A time to rest...

I'm on my last week here in Singapore, wow that went by way too fast. And the strangest part is that my trip is less than half way done! I still have Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Hong Kong to go, but only another 2 weeks with the whole team. It has been a wonderful first half of the summer. I want to go ahead and thank all of you who have been reading my very random posts on this thing, and everyone who has been engaging in some amazing conversations with me on facebook messages/skype/emails, and for those of you that have been praying for me while I'm gone, you all know who you are and you are all so very wonderful!

I don't have a ton of insight to share with you this week except this: there is a time for everything, including a time for rest. God is very specific with the Israelites about how he wants them to rest regularly, a wonderful command which somehow got turned into a burden. I have been learning a lot the last few days about my own neglect for rest and seeing how my intellectual pursuits of how to live can sometimes negatively affect my own living of that life (if that made any sense).

This morning, I jumped on the MRT and made my way to the Every Nations church of Singapore. My friend Brian recommended it, and I figured I should check it out before I leave (friday!). The first thing that I realized is how awkward it is to show up to a new church completely alone. I've visited a number of churches, but always either with a member escorting me or at least with other visitors. This was the first time in my life that I have ever just shown up at a church by myself just to see what happened. I met a few people on the way in after standing around awkwardly for a few minutes, and then sat down next to some nice guys from Sierra Leone.

No need to share about the whole service (except it was a bit different than the traditional Anglican service I attended last week), but I will say that the thing which most impacted me was something the worship leader said about resting in the love of God. And I realized that while I have been searching a lot recently for truth and trying to figure out how to live my life as a response to the call of Jesus, I have not been resting much or remembering the love of God. In seeking obedience, I found my own form of legalism. In trying to follow, I forgot to rest.

So this week I am going to try to rest a bit. That said, I have 3 papers and 2 exams to do in the next 3 days. And after that it's a whole ton of travel. It should be a wonderful experiment in rest taking.

One last thing, I am going to have a bit less internet in my travels, but I would still love to hear from all of you. Here is a general itinerary of where I will be the next month or so in case you are interested:
July 4th - Leave Singapore
July 4th-12th - Thailand (Chang Mai and Bangkok)
July 12th-21st - Vietnam
July 21st -25th - Cambodia
July 25th-August 4th - Thailand again
August 4th-8th - Hong Kong
August 9th - Back home!

(the pictures are from the Chinese Gardens, where I wrote the ants poem below, one of my few days of rest here)