Early birds smell the roses... change is good

I woke up quiet early on a Saturday morning to head out to a golf game with an ex-colleague of mine. From Toronto to Guelph - (near Hamilton) - it took me about 1 hour drive with lite traffic. It was cold - it is fall season I guess... Century Pines Golf was the course. We booked early bird - i.e - 8AM - as I drove to Century Pines .

There was a cloud of mist moving over the road. It was 7:30 in the middle of the countryside... I kept saying - oh no - might not be able to play a good old round of golf today... as I arrived - the fog slowly broke out... this course... I have mixed feelings - it was not the first time I was at this course - I played it last year under snow (was not easy to find my ball - HAHAHA -sorry inside jokes) - it's always exciting to see this area of the countryside - mostly farming.

Something must have changed! I saw a Reformed church - Obviously I never noticed it last time I drove past this area... I realized the second time you pay more attention to those you already know existed - like the Flamborough Casino along the way (very obvious signage). I noticed more antiques stores along the way... some flowers alongside the road or The Christie Lake Conservation area. Somehow it was always there along... I have to smell the roses along the road sometimes... stop more often along road side to see the local antique store, to smell the roses at the garden, speak to the locals to hear their local "dialects"...

"Ain't got free lunches"
Why do always the "bad" stuff get noticed easily - or learned & remembered easily... the flashy Flamborough Casino neon lights says "Welcome! Welcome!" - the signage at the "Christie Conservation Lake" area was kinda small - but not flashy... I drove in toward to the gate only to find out it cost $ to visit a Conservation park. So I also made a U-Turn and left. I thought it would be good to visit this park instead of going into a Casino - there ain't free lunches I guess... someone has to make it pretty, "conserve" a park in order to attract nature people, someone from the city to come in and "smell the roses"... Obviously I wanted to do that - but it seems my lunch cost of a sandwich and ice tea was about the same as the entrance fees for "Christie Conservation Lake Area"... I have short memory these days... Any who! I guess I ain't getting free so ain't getting me in... I ain't got any "change" obviously to spare for visiting this place.

"How was your golf game?"

You may ask - "How was your golf game ?" - It was "good" and relaxing... playing with my golfing buddy - I always learn some good tips about golf... He is a pro golfer - he has been into tournaments... think of learning from a local Tiger Woods... (sorry my friend you ain't a Tiger Woods yet)... Golfing is an expensive game but it is a fun and all-body work out game... it teaches you to focus... it's quite simple game... hit the ball according to the distance... you will need to put in the ball. The lower number of times you hit the ball to the hole, the lower your handicap (score). Quite different from any other sport. Sometimes as I look back - how did I learn to play golf??? I first played golf in the Ivory Coast - learned from my father... my whole family used to play this game - even my late mother played once... what else can you do as a leisure in the Ivory Coast? Fishing and golf! 2 different kind of sport that try your patience!

Back to Century Pines... it took us 4 1/2 hours to complete the full 18 holes course. Lots of ponds, rivers, trees, bushes, winds... you guessed it all the hazards to make it daunting, challenging... the course is well maintained... well for 53$ / person - it better be well maintained for me or any other golfer to come back... Golf is an interesting business... sell membership... make it fun, difficult, challenging for you to come back... off course the amateur golfer in me want to play in the field on the cheap... I have a big handicap... my friend is extremely good that he could have win the tournament that afternoon that was beginning when we finished the course... we took a rather un-usual course -- the back 9 (i.e instead of starting from hole 1 - we started from hole 10... and to finish at hole 9). Change is good. Re-starting from a different area... rethink how to problem solve. The Marshal came and asked for my tickets... oops I forgot to pay - had to apologize. 1st error - had to err in this little thing! Never happened to me... thought I had coffee... obviously not the right kind.

"Ping Pong is total fitness work"
I haven't played golf for 1 year now... I had to find the rhythm... my muscles were aching - I was not awake - I like mornings - I am morning person - I can do a lot of things in the morning - afterward - I really need some sugar to keep me up / energized... I keep playing poor golf... hitting the ball all over the places... I think I like trees somehow - I hugged quiet a lot of trees along the courses... as I take my #3 driver and placed the ball on the tee... focused on hitting the ball then I hear a sound... PING! Oh yeah!!!! nice flight... oops I hear a PONG! "BAAAAAAAALLLL! Watch out!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I yelled!!! A crash... my ball crashed landed onto a tree.... Yes nice swing Ming! oops... I hear a splash over the pond!!! There goes my 5$ lunch box... No wonder it is expensive to play golf! The equipment is cheap but the balls are much more expensive (for poor golfers like moi). I think I will start playing PING PONG for total fitness... It's a lot of cheaper Ping Pong!!! Hahaha! Golf not only teaches confidence... it teaches self-esteem, integrity... to have fun under the sun... amongst a carved green space to be with nature... fine it was made up... to smell the roses... Golf can change you (apart changing your wallet to a lighter one). Every now and then... I wonder how golf got started... why so many under developed countries have so many golf courses. Think of China! Farm lands have been miss appropriated to pave way to golf courses.

