A Word of Thanks

So, who else is tired of hearing about the economic crisis? It seems like everywhere we turn someone is talking about it. We turn on the TV, its on the news, we call friends and family back home and hear about more people being laid off. Even when we meet new friends here, one of the first questions we are always asked is "So, what do you think of the economic crisis?"

Sometimes it can be easy to fall out of touch with how much this is affecting everyone back home. Its easy to get caught up in our lives here, and push things like an economic crisis out of our minds. But, when we hear about difficult things back home we hurt for you just as I know you hurt for us when we face hard things.

And we just want you to know how truly thankful we are. Words cannot express the gratitude we have in our hearts. We know that we could not be here without the sacrifice our "Family" is making, not just financially, but by continually talking to Dad on our behalf.  Our "Family" is just as much a part of the work here as we are.

I don't know how many other people struggle with focusing on the negative things like I do. But in times like this its easy for me to start wondering about the future and what we're going to do if things keep getting worse.

Then I came across Matt 17:27. Peter is being questioned about whether or not J pays the temple tax, and when he comes to J, He tells P to go down to the sea, cast in a hook and the first fish he pulls out, open its mouth and he would find the money to pay the taxes for both of them.

I don't know if that encourages anyone else, but it encourged me. It was such a reminder that J is not worried about this crisis. He loves His children, and He has promised to provide for us, and He's not wondering where He's going to find the resources to provide for us. He may not provide as much as I want, or the way I want Him to, but He will provide ALL OUR NEEDS.

How awesome is it to know, we serve One who owns "the cattle on a thousand hills" Ps. 50:10

My Pearl of Great Price

I was doing my quiet time today and came across a verse that really struck me with something I've been dealing with lately. Funny how that happens, huh?

Moving here has been awesome. I really am enjoying myself. I love the people, the craziness of the city, and even learning the language :) We are finally getting settled in and learning how to live here, and it really is starting to feel like home. But sometimes, I do struggle with wanting something different. 

Its easy to look at pictures of friends back in the states and see them celebrating the holidays with friends and family. Baking, decorating, and doing all the fun things you do around the holidays. Then I think about my tiny kitchen and how I went from more kitchen stuff then I knew what to do with to having one pot and one wok to cook in. And don't forget about the easy bake oven! 

I know it sounds really materialistic, and it is. But try giving away everything you just received from your wedding shower a year ago and fitting all your belongings into a few suitcases and telling me if its easy. It's not. 

So when things go wrong here, its easy to dwell on that. Its easy to think "what am I doing here? Have I lost my mind?"

Then I was reading this morning and came across Matt. 6:19-21 "Do not lay up treasure for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasure in heven, where neither moth nor rust desroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

I really stopped and thought about this, and am still thinking about it. Where is my treasure? Is my treasure in the things I gave away or in storage boxes back home, or is it here? Is it in dreams of someday settling down in a nice house back home, or is it in seeking His plans for me? 

Then I remembered the parable of the pearl of great price in Matt. 13:45-46 "the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant, seeking beautiful pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it."

I would like to say that its easy. Packing, moving, adjusting. Its fun, its an adventure, but sometimes its hard. But then I'm reminded this is my pearl of great price - and its worth everything. 

Thanksgiving Overseas

Well, we had our first holiday overseas. While we are extremely thankful for the overseas family we do have here, and we had such a wonderful time with them, its hard to know that you are on the other side of the world from your famliy during a time when most families are coming together. 

I find myself clinging to the things which are familiar. Like having canned cranberry sauce, not because everyone loves it, but because thats what we've had every year on Thanksgiving. I'm sure its partly my obsessive compulsive tendencies that drive me to do things or have things that we have every year, and send me into panic mode when it doesn't work out that way.

So you can imagine how I felt (or maybe you can't unless you have the same problem) when I signed up to bring the pumpkin pie and couldn't find any. We searched seven stores, and searching seven stores in Shanghai is no small task. We looked for pumpkin pie or ingredients to make pumpkin pie, but, no success. Can I jut tell you, I actually had nightmares that I ruined everyone's Thanksgiving because I had no pumpkin pie to bring!

Sigh, oh the holidays...then there was the tree decorating. I had to do my best to make it just like it was growing up, but my mom wasn't here to do it all for me :(  And our tree doesn't lean to one side like our tree always did grwoing up (okay, maybe I don't miss that part).  And my dad wasn't there to eat all the cookies. And we didn't have "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" on tv. And I didn't have a sister to fight with over hanging up certain ornaments. 

I know this is only the start of figuring out how holidays will be without family like we've had, and we have quite a few more to go, but its made me especially grateful for the times we did have. And it makes me look forward to the time we will have in the future, and spending a holiday together again.  

