Amazing Night

I had the absolute best time Thursday that I have had in an extremely long time. In terms of what I did, it wasn't so very different from other Thursdays. But in terms of what the Father revealed to me and the joy I felt, it was so awesome.

As much joy as the people have at seeing us at the nursing homes, orphanage, and countryside clinics, the weight of their oppression and how dismal the places are was really starting to get to me last week. I felt weighted for them. I was staying tired all of the time, and I was beginning to wonder why He would bring me here to go to these places when it seemed I could do little. I can't communicate, and I can't share the hope I have in Him to brighten up their days, simply because I don't know the language. So on the way to the countryside Thursday, I spent a lot of time in pr. I also spent some time resting. We arrived and the people were so thrilled to see us. One of the ladies even remembered my name! That alone made me feel as though I had a larger impact than I originally thought. While we were there, one of my co-workers also shared that my eyes were always so bright. I know that could not possibly be coming from me, because I had been feeling so down and tired, and I was sure that that was showing. So I knew at that moment that all of my pr's had been answered for His light to shine through me.

Then, on the way home, as I rested even more in Him, He showed me the stars. That may sound odd, but I really like staring at the stars. Part of that may come from growing up in the country and being able to look up and see a sky chock full of them. I can point out a few constellations, and when I looked up from my window in the van that night, I saw one of those. It gave me peace. :) Also, when we stopped to eat, we played a game of Killer. That sounds really bad, but it was fun, and it's a game that I've played with my band family before a long time ago. It was just that everything was working together so perfectly to show me just how much He loves me, and that I really am supposed to be here. Dad's so amazing!!

FrO?

My friends, Jaime and Isaac, from Beijing came in for the weekend last weekend. They arrived on Friday night and stayed until Sunday afternoon. It was so much fun. We toured campus, played speed scrabble and dutch blitz, and ate Chinese food. You would think, living in China, that the last part of that would not be that exciting. However, I live with another American and a Canadian, both of whom's favorite website is allrecipes.com. So in all actuality, we don't have much Chinese food. So anyway, Jaime braided my hair on Saturday night really tightly, so I could leave it up for a couple of days. :D (That meant I got to sleep later.) So when I finally took it down on Monday night, it was a bit poofier than normal to say the least.. AND I could style it into a heart. :) Isn't that fun??

yi yue

Hey guys. Sorry it has been SOO long since I updated. Abigail, my sister Melinda's foster girl just had surgery on August 17. She had to have surgery to remove a buildup of muscle from the lining of her intestines, because it was causing a blockage. I know that seems like a while back, so let me give you a time frame. We (Melinda, Abigail, Ethan-her other foster child, and I) checked into the hospital on August 11. However, the day before we actually spent the day at the hospital as well. Abigail could not eat or drink anything from the 11th until the 24th. She had a successful surgery, and now can actually eat chunks of food like a normal 3 year old. I stayed in and out at the hospital with them, and everyone finally came home on the 27th. YAY!! This week things have been really crazy. I started Chinese classes Wednesday. They are really fun, and difficult at times, but 2 of my 3 teachers speak English and the third uses a lot of body language. I kinda feel like I'm in a game of charades sometimes. :) They're going really well. I also went to the foster home and countryside with LIGHT. I'll get to go to the orphanage again tomorrow. The kids there are just getting over a round of hand, foot, and mouth disease. Then, Friday night, a couple of our friends from Beijing came in and stayed the weekend with us. It was awesome.. but now I'm worn out. :)

In the past month we've gone to Starbucks for my roommate Heather's birthday, I've gotten lost and trapped in WalMart, and I've walked more looking for busses than I ever have in my life. It has been amazing. As far as Walmart goes, you leave a different way than you come in, and I couldn't find it. That was a bit scary, but makes for a really fun story now! Starbucks was fantastic as always. I'm also getting used to the walking finally. It's been a really great experience. I love being here, although the hospital gave me enough culture shock to want to go home a couple of times. The Father has gotten me to today, and I know He holds the future in His hands, thankfully. Here are a couple of fun pictures from the best parts...


Abigail on surgery day...

At the nursing home on Wednesday


Starbucks!!!!!

Lost in the woods? No! in Shenyang!

