Yixuan & Baoyun

The house of my soul is too small for You to come to it. May it be enlarged by You.
- St. Augustine, Confessions

here you have two beautiful people. the week passes and the others see them differently. oh, yixuan really likes running and is really concerned about calories. her phrase is "ee don't want, fat" when offered food at night / unhealthy food / when someone suggests she try on a piece of clothing that she feels might not look good on her. (and hello look at her what's up with this yo i was initially intimidated by her tall-and-slim figure)
and oh baoyun is so cute and sometimes she says really funny things or maybe in class she makes remarks that just don't come out right and people misinterpret them. she probably comes across as simple-minded, naive, happy.

and then one of us goes "let's meet tonight, i've got something to share"

and at midnight we meet in the close comfort of a room, the comfort of company that you can trust never to judge and only to love. and you see them in all their beauty. we play the guitar and we sing and pray, and we talk. and we spill forth in all honesty. open. unpretentious. careless; we don't need to bother.

and they are always so beautiful, always so loving, encouraging. I am reminded of Baoyun's intimate and beautiful relationship with God. The beautiful images she gets from Him, so vivid, so telling of a God who loves just like a caring daddy who wants nothing more than to protect his little girl. Her words always ooze love, a love for God, a longing just to be in His quiet embrace.

I am reminded of Yixuan's fervour. Bible verse after bible verse she pours over her prayers. Also her profound love for God, understood in the moments of prayer and devotion. The profoundness of her understanding of God's loving ways - she might not articulate them comfortably in a public setting, but just listen to her pray.

And when we come together we remember that we are so fallen, and we cannot do this on our own. He brings us back to Him; it's always Him that draws us back, we are weak, we fall away easily but He still catches us. And I see Him in the lives of these friends. I see Him when Baoyun makes mention of the book of encounters and words from God, and when she talks about the vivid visual messages He gives her. I see Him when Yixuan prays with such quiet fire. That she wants nothing more than to grow into a mature woman in Him, to develop a strong rock that remains unshaken when the currents push at it from either side.

(and then we talk and talk and talk and talk oh shucks it's 3)