"Tree hugger or Great Walls of China?"
I did hit a lot of trees... lost a few balls... found a few others - my handicap was difference in the number of balls I find and lose along the way... (exchanged with other golfers). It seems the marshal was picking up lost golf balls a long the way (oh yeah 5$ lunch boxes). Think about it. That's how the golf business is all about - same as the razor - Gillette sells you the razor on the cheap but will maxed you out (high margin) on the razor blade... ha nice idea. Every hole has hazards... it gets you... make you to think how to bypass or avoid or navigate through this course. Just as in life... there are many great walls of China and small Berlin walls. One just need to find the right door use the right key. You cannot avoid them. You have to face them. The hazard over the water. The sand trap. The trees. It's all part of life. You have all the gifts / talent necessary to go through each one of them my friend! However complex it can be... however simple it may be... find that key... whether it's the key to lock in a relationship. Whether it is the key to lock the love in your family. Whether it is the key to lock in a promising career... you know the key is there!

"Smell the roses"

Now back to smelling roses... away from the city life and seeing life in the countryside reinvigorates, energizes me. Moses was tasked to take his people to "smell the roses", to get out of Egypt. To head to the promised land. He had to meet his burning bushes before going back to his people and take them out of Egypt. Nobody wanted to go. Tough to change... They reluctantly listened to him. They went on a long journey through the wilderness... they didn't liked it, they were very insecure... change was not "good" - change was below par... above par was back in Egypt working for Pharaoh. Change to the unknown is scary. It builds doubt. It builds self worth. Nobody want to live in the wilderness for 40 years... but they did.

"Change is coming"
As the Lord is preparing me... I foresee that change is forthcoming. Very soon... as the sign says "Every setback is a setup for a comeback!" There are good swings in golf... and usually carry momentum... however we do make double bogeys in his golfing life, even Tiger Woods make that once in a while... Just focus and will hit it well... The life changing aspect is to take and heed God's call... I like that flashy "Welcome sign" to take up that challenge like Moses did and to fulfill God's Will. Peter was a fisherman. Fishing was not his hobby. It was his profession. His business. He was good at it. Yet, he listened to Jesus... He got out of the boat. He walked on water. Only during that period of time he was extremely focused on Jesus that he was able to walk on water. As he doubted... his walking became his drowning. He could have swam but it was stormy. Jesus saved him. He was forever changed. He became a fisher of men. Bringing Gospels to them, leading them to Christ. That's fulfillment! That is key - I may have fulfillment in some aspect of life but not in others... however try to serve the Lord with a good heart. God will use you in His many different ministries. When He calls you - you better pick up that call. Don't leave it in your answering machine. Play it back over and over again until it become intertwined in you.

"Someone is praying for you"
Actually my friend suffer the recent loss of his father who died of cancer in September. I was saddened to know this. Unfortunately a lot of people suffer losses to cancer. It is just a fact nowadays. It is not easy to lose a father like that - the family had to re-adjust to a lot of things.
This kind of change is sudden, unpredictable - God knows your time of birth and your time of death. You cannot cheat it! You can only live with it. This is life. Change is good. I know of several friends who have lost their parents - either the father or mother or even their love ones (i.e - husband or wife). The emotional equation is different. The family unit is different.


In prayers we shall remain!

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!!!!! 中秋節快樂

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!!!!! 中秋節快樂
Originally uploaded by HeyMing.

Au claire de lune!!! Under the moonlight...

Very funny wisdom... are you a dog or cat person?

I thought this comment by teaching pastor John Ortberg was quiet funny... it says are you a dog or a cat person? "According to the received wisdom, there is a big difference between dogs and cats. A dog says, "You love me, feed me, shelter me, care for me -- you must be God." A cat says, "You love me, you feed me, shelter me, care for me -- I must be God."

No wonder when the dog get jealous and chases the cat, the latter always run up to the tree (or higher ground)... and the cat looks down to the dog and say "see that's why I'm up here!!"

Which one are you?

