I Look to the Future

I'm back. Back to my new apartment in Korea. It's 12:47am and I sit here quite awake. Why, you might ask? Take a wild guess. I'm thinking about China. Rolling it around in my mind. Missing the kids. Missing everything about that place. Daydreaming about the future. My body might have left, but my mind is still there. And now that my body is here (and my mind better hurry up and follow!) I will once again fall in to being content with where I am. After all, that's how it should be.

How can I sum up 3 weeks in China? It's impossible. But I'll try. During these last 3 weeks, God has shown Himself over and over and over and over

again. And more than that. I prayed so hard before I left. I prayed that I would be safe, healthy, that I would not get lost, that I would learn about Him, that I would be changed, that I would meet people whom I could turn to in the future, that I would learn much about running an orphanage, that God would grow my faith in Him. It all happened. He answered all my prayers with a yes. And more. And do you know why? It's because He's God. He's good. He loves me with an unfathomable love. He wants His perfect will for me, and I want that too.

I love Him more. It wasn't a cloud nine everything is fine kind of trip. No, there was pain, there was frustration, there was days of not wanting to do certain things. There were less than desirable conditions, dirt, an overwhelming amount of bug bites, allergies, scrapes, tiredness, But God saw me through. In spite of all the things that I could look at and complain about, I didn't view them as negative. There really wasn't much that I viewed as negative on this trip. Some of my selfish emotions were negative, but life was just good. Being with the kids in China was more that I could ask for.

I realize that what I've written so far might not really make sense or be organized logically at all, but I warned you that it might be impossible to explain. Here I go again.

I wrote daily updates, so now I'll post some of them. It might be long, so read what you want and skip the rest. Haha.

August 2

I don't think I get so many stares in Seoul. It's so funny that I laugh outloud everytime they nudge a person and motion to me 'subtly' it cracks me up!
True love: wiping your girlfriend's sweat with a tissue.

So sweaty and muggy. Everyone glistens delicately. A

lmost no one wears their hair down. Me neither! Only some times.

About 10 year
s old. Male. Mother wiping his sweat while he does Kung Fu moves.

East Nanjing road. No idea which way to go. Time to start walking. I walked down a bunch of si
de streets until I found the masses. And I do mean more than the Trevi fountain masses. Much more. Like so man people. Anyways, the construction was gone and there was an beautiful view of the city from across the water. Just 
what I was looking for. I held my spot on the railing in order to take some night shots (I got a few.) while I waited for the darkness, I had many stares of course. At one point I wanted a lady (who had ju
st not so subtly taken a pic of me) to hold a sign while I took a pic of her holding it. She didn't understand and refused and all of the sudden people started forming a circle around me and so I asked them. The circle starte
d growing and I didn't want to draw attention (yeah right) so I booked it outta there.

When I was standing by the railing, a lady stood by me and her husban
d not so subtly took a pic so I smiled and gave the peace sign. While he was posing his camera, I could see a smil
Grow on his face when he realized I was posing for the picture. Little did I know...I tallied 8 people in the space of like 5 mins that saw them take a picture and asked me to take one with them. I kept score as they said "sank-you.".

Then along came Carol. Her English name was Carol. She was from another province and came to shanghai for 2 weeks to study as a linguistics student. Her English was very good and we talked and then walked in the overcrowded streets. She was very easy to get along with and at one point the conversation turned to other things and she asked if I believed. I said yes and we talked about that for a bit. No details of course. Anyways, we ate dinner together and got contact info so I hope to hear from her again.

Made it back in one sweaty sweaty sweaty mess to the hostel. Eating yogurt and drinking water water water after I swet sweat sweat. Yes, I prefer to not be able to understand the conversations around me.

Old Chinese proverb: it difficult to get on escalator.

August 4

It might not seem luxurious to sleep across metal chairs separated by
6 inch gaps on top of your bag with light overhead and announcements
blaring on the loud speaker. People miling arous, smoking and
laughing, children screaming and mothers matching them. The smells of
strange foods wafting through the air. It's not. When leaving Korea I
almost ALMOST didn't bring my pink blanket. I thought it might be
cumbersome. At the last second I decided that it has served me well
and that it would accompany me on this magical mystery tour. And boy
was that ever a good choice! The shanghai train station proved to be
a rather nice alternative to a hotel. At least I didn't have to pay
anything. I just had to get up in the morning and get on my train
(which proved much easier than I thought.)

