Also, in coming back, I traded off the sky for claustrophobic living, singing birds to occasionally shrieking mynahs, Ginger for a skin-and-bone, abused neighbor's cat, talking to anyone on the street for 'pretend-to-ignore' Confucians, desert heat for hair-frizzing humidity, workout companions for running the stairs in solitude, simple and wholesome eating to erratic and overly-flavorful meals, occasional roaches to many roaches, mosquitoes, lizards and ants, the leisurely lifestyle for an absurdly intense and performance-based one (When I was at Narita airport in Tokyo, this man with speaking in a distinctively Singaporean accent told his friends to 'concentrate' all the bags in one area, and that they should only walk around for 10 minutes while he was going to 'orientate' himself for 5minutes when he meant 'window-shopping').
Is the Beautiful Country, as the Chinese call it, superior to home?
In some ways, I wish home would be closer to God's creation and appreciative of God's providence, and less holed up in man-made prison cells, slogging their lives away in order to, apparently, survive in a competitive world. And God was so gracious to have let me experience that in a small, special desert college town in the US.
But I also know home is home. This is where God has put me in to continue nesting my life in at least for the next six years. This is where I grew up, where I realized I was so filthy and cried and started following Jesus, where I became intelligent enough to appreciate knowledge and delve into God's Word. I'm not talking about national pride - my citizenship is in heaven. But I know this is where half of the world's Muslim population is, where brothers and sisters have lovingly poured their lives and resources into, where many unreached peoples are... So Singapore is a special place.
I remember Paul's instructions to the Thessalonians:
Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
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