Wednesday, March 11, 2009

rainy mornings and frozen milk...

So it's morning 5 in Luoyang. And I woke up from my first really good night of sleep to a rainy morning and had a bowl of cereal with our frozen milk. It's still surreal that we actually call this place home now but it feels like home already in almost every way. I don't even think I can begin to describe the things I've already learned since I've been here. 

It was easy for me to confess my faith with my mouth while I was at home in my comfortable surroundings but moving to a foreign country has caused me to question everything at certain times. The first 2 days I really struggled with culture shock/homesickness but God was faithful and revealed Himself to me in more ways than I could ever describe to you. I serve such a merciful and loving God. I kept questioning my abilities and my calling to be here in China. I kept thinking that I was in no way capable of handling the everyday things in a foreign country or capable of creating meaningful relationships with the beautiful kids that I get the privilege of working with. And all of a sudden I hit a wall, in my thought process, and I reached my limit. I've hit rock bottoms before but I think this one was a different kind of rock bottoms. Moving here at first made me question everything I believed and knew to be true and I couldn't be more thankful for it now. I will never be prepared enough to take a leap of faith. If God allowed me to become fully prepared for anything before I took a leap of faith I would never do anything or go anywhere. I am and will never be fully prepared to live in China, I will never be able to help these children in every way that they need care or love. But now I really and truly understand and trust that the God I serve doesn't demand that of me. I am incapable of anything on my own. He will always call me to a tasks that I cannot do. But God enables me with the spiritual gifts that I need to accomplish the tasks daily. This is Gods country, Gods people and Gods creation and He has a plan so much bigger than I could ever fathom. And I'm so humbled that I get to be a part of the bigger picture. To bring praise to the Creator. To bring Him glory is my greatest desire. 


But here are a few pictures of the past few days..... More pictures will be posted soon! And next I will have pictures of the cute kids!


This was our luggage....... all 9 pieces of it. It could have been a lot worse dragging this stuff around but I can assure you it was not a walk in the park. But we were blessed to finally arrive to our destination and still have all of our luggage!


This was our first successful shopping trip to "dennis" (our grocery store)




We met an amazing new friend, Stella and she was helping us get a good deal on our bikes. She was amazing.




These are our new bikes! Mines the pink bike and Julee's is the yellow one. We have little bells and baskets on our bikes as well! How cute are these?


2 cute little boys playing soccer in an alley




Outside a hair salon in town. Big hair in a really cool thing here in China. Who knew? I fit it! You can't walk down the street without seeing at least 1 or 2 girls with their hair teased really big.


Our apartment is in the "old city" of Luoyang so we walk down stone streets and street vendors everyday. I know it most likely will become a very "ordinary" thing to us as we are here for a longer time but I hope I can still take time to really take in my surroundings and give praise to the One who created it.


Outside the old city wall of Luoyang with my new friends. Can you believe that this is about a 7 minute walk from my house? I am definitely not in Oklahoma anymore.

7 comments:

  1. Wow. Wow in more than one way, but seriously, wow! Just the realizations you made since you've been there are beyond what most people ever fully grasp in their lifetime. I'm happy for you, I'm proud of you, and I'm looking forward to everything that God is going to do through you. Miss you and love ya.

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  2. Chrissy, how crazy is this? You're in China finaly. The bikes are awesome, I'm so jealous you have a pretty pink bicycle. I'm guessing the guitar is Julee's, tell her I'm so excited she's still playing. I love you two and for some reason I miss you girls even more now although I never really got to see you when you were in the States still. I'm praying for your team and all the beautiful kiddos. Thanks for sharing your journey in faith, so awesome to see what God is doing and being reminded of how great He is. Love You!

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  3. I can look at these pics and it feels like home in many ways, and, you can be right there and miss home:) Hope that makes sense.

    We are praying for you guys and I just stand humbled at what God has called you guys to and amazed at how well He will shine through you all!!

    Diane...Mama to Joe, Jen, Jana Mei, Jadyn Hua and JOY Hua:)

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  4. Oh yeah, I laughed quite a bit about you having a pink bike. Haha. Hopefully you took your beautiful pink cubs hat to wear while you're riding your bike. :)

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  5. That is awesome! I look forward to hearing more about your experiences with work, life and God.

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  6. I love the bikes, they are awesome. I pray you take in every experience you can and fully dive in to this journey. May you be blessed. Have fun. Your on an adventure.

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  7. Does that toilet paper say "happiness"??? Hahahaha. Love you!! -aimee

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