another's eyes. Together, we are bolder to do things which we would not do flying solo and we have walked through the den of the enemy together.

Last week as Yin, The Pastor's Wife and I were together in Sabah for a workshop, we were asked by one of the locals to pray for her sister in the ICU. Initially we looked at each sheepishly, not knowing what to do really, but due to the urgency we forced ourselves to press in. And it is amazing how when you press in to seek God, He never fails to respond.

What a privilege to experience what we did. It built our faith like nothing has.

Today at prayer meeting we had only 4 of us, the smallest ever. But as we moved into prayer Yin and I kept an eye on each other, watching for each other's flow, and suddenly, we were moving and accelerating one another in a way we had never done before. By the end of the 2 hours, both of us who are always the ones grumbling at how late the group starts and end and always lethargic were bright eyed and amazed at how deep we could go.

Partnership, synergy and having the same vision for God has never meant so much to us as now.