The Good, The Bad and The ….

Well, summer has finished, unfortunately not the weather. It’s still hot and humid. Thank goodness for air conditioning. I am now back into normal timetable and have my Wednesday’s back off so I can resume my hiking. Although it was nice having two days off in a row, I must admit to preferring having a day off in the week, there are a lot fewer people around and so you can do more.

The summer saw a lot of lessons and relaxed children who enjoyed their lessons hopefully. It saw us in the homegroup doing the fruit of the spirit. Some I still need to work on 😁. On Wednesday evening saw me leading a discipleship explored course which, hopefully, benefited the group. This also led to me being more aware of the great sacrifice that was made for me and how I need to react with a humble heart and bear my cross.

Nothing really happened that was life altering for me. I guess you can say that this was The Bland stage of the title. It wasn’t good nor was it bad, it just was. And isn’t life like that. We can often feel other people are having adventure after adventure if we believe what Facebook or Twitter shows us when the reality is so different. Now don’t misjudge me, you may be one of the lucky few, whose life is a constant party, or holiday, but mine isn’t. It’s getting up, going to work and then going home. It’s the constant struggle I have, no matter where I am.

The good of the summer was the catching up with three of my boys from Newick. It was wonderful to hear their news and to spend time with them. They certainly made me proud of the young men they are turning out to be. It was a privilege to look after them at Cheltenham College and I will always hold a special place in my heart for them all. Again, though, it reminded me how important it is for me to be aware of the impact we have on others. I hope and pray that I am a positive impact on them and all I come into contact with.

Well September has now come and gone, wow, the months are flying by. This month saw me complete the last stage of the Hong Kong trail. This was over the Dragons back, ending at the Big Wave beach. It was a wonderful walk, even though I got slightly sun burnt and stung by a wasp. This itself led to an amusing story as while I was sitting examining the bite and putting on some papaw ointment, I was trying to find the good in this situation. Typical Katherine mode I was talking out loud to myself, when a nice looking Aussie man came walking by. He asked if I was ok which I replied that I had been stung and I was trying to find the joy in the situation, bless him he was nice about this looney asked if I needed help. I replied I would be ok and he carried on walking. Once again a chance to play the damsel in distress and do a little flirting but not me 😂😁. Anyway here are photos from this walk.

Two weeks later Hong Kong had one of the worst Typhoons to hit. Fortunately and unfortunately where I was was sheltered and so it felt like a normal rain storm for me. But other places got hit hard. Like I was told, by everyone at work I taped up my windows

Did this stop them from breaking…

We will never know but it didn’t happen to us thankfully, Windows and apartment still standing. My roommate insisted we got torches so, like a good girl, of I went and bought two torches, much to Angels (office girl at work) humour who insisted that I wouldn’t need it. This led to even more hilarity on the Tuesday when I admitted she was right and I hadn’t used said torch and had, on that day left my phone at home. Her response was at least I had a torch with me, which of course I didn’t as that was at home next to my bed, leading to her having a good laugh at my expense, but all in good humour

That Wednesday I decided, rather naively to try and go for a hike. I wanted to start the Lantau Trail. I started of by catching the ferry to Mui Wo to then walk two stages

The first stage was from Mui Wo to Nam Sham, via the old path rather than the road. It was a nice walk, with a few ducking and stepping over loose branches. As I got to the top this it did involve me actually climbing through a fallen tree, and saw me on my hands and knees. Here are some photos for this stage

My obstacle at the end.

I had then wanted to carry on over sunset peak. This however was a no go because of the typhoon. I had got about a quarter of the way in when I was abruptly interrupted by a large tree in the way and men cutting it with chainsaws so I had to turn around and go back. I have yet had chance to go again, hopefully next Wednesday but we shall see what lays ahead.

I am reminded as writing this, that life can and does take sudden turns. Some good and some bad. When going through the good, be glad and enjoy remembering others maybe going through rough times, and like whenever we are going through the rough we all need help. Even if it’s just an ear to listen. God bless you all.

Unknown picture source, but so cute.