Now I'm on my way to Zhengzhou. Sitting next to a man who smells
niiiice and smokey. I've got my water bottles, pepsi to keep me awake,
and ramen for that time when I get hungry. I also have my trusty
tissues for the squatty potty which is really a metal basin in the
ground that no doubt emptiest onto the tracks. Ok, so they might not
be THAT primitive.

Once I get to Zhengzhou, I have to figure out how to make it the last
leg of my journey to Gongyi. That'll be exciting.

The train smells strangely like lemon scented urine. Maybe I'll study
Chinese if I don't get motion sick which I most likely will.

I wonder if this car has aircon. Cause we sure as shootin ain't
rolling down the windows. The train is actually really nice. Three
seats, an isle, and 2 seats. Looks almost like a plane except for the
addition of the large windows on either side, added leg room, and no
inflight movies or stewardesses. Oh and the overhead compartments have
no doors. Good thing I didn't pack any bricks in my carry on.

Child 1 is talking. Child 2 is screaming. Mom 1 is sweaty and eating a
bun. Mom 2 is nowhere to be seen. I smell. Man 1 is fanning him self.
Man 2 (mr. Smokey next to me) is breathing. Loudly. Luggage rolling,
voices mumbling in Chinese, candy bar wrappers. It's like an
orchestra. It seems like the first thing people do when they sit down
is put their tray table down. Aren't I observant. Just thought I'd
bore you with useless facts. No doubt man selling things will be
coming through the isles soon yelling and bumping me with his cart
(yep, got an isle seat.)

And we're off! It smells like oatmeal with the sounds of a rather loud
video game. It's a fair for the senses.

Just in case you wondered, it is ok to put steaming coffee that might
fall and scald you onto the tray table but make sure you don't put
that 15kg weight that you carry onto it. It might break.

About 2 hours out of Zhengzhou. I slept a lot. I THOUGHT I grabbed the
non drowsy Dramamine, but I guess not. It was a welcome relief. I woke
up to the kids literally screaming. Playing some game no doubt. I am
literally surrounded by children. They're lucky they're so stinkin
cute. Once I get to Zhengzhou I have to try to find a bus or a train
to gongyi. Should be interesting. No one in shanghai knew where gongyi
was. Even the guy who booked my ticket and he books tickets all the
time. This had been a very uneventful train ride thankfully. I should
get up and stretch my legs.

I made a little puppet with a face from the sanitary bag in the pocket
in front of me and gave it to the two screaming kids. The girl liked
it and laughed. Then the mom took it, looked at it for a minute, and
set it down. It fell on the floor and got trampled underfoot. Well, at
least I tried haha. About 1h20m left. This ride has passed by pretty
quickly. I must have been out for a while.

It's amazing. All the kids just passed out in their parents arms at
exactly the same time haha. Mouths open, parents sleeping as well.

I'm here and I walk in the door and a child took my hand and wouldn't
let go. This is it!! This is so it.


Dinner consisted of cucumbers in a sort of soy sauce, a 4inch round
flat bread, and a millet soup. I got all the water back that I sweated
off tonight. There wasn't an inch of me that wasn't covered in sweat.
I didn't even try to fend it off. I played badminton, UNO, hide and
seek, and just played. I love it already. Life here has no frills. Ok,
well I have curtains, but that's about it. Time to hit the hay and try
to get a good night sleep in spite of the heat so I can get up bright
and early.

August 7
In one week we leave for camp! I'm excited to meet the other 2 HOH's. Should be a good old time. Then after camp I head back to Shanghai and then on to Seoul.

Woke up this morning and pulled myself out of bed. I like the mornings here. Everyone just sits around outside on the stone benches eating their breakfast and chatting quietly. Morning birds are chirping and there's usually a slight breeze. I wear my sunglasses because I go from my dark room to the bright outdoors. I Say goodmorning to everyone and grab some breakfast.

Today was half yum half very strange. It was a muffin that was just plain but quite sweet and yummy and a bag (think Capri Sun only with no structure and strawless that you rip open with your teeth) with room temperature "milk" which tasted more like lemony milky...something. What's with the lemons? Anyways, not wanting to be rude, I drank it all up. Everyone else loved it. Slurping and smacking away (which, to my delight, is perfectly acceptable because they have almost no table manners here *grin*) Maybe I just need to get used to their version of milk. Or maybe it wasn't milk. I'm hoping it treats my stomach ok. Now I'm tempted to accidently fall back asleep for a bit.

