Ruth's Journey - Part 12

 WInsome and You Lose None

   Being in China was such a great experience for our family.  Once we arrived in Hong Kong, we were met by our personal greeter.  Did I say personal?    I didn’t get to sip champagne on the flight, but we did get a personal greeter.  How awesome is that?  We were exhausted!  Luckily traveling west we arrived in the evening and in no time it was time for bed.  We slept like babies which was great because our new supplier wasted no time. We arrived at the factory the next morning and business started immediately. Oh wait, there was a momentary pleasant distraction. As we arrived we noticed a “Welcome” sign for the Libertos. (picture)  The welcoming committee really  surpassed my expectations.  I can only guess at how close to the mark three groggy Texans were to meeting their expectations. At any rate, there would be no rest for the groggy.  It was time to get started with the intricate creation of Ruth. The process to extract Ruth from the abstract into the physical, we needed to be taken step by step to approve everything from the production mold to the color of tissue paper that would come in the box.  Most of these tasks were unexpected and largely uneventful. We made a trip to the fabric factory.  I failed to mention to our personal guide that I was pre-menopausal and that walking through acres of fabric was doing nothing for my mental psyche. I was afraid I would go postal from the eight floors of fabric selections.  Rooms upon rooms of fabric!  TMI! Ok, maybe it was a bit more expected and eventful than I thought. I really didn’t need acres of fabric to choose from for a dress for Ruth.  She is simple.  I am simple. An example of our simplicity was the Ruth look. We were asked what we wanted Ruth to look like.  Our discussions up to that point had always been in the abstract.  Ruth should be winsome, but we could only recognize winsome.  Describing it was a lot more difficult.  So, we sent pictures of our youngest Jordan.  Of course we followed her around for several days waiting to recognize winsome before we began the battery of flashing pix. Designing Ruth’s face was by far the most exciting.  We had been receiving email pictures for several weeks in advance of our visit as a review of the Ruth Look.  Things looked great, but visiting in person would allow us to actually see the creative process.  They brought in sculptors who actively worked on areas that we needed changed.  It was fascinating to be in this process with so many caring people.  People from such diverse backgrounds united in a single cause.  Is that drastically different than the early church? While we were reviewing the modifications made by the sculptors, we noticed they were talking to each other.  We inquired of our personal greeter.  I still can’t believe we had our own personal greeter. We were told that they were discussing how we were reacting to our comments by studying our body language. I got the impression they were invested. The creative process was a magnificent experience for us and it was accentuated by the unity of three separate cultures.  I’m not suggesting the Holy Spirit was there because the unity here was not on Christ. Ruth did provide us an opportunity to build a bridge. It is our prayer that the Lord will fill The Freedom Girls with something he can fill with something real.

 Lord, if I'm the clay, then lay me down On your spinning wheel Shape me into something you can fill With something real               - Caedmon’s Call (Hands of the Potter)

Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.  -  Isaiah 64:8

We would love to hear your comments on opportunities the Lord has put in your path to build bridges.

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