Thanksgiving blessings

We had planned to have our big Thanksgiving celebration the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is not a Chinese holiday and most people had to work.

It was a BIG celebration.  There were 15 people here!

 

We got a turkey.

 

We had so much food! Heather brought black-eyed peas! BLACK-EYED PEAS!!! We were very excited. They were so yummy. Everything was so good.

We all ate as much as we could. Some of us were miserable. It was a nice time to be with Americans and eat some good Western food. After everyone left and took some food away, we packed the rest up and put it away. Our refrigerator was stuffed.

For supper that night, Jon made some sandwiches with left-over turkey and rolls. I had a little taste but was really still too full to eat.

We ate left-overs for at least 3 full meals. There are a few things still lurking in the fridge, but finally our fridge is back to normal.

(I meant to take more pictures.  I think I saw some other camera flashes through the day.  Maybe they will want to post some pictures of people.)

We are truly blessed!

prayers work!!

I received an e-mail from some guy that I don't know. He was friends with a Chinese guy that was at Ole Miss. That guy was from Hangzhou and returned home last week. While in the US, the Chinese guy (Bob) studied THE Book. He said that he wanted to continue studying. So we got hooked up.

Bob and his family were going to come over to our house last Monday evening. However, they had a friend that was getting married, or at least having their wedding dinner that night. So Bob invited us to go with his family to the wedding. It was really a nice night. I will have to tell you about the wedding another time.

Bob has a 10 year old son. His son went to school in the US for a year, so he can speak and understand English. His name is Michael. Liam and he get along very well. They had a good time just being little boys.

Bob and his family came to our meeting on Sunday. We are really excited about this family! Bob brought his Bible and shared it with his wife. Her English is good, but not quite as good as his. He helped her find the places in the readings. They even made their son sit with them during part of the Bible study. I think I heard Bob repeating some important points in the story to his family.

Before they left, Bob confirmed what we would be studying next week so he could read before hand.

It is very encouraging to see this family come to worship and study together!

I think that the family also reached out and welcomed this family. I heard them talking to several people.

Liam is going to go to their house next week to play with Michael. This is an answer to a very specific prayer! We have asked that Liam can find a friend that is a boy. Thanks for praying!

Bob is a member of the Party. We think that he already believes but has not yet taken the plunge. I am not sure what the wife believes, but she is open and does seem to be searching.

We ask that you pray for this family. Pray that they will continue to seek out His will in their life. Pray that they will feel a part of the family here.

It is not all roses.

First of all, let me say that I am happy living in China. I feel this is where I am supposed to be right now. I feel very strongly that we were called here and God worked things out to us get here. I feel a sense of purpose and I do love it here. But it is not always easy living in China. Some days are harder than others. but then again, I could say the same of living in the US. When I have a bad day here, I can always blame it on living in China. But really it could just be a bad day.


When we moved to China, someone told us that there seems to be a bigger culture shock that happens the third year. Many people go home after their third year. Guess what, this is our third year. We went into this year aware of this theory. But we felt energized by our visit home. We were ready to get back to work and get our routine going. We were really excited about the year.
We are not as excited anymore. Sometimes I feel a little guilty about that. Good things are happening with the WORK. We are engaging new people, we have started some new studies, and old friends are branching out. Things are happening the way they are supposed to. But I am still having a hard time shaking the blahs.

This semester has been really hard on Jon. His work load has increased and work stress is bad. That always spills over a little into to home. So we all feel his stress.

I have had a hard time with dental work this semester too. It has been painful and frustrating.

Jon's grandmother passed away a few weeks ago. That was really hard. It was hard because we know we are going to miss her. Grieving is weird when you are away. You grieve for the deceased but also that you can't be with the rest of the family. You feel a little left out. My grandmother died in January. I grieved some then, but had another period of grieving when I went home and visited family.
This time of the year is hard on us too. I sometimes think that Halloween and Thanksgiving are as hard or harder than Christmas.

So the question is, is this that terrible "culture shock period" that we have heard about? Or is this just life?

Teachers have bad semesters, and bad years. I could have dental problems in the USA. Maw Maw would have died if were were living in Henderson or in Hangzhou.
So what do I do? I just have to keep looking at the positives, and our blessings. And there are a lot of those!

