I can’t quite believe how quiet Cheung Chau is. I spent yesterday walking around the island and there is a peace I don’t think I have experienced anywhere else – other than at a cricket match!
There are no cars, apart from an ambulance, or motor bikes and all you hear is the pop, pop of the motorised handcarts that are allowed or the squeak of an un-oiled chain from the countless bikes that cruise around. The island is connected by beautifully constructed narrow pathways, some so steep that the advice to cyclists is get off and walk!
Most of the island is clean, sleepy and serene but the ferry landing pier and the harbour front are busy, bustling areas with bikes, handcarts, restaurants, rickshaws, market stalls all struggling for space. The beaches are all manned by lifeguards and are also equipped with shark nets!
A day spent wandering the various paths has been very refreshing on inside but very sweaty on the outside. I don’t think I have sweated so much just sitting down and when I got back to Bethany I was very glad for a cold shower and complete change of clothes.
They love the warning signs here, not only for cyclists and danger from sharks but I loved the one that was attached to a place where ‘fire-beaters’ were kept.
What else would you use them for? Answers on a postcard.
It’s always worth watching out for dangers and today has been a day to be reminded of how calm God is in all circumstances. So I needn’t fear or worry or get anxious about tomorrow or next week, I’ve just got to trust Him knowing that I might not always be safe, but I am secure.
As I was making my way back to Bethany for a well earned rest (sleep) before the evening meal, a very strange thing happened. I would even go so far as to say that it is the weirdest thing that has happened during my whole Sabbatical – which is saying quite a lot! I was walking past a house and I noticed that a little girl, perhaps 5 years old was stretching up on tiptoe to try to reach the door bell of the front door. She had just finished school so was keen to get in. She just about reached it and as she pressed it I could hear the tune that the bell was playing. I had to listen twice because ringing out loud and clear was the tune, ‘The First Nowell’! Honestly!
Jesus tends to show up at the oddest times, in the strangest places, in the most unusual ways. He always has done and he always will, often not how we expected or how we would have planned it. Perhaps that moment, more than any other, has summed up my Sabbatical.
Christmas already?! The shops here started back to school offers in June so I am expecting to see my first tinsel covered Easter egg any day now! Good to hear that you are still coping with all the happenings - will look forward to catching up over a coffee (do you like coffee?) before too long. Go well.
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