Haha. I feel like so much has happened this week I do not even know where to begin. The one story that should be the most fun, however, is my getting lost story. When I first arrived back in China, I was all prepared to go out and do things on my own. After all, I have to learn somehow, and I'll be here for a year. However, somewhere between not knowing where in the slightest I was going on some days, and the 94 stairs up to my sister's apartment, I became a little discouraged in this idea. :) Imagine that.

When I was in the States, and still preparing for my trip, I took a journey one afternoon. I travelled on the interstate nearby to a city that I barely knew and proceeded to take any and every turn I came across, per His nudging. I took so many turns after a while that I could not have gone back that way if I tried. I ended up at one point on an old old blacktop that had no lines and looked similar to some of the dirt roads around home. It was then that I leaned completely on my Dad. Finally, sometime after dark, I ended up in a town that I knew, not too far from home.

Now, I know what this trip was preparing me for. I accompanied a friend to the apartment of a mutual friend of ours on Friday. The problem when I left though, was that I was leaving to go home alone, and I realized at some point that I had not followed the spoken directions like I thought I had. I was lost. So I walked. I finally found a main road, which was bound to have bus stops. It did!! Unfortunately, it did not have any buses that I was familiar with. So I walked some more. I finally saw the bus I was looking for going the opposite direction, but I did not know which way I should be headed. I must have looked terribly lost though because eventually a college student stopped me and asked me if I needed help getting a taxi in broken english. That in itself was amazing. My sister said that she has even pulled out her map before and tried to look lost so that someone would help her, and no one did. With the help of a map, she pointed me home. I did not catch a name, but she was most certainly used by my Father.

Abigail

This is a link to the blog by the pretty amazing lady who lives with my sister and I: Heather. One of her most recent posts tells more about the adorable child that my sister is fostering. She is about to have surgery so that she can continue to eat and grow with the same speed and ability that she has been now for the year and a half my sister has had her.



Look at the difference!!

Interning

I went to the orphanage with LIGHT yesterday afternoon. It was the first day of my internship, and although I wasn't entirely sure of what it would entail, I think it went well. My taxi driver knew where I was going, so I didn't have to direct him. I got to cuddle with an adorable little girl with Down Syndrome for at least an hour, and I got to play with some older children. Of course, I wanted to bring all of them home with me, but that's impossible for many reasons. They were all so precious. I am so excited that I will be able to spend every Monday with these children.

Cars and Laughter

So... I had a few random thoughts yesterday. Sadly, I am only just now getting around to writing about them. The first were a few things having to do with traffic laws here in China. I already knew, for instance, that I cannot look outside the front window of a taxi that I am in because my nervous system does not handle it very well. They go where they want regardless of who or what is already there. It can be fun at times, but other times, it scares me to death. That could have something to do with having no stop signs at intersections other than on main streets. I have yet to see many stop signs at all actually... just a few stoplights on main streets. You simply get to the end of the street and pull out onto the next one, barely glancing behind you. If you waited for people to let you out, you would be waiting all day. However, somehow this idea works here for the most part. That brings me to my second thought. Traffic wrecks. I've only seen a couple in the time I've spent here, and I've been in a minor one (the taxi we were in hit another taxi last year). The others that I saw, as well as the one we were in, had no police called out. The drivers simply get out and decide whose fault it is, and pay the amount they figure for damages right then and there. Obviously, I've never seen more than fender-benders. I'm not sure what would happen with a really bad wreck. However, no one stops for wrecks. They simply go around. My sister informed me that this is actually safer because if others tried to stop, people would just end up in more wrecks.

The third thought that I want to focus on from yesterday is a little more serious and a little more intense. My sister is fostering two children. We went to a friend's house yesterday and they are fostering two children as well. Their little boy, Nathan, was really having a rough time at one point and was crying near hysterics. Abigail, my niece, was sitting there listening and suddenly started tearing up and looking all concerned. She would look from him, to my sister, and back at him. Then, her lip started quivering and she looked hard at my sister for all she was worth. It was all you could do but hear her say “Fix it!!” even though she was saying nothing at all. It broke my heart. Her heart was broken for her friend. She quite literally felt his pain. She didn't have to know why he was crying, she wasn't busy being nosy, she just wanted it fixed for him. If children are born with that high of a level of empathy for others, where does it go when we reach adulthood? Our Father says that we should be sad when others are sad, and happy for them when they are happy. Why can we not share in others' joy without being envious, and why must we know why someone is crying before we comfort them and encourage them? Just something for us all to think about today (myself included).