Speaking of table manners. It's perfectly acceptable, if not expected, to:

Slurp A LOT
Put your elbows on the table
Talk with your mouth full
Put your face down to the food and shovel it in your mouth
Be on the phone during meals
Burp
Spit food out
Many other wonderful things

I did accodenty fall back into a sleep. It was lovely. When I woke up, the babies were on the lawn sitting on cardboard again, so I joined them. We made crowns of weeping willow branches and put them on the babies and on me. We took many a picture an had lots of laughs. It's amazing that we can find tons to do and many thing about which to laugh when we don't speak the same langauage.

So far I've been called anda, annie, Andy, Anna (pronounced ah-na- this is most common) Angie, and amma. How could 4 letters be so difficult to say haha. I should record how many times they say my name in one day.


A while after lunch we went into town. One of the older girls, Rena, and 4 boys ages 8-13. The city of gongyi is pretty run down and has lots of shops for all kinds of trinkets, clothes, shoes, and bags. We went to the grocery store because I wanted to buy candy and things for all the kids. Rena kept protesting that things were too expensive (a 3 pack of Oreos was about 3 bucks) and I really wanted to get them stuff so I bought it anyways. I knew she was just being kind. I also learned that Chinese women don't shave. I went to buy a razor and Rena wasn't sure why. The shop keeper said "sorry but these are just for men." I told him it was ok and that I use ones for men in America. He said "oh but it only has two blades . It's a Chinese brand. If you want
Gillette it's over there." and I insisted that it was ok. They tried several times to change my mind and I was like NO! Haha well I didn't yell or anything but I just took it. And that was that. Te razor worked great, by the way. I shaved off like 50 layers of dirt and dust. Now my mosquito bites look more prominent on my even whiter legs. :D the kids have been comparing our skin colors.

I heard tong hua at a store and sang along and smiled.

After the super market, we went to a very overgrown park that was still pretty. Old men flying kites and women sitting on the dirt hill under the trees fanning themselves to keep cool. The kids climbed some stone things, and we were on our way. They didn't want to walk up the big hill, so we piled 6 of us into a three wheeled car designed to hold 3 passengers. It barely made it up the hill, but it did and we happily paid 1yuan each. On the way up I noticed that I had a small rash in both of my elbow pits. It didn't itch and it wasn't bumpy, just small red spots. It's still there bit not spreading and I don't feel anything. And it's only in those two spots. I thought maybe some plant at the park gave it to me. If it's not gone by tomorrow I'm going to get some cream
Or something for it. Strange. Haha not that anyone cares to hear about the rashes of others. Don't be rash now.

I also learned today that you shouldn't play basketball with 5 competitve boys when you barely
Know how to shoot the ball. They all wanted me on their team, but I didn't know how to say "that's not a wise choice" in Chinese. It went down about how I thought it would. Although, I did score my teams only basket. It was our only basket because of me too. We got nice and sweaty.

They're stealing my heart. All of them.

August 8
I woke up at 7 today to be in time for breakfast, and my room was actually nice and cool when I woke up. Amazing.  So I said forget breakfast and went back to sleep. I woke up at 9:30 feeling very rested, so I ate oreos for breakfast. Then I got up and played UNO and Sorry with the boys. They came knocking on my door insistent that I play with them.

Now they're swimming. It's been quite eventful. Joy scratched her leg, Calvin finally went swimming. He was so happy when he finally jumped in after days of watching. It made me smile too. :) then someone peed in the pool which caused quite a stir and no one would fess up. So I said drop it and of it happens again, we get out. Haha I love kids and their problem solving which is really yelling and fussing. They found a frog and were, of course, torturing it until I rescued it. Now it's probably dying drying up in the sun. Oh well.

Played skip Bo and it was magically time for dinner. Dinner was tofu and what are those long green things called...oh yeah, celery. In some oil and maybe soy sauce. And then the water and some kind of rice stuff. The end. It was yummy with the ever present steamed bun. Lunch...I won't even try to explain it. The only thing I recognized was green pepper. If you don't know what it is, it won't gross you out. It looked like slices of light pink grooved hot dog stuffed with something brown and translucent potatoes that tasted like something I have no idea. It was good though with rice.