Tower of Babel

So, after 6 weeks of living in another country I have come to find that language is one of those things I have taken for granted my entire life. Maybe its even more frustrating to me since I have a degree in Communications :) What at first we thought would be "an adventure" has turned into being 27 and feeling like an infant. Not being able to read, write, or talk, is to say the least very frustrating. Our lives have resorted to a big game of charades and pictionary.

Example 1: Hungry and looking for a quick bite to eat we stopped by a little bakery where I purchased a little pastry that I thought was filled with chocolate. Instead it was bean curd.

Example 2: Picture menues!!! Our saving grace - sometimes. Pictures can be very misleaidng, especially when you'e hungry things look like what they are not. For instance what looked like green beans turned out to be an extremely HOT pepper. Realized that AFTER we took a couple bites. The heat takes a few seconds to hit. We are both pretty sure we now have ulcers.

Example 3: Bought an oven! Besides the fact it brings back childhood memories of baking in an Easy Bake Oven, because thats what it looks like, we were so excited to be able to start baking! However ALL directions are in Chinese. As of right now it takes 2 hours to bake one tray of cookies. Yes, you read that correctly 2 HOURS! Maybe someday I can figure out how to put it on the correct setting....

Example 4: We experienced a small victory in that we are now able to say the address of our school and our home to the taxi driver. We no longer depend on somehting to show with the address written on it in Chinese. However, we are still trying to learn the correct way to say "stop here". The other day as the driver was approaching our desired destination Michael told him "keting, keting!" which is translated "living room, living room!"

Example 5: Our first day of class we were learning pronunciation and tones. One of our excercises was she would say a word and we would say which tone it was -1,2,3 or 4. Well, we had evidently moved onto another excercise and I was the only one in class who did not realize that. She wrote two columns of words on the board and she would say a word and we would say which column it was in, either 1 or 2. I thought we were still doing the other excercise. So when she said a word I yelled out "4" in Chinese. I actually did this a few times and Michael leaned over and asked what I was doing. It turned out she was calling on another student, and I kept answering. On top of that, I kept yelling out "4" which wasn't an option for what we were doing. To make matters worse, 4 in Chinese is the same word for "death". So I figure it was somewhat concerning to my teacher that I kept randomly yelling out "die, die!" to her in class.

Example 6: Michael decided it was time for a haircut. There's a small place next door and we decided to try it. We went in, he sat down and the guy looked at him and raised his hands as if to say "so what do you want?" Michael looked at me, I walked over and pretended to buzz his head with a razor, complete with sound effects. Then I pretended to snip the top of his hair with scissors, also with sound effects. It worked, The guy's eyes lit up and Michael got a great haircut all for 5 kuai, which is less than a US dollar!

In our short time here, we have gained many more stories of language mishaps. Trying to buy flour and buying cornstarch. Making a man in the market mad because I said the wrong thing when he tried to sell me something, ordering a certain dish and getting other things with it that we didn't want, etc., etc. But afterwards we are, for the most part, able to laugh at it. And we both look forward to the day when we will be able to not just say a phrase or two, but actually hold a meaningful conversation about the Good News with someone in their heart language!

Six Week Recap

We've actually been here six weeks already. In some ways time has flown, in other ways it feels like time is standing still. I will do my best to recap these past few life changing weeks. 

Life in VA was amazing. They say they are preparing you for transition into a new culture and way of life, but in some ways it made it harder. Waking up in the morning to the beautiful peaceful scenery that surrounded us. The perfect place to spend time with Dad and prepare for the task we have been called to. The many like-minded frineds we spent two months getting to know. And of course the three meals a day provided for you, no cooking, no cleanup.....  :)

Then reality hits. After a whirlwind three days of shopping for last minute necessities, packing and the painful goodbyes to family and friends, we landed in our new home of 23 million people. Buildings, lights, pollution, noise, traffic. Gone was the peaceful tranquility of two months in the beautiful hills of VA, instead trying to survive the chaotic city life in a new country. 

After a 19 hour flight, we arrived, dropped off our bags at a hotel and began apartment hunting. We looked at three total, and decided on the first one we saw. Evidently the idea that the apartment should be cleaned after the last tennant to be ready for the new one is one that only the US holds. Instead of being excited about what we had accomplished in our few short hours

of  arrival, I was overwhelmed to say the least with the task of making the apartment clean enough to live in.

That night we collapsed from exhaustion, only to wake a few hours later in the middle of the night from jet lag. That morning it was off to register at language school as we would be starting class the next day. Then setting up bank accounts, cell phones, negotiating for the apartment, moving in, setting up our new home, all while trying to learn our way around and of course we don't yet speak the language. 

Needless to say, it's easy to loose sight of why we came. It didn't take long to start seeing the people as obstacles in my way to keep me from getting the daily life things done that I needed to do, instead of seeing them as the whole reason I'm here.

So, here we are, living in the grace of the One we are here for, Who allows us to see and accomplish way more than we ever deserve. And we daily try to balance between learning to live in a completely new place with the main thing we are here to do.