Thursday Night 9/17

 Those of us who went to China in August will be sharing testimonies about the trip. Click the link for details! China Night

I Am Full...

Over a year ago I received an email from a friend I had grown up with from middle school through college. One line at the end of the email read, "May God bless you today and fill you with His perfect love." I got that email in April of 2008. The reason I randomly mention it today is that since then almost daily I have pondered the word's, "filled with God's perfect love." I have just wondered exactly what that meant, and even more, what it feels like! Today, I can say I know what it means.

Since I have been home from China, of course I have been spending time catching up with friends and family and telling them of my adventures. I can never find ways to put into words how my heart feels. I cannot find a way to express it other than, I am truly experiencing the Fullness of God's Perfect Love.

I am overflowing.

A few things I miss about China...

1. Girlfriends- in China females who are friends hold hands and sometimes put their arms around each other while walking down the street to show their affection. I LOVED IT! I am such a snuggly person that I welcomed interlocking hands with my new sisters. :)

2. The thrill of trying to cross the street! There is a saying about the traffic lights in China, "Green means go, red means run!" I would get tingles as I literally raced across the street trying to calculate how many inches I was from losing my life! It was great for my tendency to be a little dramatic. The photo below tells it all:

I was definitely nervous every time, but it was fun!

3. Darling children everywhere!! I think what I liked even more about the children there was, since there is not much diversity in China (none, really),most of the kids hadn't seen a black woman walking by on a regular basis-if ever, so they were fascinated by me. They would stare and smile when they saw me! It was as though they were as much in awe of me as I was in them. :) This precious babe below was blowing me kisses out of nowhere!

4. People outside enjoying each other's company. In Beijing people were always out enjoying each other at night. In parks everyone was playing whether they knew each other or not... people were dancing in the streets, roller skating together, and playing with Chinese-style hacky sacks, etc. I found it very refreshing!

5. Silly and different things like "work-out equipment" randomly placed on the sidewalk. Brilliant! I just love China!

瓷窃取了我的心脏

More about China...

Continued from my last post...

*the group after yummy lunch and cake!

After the lunch gathering to see Pastor Mark off and celebrate birthdays it was our last night at the hostel before heading off to the university to serve at TIP. I think our small training that night was when I began to feel ill. I will not add details about this, but let's just say that upon our arrival at TIP, I didn't see the light of day for at least 36 hours. I was horribly ill. I will share a few of the things I did while sick-just because it makes me laugh. Some of my friends from church took me to the Chinese pharmacy to translate for me so I could buy medication for my sick tummy. Now this was a complete act of faith and trust in those girls, because I, of all people would not typically take medication that is from another country, let alone with instructions in another language!!! :) But I did. So while sick in bed and sad that my team was at the Great Wall without me, I pulled out my Chinese-English dictionary and tried to match the characters on the medication box with symptoms I was having to try to decode the box. It was entertaining for a little while! Also, I had a bottle of strawberry gum tablets. Since eating was not an option I chewed those... I played some "games" to see how many I could chew at a time, how long before they lost flavor, etc. I know, I am so silly but it was all I could do not to lose my mind on that bunk bed!

Also, I had a chance to have a pretty amazing talk with one of the girls on the BFS team who arrived a week prior to myself. I also spent lots of time in the Word and making lists and praying for friends and family in the States and for the future. My sweet buddies, Katie, Skye, Youf and Scott ended up bringing me a pretty fan with the Great Wall on it when they returned. Also, Katie recorded footage of her doing a cartwheel on the GW since I had talked about it the week prior. They are so sweet!!!

When I "came back to life," I was able to attend church with our brothers and sisters from the first week and it was just great! I love how God has already provided me with a church family and an English service if I move to China!

*Skye, Sophia and me at church

Here are some of the other things we did on the trip:

visited Bethel one last time (for now):

*on our way to Bethel



*singing together at Bethel
Explored Beijing a little bit more...

*shopping at Silk Street (and random lady)

*Tianamen Square where Scott and I were famous for being foreign

The week at TIP was lots of fun and time with students was so anointed and full of blessings! Here are some of the things we did with them:

Projects: making posters and commercials with our classes.

*Youf and I with some students


*me with some of my favorite students
Katie and I led the Science Club, and one night we had them break into teams and make bridges out of chop sticks and compete to see who's was strongest. That was fun!


We also did dorm visits in the evenings. Dorm visits were the highlight of my TIP experience (along with teaching diction). The girls were always so delighted to see me, and I them. And I loved how humbled and surprised they were when I remembered their names and found them in their dorm rooms. There were some pretty special times there. I cannot really put them into words. I became very close with one young woman there, and I asked her to give me a Chinese name. She took this very seriously and she gave me her family name so we are Chinese sisters! It warms my heart every time I think of it. I giggled with delight when I emailed her yesterday and signed it with the special name she gave me! :) If you want to know the name you have to ask... there is a story behind it.

*Dorm visits :)- OK, I admit... the girls convinced me to sing Michael Jackson's "Heal the World," to them before bed. It was HILARIOUS!

I still cannot find the right words to "sum it up." I don't know that I ever will. Experiences such as those in the last two weeks are not meant to be described with words in my opinion. The way I can describe it is to take all that I learned from my Chinese brothers and sisters, my ministry team from BFS and my family and friends supporting me in resources and prayer and LIVE IT.

Live:
the grace
the commitment
the integrity
the truth
the faith
the friendship
the blessings
the humility

and the love that only our Heavenly Father Above can provide.

*the photo my Chinese sister asked to take to symbolize our commitment to one another as friends.