I'm saying some more Chinese phrases. We communicate just fine. Our latest funny is taking a piece of food, saying (in Chinese) that it's someone (e.g this is Rose) and then eating it and saying (in Chinese) it's very delicious! Haha then everyone does it. Tonight people started saying things like "this is the table" then eating it and gagging. Haha I laugh all day.

I helped take the wheelbarow of trash down to the dump which is just next to a corn field. That was interesting cause of course everyone stared at the foreigner pushing the trash. I think one old lady didn't think I could dump it so she started babbling loudly and pushing the trash out with her water bottle. Anyways, that got done and I got my share of stares.

Picture a red blow up bouncy thing that looked like a table perched over a stage. Women in short skirt and heels singing techno songs with men. A pot of ashes burning in front of a shrine. A big red tent with all those cheap looking Chinese decorations hanging from the edges of the tent. And a casket under the tent. A Chinese funeral. I experienced my first one. Small wooden chairs were set up in front of the stage. A man holding a baby who was naked except for an apron. A woman swaying to the music and people milling around or sitting on the chairs trying to keep cool with enormous oriental fans. The strong smell of incense. The kids covering their ears because the music was so loud. Huge gaudy flower arrangements with ribons no doubt expressing sadnes over the loss of this man and red flashing lights flooding the scene. As the sun was setting, there was a funeral on a hot, muggy Gongyi
night. I wonder who died.

It was a good thing when the two boys who were mad at me earlier sat by me on the stairs and rested their heads on my shoulder.

Well, that's all for tonight. Time to take this sweaty mess to the shower and wash some clothes. All I can say for those moms who do laundry by hand is they must have no feeling in their hands and really strong backs!


Those are just a few of my updates.  I have plenty more.  My eyes are getting scratchy and heavy as the minutes pass.  One thing I'll end with is this: while I was there, God confirmed in my heart over and over and over that it was China and it was an orphanage.  This is it.  I've heard many people say it can't be done, you're too young, the government wouldn't let you, it would cost too much, and on and on.  But I say: God can do anything, "do not say "I am a youth," God can work in the hearts of the government, God owns all the money in the world, and on and on.  See a common thread?  If God wants it to happen, it will happen.  If He can die for use, rise from the dead, and save us, He can help me start a small orphanage in China.  With God on my side, I can win.  It's not going to be easy.  It's going to take a lot of time, hard work, dedication, faith, and prayer, but I won't stop pushing until I get it.  Or until I die, which ever comes first.  So, here I sit, in Korea.  Not in China.  Why?  I don't know.  God needed me here first.  But the love for China only grows stronger as the days pass.  It never fades.  And that's God because I know that in my own strength, this selfish rotten human heart would never love a single soul.  
So pray.  Pray that I continue seeking God's will.  Pray that He makes it all clear.  Pray that people come along side to help. Pray most of all, whether it seems good to us or not, that HIS will is done.  Not mine.  Not anyone else's.  God's perfect will.  
On that note, I say goodnight.  Much more to come tomorrow.  Peace.

The Same Sun as Here

Well, this will be my last post for at least 3 weeks. Ha! That's about how long I have between updates anyways. I'm off to my beloved China, and I couldn't be more excited!

http://gongyi.homeofhope.org/ <----- Link for the place I'm going

I'm going to an orphanage in a city called Gongyi which is about 14ish hours north west of Shanghai by train. I'll be in Shanghai for 3.5 days seeing the World Expo and such, and then I'll take the train to the orphanage. I really have no idea what to expect. I've only been to one orphanage in my life that was a really nice one in Korea. What will this one be like?

I'm trying not to have any expectations because I find that when I go into something with none, I come out more amazed. I do have some expectations, however. I expect to have to rely a lot on God, which is what I really want to do. I expect to be pushed emotionally, physically, and mentally in some ways. I expect to be confused and sad at times, but turn right around into the arms of God.

I also have hopes. I hope that I can show God's love to these children. I hope that I can learn new things about God every day and turn right around and put those into practice. I hope that I can get some contacts and information about starting my own orphanage one day. I hope that I can increase my level of Chinese. I hope the kids love me back. I hope I can serve in many ways. I hope a lot more than that too.

So, pray requests for this trip (it would be a giant help.) Safety traveling, health, finding out new things about God, sticking close to Him, and growing in Him, a heart that loves these people even if I'm in a bad mood or angry or just don't want to love, a shield that is up and ready for battle with satan when he tries to attack me, a greater understanding of the Chinese language, that I will not forget to stay in the Word, and that I will have many ways to serve and even if they're not ideal that I will do them anyways and not be selfish.

