Dragon Babies

My father is secretly an artist--except when he draws it's not so secret. When I was little and messed up on a work of art, I would sometimes get upset. He would always remind me that an artist doesn't make a mistake, they just make it into something else. Today, I had the opportunity to sketch some and that just kept going through my mind. I like to make analogies and comparisons, and I'd like to think that's how Christ sees our life when we ask forgiveness. Although we humans are very mistake prone, so long as we learn from those mistakes, I feel that we have just made a tweak to the picture of our life rather than destroying the picture like guilt tries to make us believe. Our stories that bring us to where we are are beautiful. Though there may be some dark spots--perhaps some rips and tears--they become part of the creation: you. When we allow our mistakes (in life or art) to hinder our progress and make us feel like failures, it keeps the final product from reaching its potential. Here's the sketch elicited these thoughts:

The photo was taken at a slightly different angle than what I actually sketched, but it gives you an idea.

While I was sitting on this ledge sketching, I heard a little boy talking only to look over and see him pulling his pants down....hello, Junior! His mother was right there, and he was in fact peeing on the wall in a very open area right near the Macau Cultural Center. And the mother didn't stop or scold the kid. Kids peeing in the streets is more common in mainland China than it is here--of course, I can only speak for what I've seen. This was the first time I'd seen it in Macau. All I kept thinking was, "I sure hope no kid has peed where I'm sitting."

I went in to work early today and worked for an hour. My 4 classes were cancelled because of examinations and Chinese New Year. Most of the college students are already gone for the New Year celebrations as well. This holiday celebration is as big to them as Christmas is to us, remember. I went in to present for my business activity and then was off to celebrate a certain Dragon Year baby's birth. Indeed, if a person born in a year of the dragon wears little red things throughout the year of the dragon, it is supposed to bring them good luck. I learned this yesterday from Cora. Also, traditional Chinese consider themselves a year older than traditional westerners. In addition to what we count, they include the 'year' in the womb, so they are +1. Most of the students I have met here do not follow that tradition; I'm not sure how widespread it is in China.

And yes, it's nice my hours are very flexible this week. I'll be working the same number of hours as normal, just making them up tomorrow and Friday with longer days. I walked a lot A LOT today, and that was in part due to my poor diet. I splurged EVERY meal today, and paid for it with a bit of a tummy ache in the middle of that day. I know, it's bad, but I only have an excuse to eat so bad once in a blue moon. So I had a chocolate poptart for breakfast, cheetos and my homemade from scratch blueberry apple crumble pie for lunch, and then Italian gnochii with meat sauce for dinner...and then Frozen yogurt with mango pieces...and THEN I took the 21 flights of stairs after walking a lot of the way home. I probably burned off half of that first cheeto! haha.

I am so grateful for wonderful people to live and celebrate with. Lauren sang to me and had a brownie from Coloanne at midnight, Athena got me a shampoo/conditioner travel kit for my trip, and we all did a photo shoot with the help of our Couch Surfer from Hong Kong at midnight. We were laughing so hard at some points, I seriously thought Ray might pee himself. I was rolling around on the floor laughing.

So, thanks, God, for this detail in my life that may seem small in the big picture of everything in the world. I know you've chosen my Macau family, and I wouldn't have it any different. I'm really happy being where I am--and today, that's in a stinky dorm with people from Hong Kong, Taiwan, CO and NY.