Fishing

Week three....

As we spend more time in Danang, we discover new ways to be good stewards of our finances. We are walking to and from work each day (several miles), and instead of taking a taxi across the river to go shopping we are shopping at stores close to our house. It is funny--each store has a different selection of items to buy, so we go several places just to get a few groceries.

Tomorrow, we are picking up furniture that has been given to us free of charge. What a blessing!

We have started our Vietnamese language lessons and tried out our new phrases on various people. Of course, no one has a clue what we're saying. Enoch says that we are probably less confusing when we talk in English

In the meantime, we are continuing our lessons in listening...not listening to the Vietnamese language, but to the language spoken to our heart.

The Vietnamese are predominantly Buddhist. Scattered around our area are Buddhist temples--there is one at the head of our street, in fact. One of our nightly rituals is to walk down the street to the beach where we talk and relax; on this walk, we go by the temple. A few nights ago as we started out on our walk, one of our neighbors motioned for us to follow him. He led us to the temple where several people were gathered--not in worship, but in conversation--and went in to get a mat so that we could sit. Enoch and I froze at the gate, waved "no", and kept walking.

As we walked to the beach, I wondered if that had been the right thing to do. I mean, was there any harm in going into the building as long as we didn't worship? Did we hurt our relationship with this fellow by turning down his offer? Did we lose future opportunities to compare cultures...and beliefs?

Later, as we walked along the shore, I watched the crabs scurrying under our feet. The small ones want to catch fish on the waves, but they run away when the water comes towards them. They are too small--to weak to keep from being drug off. The big crabs do just the opposite--they run toward the tide to get their food. Spiritually, am I a small crab or a big crab? Am I mature? Are the waves a danger to me, or could it be that by running toward the waves I can catch fish? I need to listen and follow.