I want God to be the focus of this trip. I want to serve Him while I'm there and not just let this be a vacation. I know I'm not going to be doing all these great things, but I want to be faithful in the little daily things and grow more like God.

I have no blog or Facebook in China because they are both blocked. I do have e-mail, but if you e-mail me, please be very careful what you say. Please don't talk about church or God or prayer outright because the government reads e-mails. Church could be a "meeting", God could be "our Dad" and prayer could be "a great conversation" or something along those lines.

Have fun while I'm gone, and if I die in a plane crash, I'll see you in Heaven! :) Peace!

P.S. Yes, Dad, I have my passport! :) Love you all!

It's Safe to Say

I survived security even though I forgot to take my liquids out, I survived the plane ride next to the Asian who liked my space better than his, I survived the metro ride back because there were no old people and I sat in their spot, and I survived (barely) the walk home. I've already talked to three people that I know (two being Korean.) I've messed up my words, fallen asleep on the subway, taken a cold shower (which is better than aircon any day) and pooped out on the couch. That's the long way of saying that I'm safe in Koreatown. The bed looks rather inviting. It's strange but when I come back to a very familiar place, I often feel like I never left in a way. Even though my memories tell me otherwise.

I got off the plane and as I was walking I prayed for the chance to help someone in some way. I was tired and all I could picture was God giving me an answer to my prayer in the form of a very heavy suitcase, a very frail old lady, and a very long flight of stairs for which there was no elevator or escalator. That wasn't the case, but only moments after I prayed I heard "I like your skirt." I turned to see a girl about my age with bright blue shoes. "Thanks," I replied. "I like your shoes." That was the truth too. "Thanks. I had to pick wisely for comfort since I'll be teaching here for the next year. Are you teaching here too?" She asked. I noticed a tattoo on her foot that was probably supposed to say LOVE but looked more like LVOE. Anyways, "Yes. This is my second year. Is it your first?" She seemed new. "Yes. And I have no idea what to do so I'm just going to follow you." "Sure, no problem." And just like that I got my prayer granted in a way that I could handle at the moment. I led her through customs and showed her how to choose the right baggage claim and got her out the door. She found her bus and she was off. Voila. Prayer answered. Thanks Lord. Oh, and her name was Laura in case anyone cares.

Ok well I'm off to drink my massive bottle of water and rest my eyes a bit. Peace!

Recent writings

1. 

God's praises rise from tongues of angels
From saints of old who rest in heav'n
The streets of gold and crystal river
Gleam pure and bright around His throne

The Savior reigns for he is risen
All sin and death are banished there
And we with him will reign eternal
Among his chosen glory share

All tribes and tongues will bow before him
The righteous judge will welcome those
Who took his gift of sweet salvation
Who sharing in his glory chose

Unending days we'll have to praise him
And lift our voice with angel bands
He'll say well done my faithful servants
And welcome us with nail scared hands

2.
I was a wanderer along a wide road
The dark surrounded and tears flowed free
Then Jesus found me deep in my sorrow
He took my hand and he lifted me

I am forgiven, my sins forgotten
And they are cast in the deepest sea
No longer captive to sin or dying
For Jesus chirst saved and lives in me

He showed his nail scars, I touched his peirced side
He told a story of love and grace
My eyes looked up to the cross of calv'ry
Where God my savior died in my place

My heart felt heavy from sins great burden
The chains of guilt weighed heavy on me
I called on Jesus to take my burden
He came and saved me now I am free


3.

Humbly I bow down
At the feet of one
Who bore the cross for me
Of the God who could not look upon his son

Perfect love from one who had no sin
This love lavished on me
Through this gift of grace and mercy undeserved
I am made free

Humbly I bow down
At the throne of one
Who died so I might live
Of the King who fought until the prize was won

Gave his dying breath to pardon me
And I still cursed his name
Through his gift of grace and mercy undeserved
I know no blame


4. 

