moment by moment

Besides making up and documenting funny quotes such as: “Were you born an antagonist or did you just learn it over the years?”, we’ve been spending time with our fellow MDJ friends who are still in the Spring Festival mode and working on being less antagonistic. 

Kids and teachers are still out of school for the most part and while businesses are open and officials are back at work our community continues to enjoy a relaxed state of being as we celebrate the “end” of winter and the “beginning” of spring.

We spent the first week registering with the police and trying to gather all of the right paperwork to renew Pres’ visa. As our boss requested we headed to the police right after we landed in MDJ, but they weren’t open on Sunday. But we went to the office and had someone confirm for our boss that they were indeed closed for the day. So we had a good rest and headed back to the police station Monday when Mr. Li was eager to add our return date to his computer records. Our colleagues from the college have been happy to help us with other aspects of dealing with new regulations and computer upgrades that forced us to wait a few days to submit the final paper. God willing, the visa will be ready just after classes begin.

We’ve had time to enjoy long walks in our neighborhood, spring cleaning activities and meals with our English study friends and church brothers and sisters. We’ve been able to spend several afternoons chatting with Paul, who continues to improve his English skills. It’s nice to do things like make popcorn, go out for barbeque and take walks in the snow. Paul and his mother are caregivers for his 80-year-old housebound grandfather. He says they always need more patience. Their life is very challenging and we are thankful that he can spend time with us and relax a bit.

Our friends invited us over for dumplings on our first visit back to church. Dumplings are the traditional food of the festival and we were excited to be treated to lunch at their home. They don’t speak any English, so it’s also a good Chinese lesson time for us. Some of their relatives joined us for the afternoon celebration. We were blessed by their hospitality and a chance to share some of our story with new friends.

We’ve connected with our teachers in Qinghai and finished giving them hardcopy feedback on the lessons that we watched just before we headed into the spring break. The teachers are all still on holiday but will go back to the classroom soon and we look forward to seeing them continue to encourage their students and help them ‘learn to learn.’

In between all of the things going on this side of the globe, we’ve been praying for and keeping track of our "L" family and others who have had to deal with major storms and flood emergencies in California. Our immediate family evacuated for a few days (thankfully to family/friends homes nearby) because of danger reported at Oroville Dam. And they are still under an evacuation advisory. We continue to pray for our Father’s mercy on all those affected by the stormy, rainy weather and that everyone will have the strength, endurance and protection needed to face the challenges. Our Father is faithful.

As we prepare to return to the classroom (and are excited about seeing our students in person again, yay!), we have been thankful for the time of rest in filling our minds with good things from our Father’s Good Book. We’ve been blessed by praise services with the Church in our area and studies in James and Matthew as well as Joshua that remind us of the awesome Father God we serve. We are reminded in Joshua 23:11, “So be very careful to love the Lord your God.” It is our moment by moment mission. Amen!