I had another one of those, "Where am I?" moments on Friday. I was riding my bike to meet a friend after class when I came upon a sight not totally abnormal here in my "new normal" of China. There was a huge, rough-hewn broken tree branch sticking about 4 feet out of an open man hole--in the middle of the street. Now this was not a small, two-laner, but rather a wide (no lane markings, of course!) road, and right at a spot where another smaller feeder ramp was merging, no less. Let me tell you--this would have won no "safety awareness points" at any place in the US. I passed by this makeshift Road Hazard Sign and had to chuckle at the sight, while at the same time lifting up a quick prayer than none of the thousands of cars that probably whizzed past every day would meet the open man hole with the large stick head-on.
I had a few more minutes left on my bike ride before I arrived at my friend's home (I had planned to help her go shopping in her local market, as she wanted to pick out a sweater for a friend, but wanted another opinion on which one to purchase. Jumping ahead--we ended up finding a neat Liz Claiborne one (one of those samples-that-fell-off-the truck), and I even hit the jackpot myself, buying 4 sweaters for a total of under $25! I may complain about how hard it is to go shopping and buy stuff here in China, but when you find a good deal, you REALLY can find a good deal!) Anyway, I had fun reflecting on life here and how many changes we've seen in our 13 1/2 months. I read a remarkable passage in Hebrews 11 this last week that really challenged me, especially in light of our quickly-approaching trip back to Dallas in December. The specific verses are 13-16. "If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city." (v. 15-16) It has reminded me again of the tension that exists between enjoying where He has put us here on the earth, being okay with having "homesick days" for Dallas, and keeping in mind that no physical location here is truly "home". No matter how much I may miss Cheesecake Factory or Raising Cane's chicken fingers, eating my favorite foods, going to my favorite places, even seeing my favorite people does not make Dallas home! My heart is to be longing for another home, a permanent one, in order for me to live in such a way that others see that hope for what is eternal and can delight in Him along with me! What an awesome calling. And how true it is for each one of us--not just those of us living across the ocean as literal "aliens" in a foreign land, but for those of us still planted in the same town in which we were born and raised. Oh, for His grace that this truth may be a reality in our lives!
So after the shopping trip with my friend, I got to have an even MORE exciting day by having a date night with my hubby! We joined two of our dear friends here, Sam and Charis, who we have been blessed to have in Tianjin now with us for going on two months. We introduced them to one of our favorite restaurants, Thai food, and then walked to a Starbucks at a nearby shopping area.
On Saturday, Kevin and I traded off on having time with the kids, as he had a paper to write and I had a take-home test to (supposedly!) complete. He took the older three kids hiking at Trash Mountain for a few hours while Noah took his morning nap, but unfortunately came home with them feeling puny. By Saturday afternoon, we ended up canceling our Sat and Sun evening plans, as it looked like Kevin was coming down with the full-fledged flu. Luckily, he is perkier already (it is Sunday night), and only Eli has caught the bug. So we're REALLY hoping that it stops there and the rest of us can escape the joy of stomach issues!
The photos are how the kids pass the time when we have more indoor time than normal--Eli doing pilates along with a DVD that we own, and then all 4 of them watching a movie while I fixed breakfast on Sun morning (on the biggest stack of pillows they could manage to make!).
