Wide Awake

Wow. After another 2 years, I ended up returning here again. Hello world of blog - it's nice to reacquaint myself after such a long time.

I don't think I'm going to bother trying to fill in all the details here of what's been going on these past two years. There's just too much goodness that God has blessed both Kat (who is now my incredible and lovely wife of 8 months) and I over this span of time.

But I think what's drawn me back to this place is that I believe it's time to put thoughts into words again, and let the process of putting words to paper (or rather to text type) to work it's introspective magic into some of the things that I think God has been speaking to me.

Hong Kong is a very busy place. It's crazy how easily days can go by without having a solid time to stand still and think, to reflect.

There's a lot that I want to say here, and I think it'll have to be split into many blogs, but the one I wanted to start with today is this one idea that has been stuck in my mind for while now.

A couple months ago, I was listening to this sermon series by Erwin McManus called "Wide Awake" and there was one thing that he said that hasn't stopped tugging on my heart since. He asked such a simple question that has left such a profound searching inside of me which was this:

"Why are our best dreams ones while we are asleep? Shouldn't our best dreams be the ones when we are awake?"

...

Just typing it out already makes me feel...whoa.

I want a life that is just drenched with meaning and kingdom purpose. I want a life of adventure with the Lord - exploring the depths of His love and goodness. I want to be courageous in making dreams reality. To see the kingdom up there, down here.

I want my life to be made of dreams while I'm wide awake.

Returning in Two Ways...

Wow. I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted on this blog. But something came over me tonight as I was prepping for a leadership workshop I'll be giving tomorrow, to wander back to this site that I started.

What's really interesting is that the reason why I started this blog was to document the adventures God would lead Kat and I into when we headed to Hong Kong back in 2006. And now...in only a couple of months I'll be heading on another adventure, this time with a one-way ticket instead of the regular round-trip.

As some of you know (that is, if any of "you" actually still read this due to my lack of diligence), earlier this year I accepted a job to work for a company in Hong Kong. A pretty big shift I must say...a shift in expectation...a shift in my plans...a shift in what I thought...but I think a shift that God orchestrated. It's a long story, those weeks that I spent rehearsing responses to interview questions and researching prospective companies, but somehow through all of that God led and opened up a spot for me to actually move over to HK.

And it's exciting, yet at the same time...there's so much to think about. Kat, family, church, friends, career, more schooling, finding an apartment, what am I going to do when I get to HK, etc...but I'm reminded, "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."

I guess what makes adventures is that aspect of uncertainty, that thrill of the unknown, the lack of what's to come...but just like the wanderers in the desert guided by the cloud by day and fire by night...it isn't about knowing where you're going, it's about knowing who you're going with...and I'm glad that the cloud by day and fire by night that I'm following behind is the same one who took me from the darkness into the light...what have I to fear or worry? He is with me...always.

Glory in the Morning

This morning as I walked out of my house a small moment of wonder happened. And since I haven't blogged for such a long time, I thought this would be a cool thing to share.



As I walked out of my house this morning at around 6:30 (which isn't too unusual for me...I usually go to work at 7/7:30 once or twice a week), the weather was cool, sunlight just breaking, some birds were chirping and it was just so quite...kinda like those mornings during a retreat when you try to wake up for sunrise devos and you know everyone else is still sleeping...it's kinda like finding treasure, an untouched moment of glory at the break of day.

So as I walked to my car and was about to head off to work, I thought, you know what, let me breathe in this moment for now. So I put my stuff in the car and stepped back outside, and all I could think of was just to sing, to sing to God in the peace of this moment...and there's been this song stuck in my head since this past sunday when I led it and I just feel it reach so deep inside me... it's that song, It Is Well With My Soul, esp. the third verse:

My sin, oh the bliss of that glorious thought
My sin, not in part but the whole
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord O my soul!

And there as I sang softly on the sidewalk...no cars, no one awake, just the dew setting, the birds chirping, the dawn breaking...I was almost in tears. Those profound and sweeping verse...Not just part of my sin, but all of it I bear it no more because it was nailed to the cross...what else, what other thought or outpouring of my heart than to say "Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord O my Soul!"

I was emailing Kat about it just a couple moments ago, and as I reflected on it, even then I was starting to get teary eyed...it's true, sometimes, the songs we sing on sundays resound the loudest during the week ahead of us and today it did...I bear it no more, what a powerful truth! no guilt or shame...Praise the Lord!

Hope (Demo)

Just posted up a new demo track from our band. Check it out, the song is called "Hope". This is a song I'm really excited about. It really gets to the heart of our band...the idea that there is a hope that we can hang on to when all else looks bleak.

www.myspace.com/collidinglights

Upcoming Gigs

Hey Everyone,

So, in the next little while, I'll be posting up some newer songs on my myspace accounts...so stay tuned for those.

Colliding Lights: www.myspace.com/collidinglights
My page: www.myspace.com/michaellau

In the meantime, there's two gigs coming up.

May 18: JJ's Birthday
Really cool birthday idea...hold a talent show to raise money for children in impoverished areas of the Philippines to attend summer camp.

May 26: The Gist @ Kainos Fellowship (RHCCC)
If you're free that night, come check us out! Tell your friends, churches, fellowships, n' I hope to see you all there.

Something Like A Tornado

As I was peacefully playing my guitar in my room, all of a sudden I noticed the wind and rain outside pick up. So I quickly went to my windows and closed them and watched. Suddenly gusts of rain swept at my window. I've never seen rain get blown that fast or that hard before. I looked outside and noticed our bbq out of place and our table outside knocked over. Bad storm I thought. Then our lights went off...after a while, they came back on and the wind died down. We went outside to see what went on...and it looked a lot worse than I thought.

Fences were torn apart, roof shingles littered everywhere, whole 30 foot trees were uprooted from the ground...one of the neighbors we know had an 8'x5' window sucked out of their kitchen and her whole kitchen was an incredible mess.

Who would've thought we'd have something like this in peaceful Richmond Hill...now the sun is up, birds are chirping, and firetruck, ambulance, and police alarms are blazing all around the neighborhood.

If you want to see more, I've uploaded it on youtube:

33 Dead at Viriginia Tech

Sometimes I can't believe what I'm hearing. Typically everyday, I listen to 680 news, read the star, or browse the CNN website and I hear about the odd story here or there, or about the homicide that happened here. But the other day when I heard about how 33 people were shot to death on a campus in the States, I just couldn't control feeling so sad and upset about it.

32 people shot to death by a student...why!? Why is there such a darkness in us that would cause someone to do this?

Sorry this post isn't so bright, but over the past couple days/weeks death has been a pretty heavy reality around me.

A couple weeks back I recieved an email about how my friend had to return to Hong Kong immediately because his grandfather just passed away.

Last Friday, my friend called me. In tears, she said, "Mike, my father's dying..." and that night he passed away.

Last night, I received an email from yet another friend. His aunt and uncle were on an anniversary and the uncle died in a sudden accident.

Sometimes...I just don't understand. I mean, perhaps it's just me, but I just feel broken inside on behalf of these people. To think of the pain, the hurt, the suffering they go through...I can't think it, it's beyond what I know.

I would think, when things like these happen, people start to think about God. Does He exist? If He does, does He care?

In a world stained in darkness like what happened in Virginia Tech, the AIDs pandemic around the world, and the crisis in Darfur my hope is in knowing there is a God that exists, He does care, He has done something about it and is still doing something about it now...of which one is calling us to join Him by praying.