I will trust the Lord
Though through vallies he may lead
For the one I walk with
Gave his life for me

Though temptations come
I will ever look above
And through stormy pathways
I will trust his love

For he never fails
And he is my light
And he gives to me
Songs within the night
And I cannot fear
If he holds me still
And he tells me sweetly
I can trust his will

I will trust the Lord
Though none walk along with me
For I have a strong hope
And in him in free

Though the fire may come
He will always comfort me
As I trust his leading
His Great Grace I'll see


5.
Because of love you made the blind see
In matchless power calmed the storm on the sea
And you healed the sick and made the lame rise
You are power, you are God, let our praises rise

Because of grace you set barabas free
In matchless love you took the cross for me
And you walked the road and let them nail you
You are freedom, you are good, let our worship rise

Shout his praise all the earth
Sing his glory
Let his name resound
He is mighty
Power and wisdom
mighty to save
Let our God be lifted
Let his name be praised

Because of love you made my heart see
In matchless grace gave precious life to me
And you broke the chains and gave me freedom
You are love, you are grace, let my praises rise

Desire God like a man with his head on fire desires water.

It’s been a busy summer. Away with the excuses! :)

I just saw something interesting that I must share. A father ran into his baby who tottered and fell on his face and began to cry. The mother picked up the baby and tried to console him. The mother then took the baby over to his father, took the baby’s hand, and began hitting the father with it. Hmm...what’s wrong with this picture?

Anyways, Spain and Rome were amazing. I may or may not write more about those later. I never expected Spain to be so beautiful and amazing, but it was. Rome was stellar too, but be forewarned, it’s crawling with tourists and those catering to tourists. Apart from that, it was lovely. We had the chance to go to Naples and see the ruins of Pompeii. It reminded me of cities in the Bible that God destroyed with fire because they were so wicked. The things on the souvenirs that represented Pompeii were shocking to me. It’s no surprise that this massive city was wiped out without warning.

Being in Canada with the fam again was really nice. It was relaxing and good just to sit and talk with no pressing responsibilities. We shopped and rested and went out together. It was all too short. I'm so thankful that they let me come stay with them. When I thanked them for that they laughed because they know that I'll always consider their house home. :) Love you Pops and Marms!

The wedding in Michigan was beautiful! Allie’s vision for her wedding came true, and she was a stunning bride on top of all that. The reception was over the top amazing and everyone worked so hard and was so helpful in making their day special. The bridesmaid dresses were gorgeous and all the groomsmen looked handsome in their tuxes. Everything went off without a hitch (I use that phrase even though I don’t get it!) and it was just really awesome. The Pardingtons and Lingos allowed Sara and me to stay at their house while we were there. They sacrificed their time and space to accommodate us, and for that I’m very thankful. I’m excited to go back and see everyone in December for Sara June’s wedding.

Leaving was bittersweet. No one wants to leave their family and what they know, but I know that God wants me in Asia, and I’m perfectly content with that. As I sit in the airport writing this, I am very excited to go back. I have a great peace about living there, and I know that God will take care of hearts. I guess things can’t always be as they were, but when everything ends here on earth, it’ll just begin in Heaven and there it will last forever. It’s pretty amazing to think that in Heaven we will never again have to say goodbye. That’s a wonderful thought. I found an old poem that I wrote last year.

