Silk

At one time, the whole process of how silk is made was a heavily guarded secret in China, and anyone giving away information about that mysterious process would be considered a treasonous enemy of the State and duly punished. Making silk happened in China only, and foreigners were not allowed access to any information about the diligent little creatures that were in fact responsible for the front-end of the process, namely, silkworms. Not so, of course, today. Silk is enjoyed worldwide, and the process is celebrated and detailed all over China, for example, in the museum we visited one time in Suzhou. And what's more, it even happened that over this May holiday, we Clarks were chosen by Phoebe's preschool teacher as the Keepers of the Silkworms. So, what goes into such a lofty assignment? Well, mulberry leaves, and lots of them! We brought home a whole plastic sack stuffed full of the leaves (the worms eat nothing else), and were instructed to refrigerate the leaves and keep supplying them to the little munchers. They eat quickly, the leaf vanishing before your eyes, and if you draw close you can hear it happening: crunch,  crunch, crunch. They have visibly gotten fatter over the weekend, and they periodically molt their skin, which Phoebe's teacher said is what is used to start the process of silk-making.

As we move into May, it becomes clear to us that we are winding down,  shedding our skin, too, and about to move on to new adventures. It is a bit terrifying, but exciting, and we look forward to what God has got in store for us, but this place from which we are moving on is dearly loved,  and it is home. We feel loved and accepted here, with our own place in the community in which we fit and to which we belong. Jason's teaching has been giving him such good chances to witness, we have built friendships that are growing and taking on more meaning, and recently, Jason has gotten up at six am a couple of times to go outside and meet with the early morning diligentsia for an English practice club, "the English Union". There he has also had good opportunities to share the gospel. He received this sweet card last week when he attended. The words are endearing, and express the heart of the Chinese with whom we work. Just another bittersweet reminder that we have been accepted and loved by these people, and the skin that we will soon shed is made of pure silk.