Now that you have identified yourself which one you like. Now drill down to the type of dogs or cats. Big or small!!!! High or low maintenance?

Nah... according to John Ortberg's explanation of this wisdom ("Everybody's Normal TILL you get to know them.") page 117. "You have dog people in your life, and you have cat people in your life. A good question members of families and churches and organizations and small groups can ask is, "What are the dominant moods in our emotional economy: fear, joy, anger, complaint, hope, discouragement, or compassion?".... "whose company you love, whose mind you love to pick, whose running commentary totally holds your attention, who makes you laugh out loud... When you have a friend like this, she can say: "Hey, I've got to drive up to the dump in Petulama - wanna come along?" and you honestly can't think of anything in the world you'd rather do. By the same token, a boring or annoying person can offer to buy you an expensive dinner, followed by tickets to a great show, and in all honesty you'd rather stay home and watch the Jello harden."

Simply put... reading people is an art by itself. Relationship is an interaction not just by exchanging information but also influence each other's moods and attitudes.

Fishermen & Villages on Canvas

Fishermen on Canvas
Originally uploaded by HeyMing.

This piece of art came from the Ivory Coast. Canvas like these are so colorful because it depicts life in Africa. A village is very rich because of its inhabitants. I love this piece of art because it reminds me all the youths of my days running along the locals in the Ivory Coast. I love to fish and I love to see that simple life and "joie de vivre".

This is an African village...


The baobab tree... the women cooking... and off course always the village chief around... hahaha!!!

Life's mysteries... "Maybe you're the woman I never met."

"At this moment,in this cafe, we're sitting next to strangers. Everyone will get up, leave and go on their own way; and they will never meet again; and if they do, they won't realize that it's not for the first time" - French cinematographer Krzysztof Kieslowski once said this. I like French movies - don't blame me I speak French and grew up exposed to them. It just has that artsy feel to tell a story (not to make money a la American!).

I first came to this quote several years as I was so hooked on the movie "Red" or "Rouge" in French - it was a wonderful story because I liked (obviously) the actress Irene Jacob (Who doesn't?) - It was a story of friendship. Valentine (pronounced in French is better than English) - met a judge who was eavesdropping upon it's neighbor - it was against the law. Valentine encountered this judge as she hit a stray dog and saved her - She later traced the dog back to the owner who was the judge. It was at that point that their friendship blossomed. Intriguing character as a judge. Lonely very inside. Somehow, they just clicked! They just connected (Ah the power of story telling and movies). They could talk to one another intimately. They could joke, laugh, share with one another stories. It was not love at first sight. He was never been married, yet found this woman to be so intriguing... even cold to him... to the point he considered her as soulmate. A friend for life... The judge said "Maybe, you're the woman I've never met". There is Love. He just could not in the closing years of his life to take away this charming lady's youth that is for someone else. Indeed, "Maybe you're the ONE I've never met", "Maybe you're the person I've never met", "Maybe you're the family I've never met". Relax! I've been dealt with so many of life's mysteries so profoundly that I've stopped counting them. Sometimes, you can be dealt with that river card you never wanted... that's life. It can be a puzzle - daunting - BIG task to complete. However, relax - it is much more mysterious. You can be more than just that piece of puzzle. And you're an unique piece. Because you've been saved. You're blessed. You're a lot better than that simple piece of puzzle. It is that piece of heart that counts... you're admirable! well done my son! I hope that's what God will say one day.

Be thankful and joyful. It is His Grace that saved me - I know I can be in a better place at this point but I rather serve Him with all the joy accorded to me. To walk steadfastly to be that person he created me - willed to meet that piece of puzzle in my life. I have met and found several pieces - yet they do not seem to fit. I say - fit to what - fit where? fit which part of me? I wanted to cut it to the size where it will fit in that puzzle. However I find it is no longer the same piece. It loses the real meaning of that piece of puzzle. I should not be thinking to change that piece of puzzle to fit in... but rather to look beyond our lowly positions... from this angle of life... that we are a piece of puzzle that God has created to fit in his bigger scheme of life... instead of us trying to solve the puzzle... to allow Him (besides He got a better vintage point of view) to solve that puzzle.

The two pieces finally meet... but the bigger challenge is still to allow this new piece of mixed puzzle, created to become one that God will continue to piece together in his bigger scheme of life, of creation and of revelation. That's how blessed we are to be in God's embrace. To be in his constant care. To be given sufficient provision to chuck along. So maybe one day I will say "You're the woman I have finally met!" my friend!

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God Bless You!