Death is precious life eternal

Free from sin and guilt and fear

Death is seeing Jesus' glory

Knowing He's forever near

Death is casting off our sorrow

And then taking up our crowns

Death is worshiping forever

As we lay our burdens down

Death is home, our place in Heaven

And a new name all our own

Death is seeing God exalted

Lifted high upon His throne

Death is saints who've gone before us

That we'll meet on streets of gold

Death is singing praise to Jesus

As His radiance we behold

Death is nothing save amazing

For we'll see our King of Grace

No, I have no fear of dying

When I've bravely run this race

As the sin on earth surrounds me

And I long for Heaven above

I will wait for that great moment

When death brings me home to love

I just heard a man say he’d been upgraded to first class. Good thing I never get jealous, huh? I was in the airport yesterday and when I went to check my bag, it was too heavy. I had room in my carry on and the man that was helping me asked me to take it down 5 pounds instead of 10 and he would let me through without paying the 90$ fee. I took out and weighed and took out and weighed and finally got it down. I got through security smoothly and found my gate. When I went to buy dinner, I realized that I didn’t have my wallet. I had my passport and one credit card that I had taken out and not put back in, but I had my driver’s license, other credit card, birth certificates, Korea debit card, and Korea identification card along with some spare change. I retraced my steps, all the while wondering what I would do if I couldn’t find it. I thanked God that I still had my passport and credit card. Then my dad’s sermon that he had preached the day before came to my mind. It was about casting our cares on Jesus and not trying to solve problems in our own strength and pride. I realized that I had no control over the situation, there was no sense in getting all hyped up, and the best thing to do was pray and trust God to work it out for my good and for His glory. And He did. I went back to the ticket counter and asked the man if he had seen a light pink wallet. He hadn’t. I looked under the bench on which I had been sitting, all the while trying not to get discouraged that I was running out of options. Just as I was about to leave, I looked to my left and saw a stack of bins. God brought the memory to my mind that I had chucked my stuff in that bin while trying to rearrange my things. I looked in there and there sat my poor little wallet. God tested me. I hope I passed the test! He’s good and he won’t give us more than we can handle. ALl things work together for good to those who love Him. One more reason for me to trust Him. GOd never promises that we won’t have trials in our lives, but He does promise that when they come, His grace will be enough.

“You can trust God too little, but you can’t trust Him too much.”

I have a shelter in my Lord whose voice can churn or calm the sea

He is my light when darkness falls my Lord’s a tower over me

I have no fear when faced with trials I know in Him I am secure
And when the mountain looms ahead with Christ its’ conquering is sure

I have a comfort in my God who lifts me up when I fall down
He gives a song to calm my heart and gives a smile to cure my frown
No man can move me from His love or pull me from His strong embrace
Upon the Rock I will be strong though every tempting foe I face

I have salvation through His name that gives me life forever more
Nothing can pluck me from His hand for I’ll reach Heaven’s glorious shore
And when I stand before His throne I’ll raise my hands with saints of old
We’ll sing His praise forever more before His throne on streets of gold

Well, I'll stop rambling now. Back to Korea for a little over a week and then onto Shanghai and then onto the orphanage north of Shanghai. I'm SO excited about that. Please pray that I might make some contacts or get my foot in the door in some way. God's will. I keep reminding myself that if He wants me to open this orphanage, then it will happen. So God's will. Well, time to...rest. Haha see you back in my beautiful Asia! Peace.

Flittering around

Being back in Canada has been quite lovely. I’ve forgotten just how strange my family is (and how much I missed it!...I see where mine comes from), felt the West Coast weather, slept a lot, missed Asia immensely, cooked things that no one should be forced to eat (except the fam), seen my babies who have grown all too big, thought a lot about Asia, been wowed over the appearance of Canadian money, laughed a whole lot, really longed for Asia, lived out of a suitcase, watched real English TV, and a bunch of other stuff. I’m happy to be back, but ready to head home soon.

Now it’s on to Michigan for the long awaited wedding. I’m sure that’ll be a whirlwind of hugs and hellos, dress fittings, picture taking, smiles and much laughing, some tears (bring the tissues), and shoes that don’t quite fit but look pretty anyways. I’m excited to see all the people I haven’t seen in so long. I’m sure it’ll fly by and before I know it, I’ll be gone again. I’m going to have to keep my eyes and heart open for ways I can serve.

China hovers in the distance. Ok, that was poor, but anyways. China will be coming soon. My China! I get butterflies when I think of it. I’ve been in contact with a foreign run orphanage there north of Shanghai, and I’ll be going to visit them while I’m in China. Prayers for that. I wan’t to be a blessing and serve them however I can.

God’s shown Himself to me a lot since I’ve been back. It’s nice to be quiet and reflect on the last year, and I’ve seen my glaringly obvious sins and downfalls, and God’s amazing grace and how He’s grabbed my hand even if I didn’t want to take His and pulled me back up next to Him. I’ll never be happy with who I am in Him. There will ALWAYS been MUCH room for “improvement” or drawing closer to Him and becoming more like Him. But, that’s why He gives grace. Because He knew I’d need it. :) He’s awesome like that.

I was reading in Ephesians 1:3-14 a couple days ago in my time with God, and the immensity of it hit me.

3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. 11In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

“Chose us”, “in love He predestined us”, “adopted as sons...in accordance with his pleasure and will”, “to the praise of his glorious grace”, “freely given”, “in Him we have redemption”, “forgiveness of sins”, “that He lavished on us”, “according to His good pleasure”, “in Him we were also chosen”, “we...might be for the praise of His glory”, “you also were included in Christ”, “marked in Him with a seal”, “guaranteeing our inheritance”, and “God’s possession to the praise of His glory.”