I also enjoy baking and being domestic. If things start getting to me, I can straighten up the living room, or bake some cookies. That makes me feel a little better and maybe slightly more peaceful. If that doesn't work, chocolate usually helps.

So keep us in your prayers, and send us some chocolate!


**I actually wrote this back at the beginning of November. I didn't post it because I did not want to post things that are not positive.  But I also want to keep everyone informed.  You can pray for us better , if you know what is really going on in our lives. 
We are still somewhat stressed. This is just a bad semester. With the holidays coming up, we have fresh bouts of homesickness. I also feel a little guilty that my mood is so terrible. But, the semester is almost over. Hopefully we can have a good break and have a better semester next year. In the mean time, please keep those prayers coming!

Busy month

One of these days I will tell you all about how crazy and busy the last month has been, but it will take a lot more than a blog post to fill you all in on that. For now, I will just fill you in on mei hong, which I have been meaning to do. She says she has been praying lately, since the divorce, and more since moving out here, and that she feels as if someone is listening. She is well-read and has travelled widely, though, so we find within her some typical post-modern concerns about the Bible and Christianity. Pray we can be given the words to say. We plan to visit her soon with a loaf of pumpkin bread. Pray we can all find time for a meaningful conversation, and that the Spirit will move.

Focusing in

We have been blessed lately with the opportunity to focus in on those who are really serious about learning more about Him. We have six, three guys, three girls, from among the students we have been working with, who seem to be curious and dedicated. That is a blessing. Please join us in prayer for these six people. We are amazed at their hunger for learning and their persistence in searching Him out. He is truly not far from each one of them. Pray that circumstances in their lives will encourage their spiritual growth. Pray for their courage and conviction. I won't name them now, but remember the special six in your quiet time before the Father.

Mei Hong

I have been meaning to blog about a friend of ours, mei hong. I want you to be reminded of her and pray for her. We have talked about her before, when we first met her she was with her husband and some friends of theirs in a restaurant, and one of the friends was a smart little girl who was singing in English and caught our attention. We got to know them better in the weeks following that meeting, and found out we had some things in common: love of language, music, travel, yoga,etc. Sometimes the friendship between us would feel comfortable and warm for a while, but sometimes we would sense a lot of tension coming from mei hong or her husband when we would meet up with them outside. Then one day, mei hong came over to help us negotiate with our landlady, and she told us: she and he were divorced now, it had already gone through, and she was looking to purchase a new place. Shocked we were, to say the least. But we noticed that night, a new openness that had not been there before. She had always changed the subject when spiritual topics came up in the past, but now she was ready to talk. We talked for a long time that night, about how God has always been the anchor for our marriage and for each of us individually. She was receptive. We were amazed.

Then later, when she told us she had purchased a house, we told her that we were planning a move as well, and then it was time for all of us to be shocked when she said that the place she had purchased was in Xiao He Shan, and we said, that is where we were moving also!!!

This will be installment one, as phoebe is crying. More to come about mei hong soon.

Happy Halloween

The Chinese do not really celebrate Halloween. But we do! This year we went to the international school to a Halloween party/ Fall festival. It was fun. It was strange to hear so much English in one place. Hallie hung out with her friend Bliss and met another friend. Liam played guns with a couple of boys. Eryn ran after them some.

Hallie dressed as Hannah Montana.




Eryn was a cow girl. She would tell me that she was not wearing a cowboy hat, it was a cowgirl hat!


Liam was batman.



Jon dressed up too!

I did not really mean to be a party pooper, but I did not know that Jon was going to dress up and I did not have a chance to get a costume together. Maybe next year.

On Halloween night we ate at Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut usually decorates for Halloween and the servers wear "costumes". It has become our tradition to eat there. When we got home and the kids were getting into their pj's, there was a knock at the door. We actually had Trick or treaters! Most were wearing costumes. Margaret's daughter, Elaine's son and some of their friends came. They invited Hallie to go out with them. She threw on most of her costume and Jon went out with them. She actually got some candy! I think I will be better prepared next year. I gave out little spider and bat rings that we had left-over. The kids really, really liked them. Maybe next year, I can prepare goodie bags. Everyone had a good time, and that is what counts!