Friday, January 29, 2010

Another Day

One thing I have been learning from my time here at Christian Zheng Sheng College is a healthy view of how my life flows. It has been quite a change from back in Canada where I had a regular work week and weekends off. Here we work different shifts every month and there is no regularity from one roster to the next. I also get only six days off in a month instead of eight like back in K-town. My shifts here are N (for a 9:30 to overnight shift) D (for a 9:30 to 4 shift, usually the day after an N shift), and O (for day off). A normal two week roster will look something like this - N N D N D N D O N D N D O O, starting on a Monday and going to a Sunday. Not exactly normal for me coming from a construction background, and somewhat difficult to balance with a family waiting at home for me.
The old way of looking at my week is slowly fading and God is showing me how to let go of my preconceived notions of personal rights. I will still fight for a schedule that works for my family, but as for me personally I am finding that this is working quite nicely. I think part of the reason is that back home my workday was more about results than it is here, and this tended to form my ideas about work. Relationships were important to the workplace as they are here between the staff, but they were not the focus. Here the results are all about relationships, and this has been shifting my priorities quite drastically. The priorities are primarily interior ones that have to do with motivations and self awareness, but they are foundational to who I am as a person. I am slowly learning how to let things slide and enjoy the present with my Father who says He has tomorrow under control, which I will see when I get there, because it will be just like He was with me today, and yesterday.
Having my life freed from being ruled by a man-made routine and structure is teaching me how to mine each day for God's goodness and to see that my true rest lies with Him alone. The weekend is simply a foreshadowing of the eternal rest I will enjoy with my Father and His family when all this dust blows away. This allows me to see things differently, because if my eternal weekend is about relationships and dwelling with God, then everyday can be weekend if I want it to be. Like Paul said, though, I am so not there yet, but this is a road map. The best thing is that I love the views this trip offers, and the Guide is an absolute blast to be with, so the hazards of the journey will be manageable.
All that being said I am at the end of a D going on to an O, so I think I will go and get ready to catch the sampan home. Cheers!

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