He would do this for us? Who are we?

The New Busy is not the too busy. Combine all your e-mail accounts with Hotmail. Get busy.

Over the mountains and oceans

I Haven't updated in a long while. Hmm...I need to get better about that. But isn't that always how it goes? I've had an eventful summer so far. It started with a tearful goodbye to my students. Wait. Rewind. Just kidding there. I was sad to see them go, but I didn't shed a tear. Instead, I hoped on a plane to Hong Kong. Unfortunately that was just a layover. Next came the 11 hour flight to London (which I saw from the air and now I greatly desire to visit) and to top it off, a 3 hour flight to Madrid. Total flying time: 17 hours. Total travel time: 24 hours. My brain is thinking things like "what day is it?" "what time is it?" "how do I get to the hostel?" and "I'm tired...I think."

I held tightly to my bag as I hopped...or rather dragged my self and my luggage on to the Madrid metro. I'd heard about pick pockets in Europe, and I wasn't taking any chances. I found the hostel quickly, others weren't so fortunate, and promptly fell asleep. I had good intentions of exploring but....

Friends came, we got settled in, and we went to bed early. I won't bore you with more details of our day, but we did pay too much for a tour bus which took us to all the main sites. We saw some awesome architecture and some not so awesome paintings. I think they were supposed to be awesome but weren't. Maybe it's me...

On Sunday morning we got up with the sun and made our way to the place where the Vaughtown bus would meet us. The four hour bus ride didn't feel so long, and soon we said farewell to civilization as we knew it. No kidding. We were a bazillion miles from nowhere in a small village of about 35 people called Valdelavilla. It was quaint and surrounded by gorgeous mountain scenery, but the only inhabitants were our group, a few cooks, and some waiters. An interesing experience to be sure. The next 5 days were spent in conversation with spaniard business men and women. We did one on one conversation, phone calls, conference calls, group activities, skits, and the coveted free time. It was a fun week overall once we got over the fact that the nearest town was miles away and we had no cell phone reception or cars (not that I had a cell phone but it was pretty funny to watch some of the spaniards walk 30 minutes down the mountain path just to find a signal.)

After the little graduation ceremony, we boarded the bus once again and headed back to reality. The spaniards were happy to be able to speak Spanish again and the Anglos were just happy to see civilization. And that, In half a
nut shell, was vaughantown.

We spent the next day touring the palace in Madrid. Before we went to the palace, however, we searched frantically for an Internet cafe. You see, when flying with Ryan Air, you must check in online. If you don't you're charged a not so happy 40 euros to check
In when you get there. God was very good and I was able to check in online an print out mu boarding pass. So, on to the palace. It was pretty cool. There was a room for 'the ceremony of dressing'...who has a room in which they only get dresses? Like what.

When we got to the airport, God was good once again. My carry on bag BARELY fit and my checked bag was 1 kg over but the lady was in a good mood and so we were cleared and I didn't have to pay 70 euro for my second bag. We got great seats on the open seat flight and were off to Roma.

The next 6 days flew by. The hostel in which we stayed was actually a camp ground...a rather large one at that. It was about an hour outside the city by metro and awfully close to the beach. The beach, of course, was the splendid blue waters of the Mediterranean sea. Anyways, we saw all the major sites and some not so major sites when we attempted, unsucessfully, to find the 'real' italia. It was shut down for the day apparently. The first day ended a bit early for we had probably walked close to 1,000 miles. I might exaggerate a tad, but we walked a lot! Our stay in Rome was filled with yummy espresso and gelto, breathtaking sites, awesome pizza, and friendly people. We were awestruck and silent in the coloseum, caught in the rain, tired after climbing 322 steps to the cupula of St. Peters Basillica, burned by the sun at the beach, overwhelmed with the ruins of the massive city of Pompeii, and almost killed by slippery tiles on the Spanish Steps in the rain, among other things. It was a stellar trip.

When we got to the airport on the last day, we were greeted by a ground crew strike. Welcome to our country! :) all was worked out and my flight was rerouted to Toronto where my other flight was delayed for several hours. I made it home in one piece and managed to fool my patents into thinking I had dyed my hair dark brown and cut my bangs short with a little help from a wig I had bought in Seoul.

So there you have it. The first couple legs of my summer adventures. More to come unless I die or the Lord comes back (which I hope for!) Peace.