thoughts

I have one week left in this place that I have called home for the last five months.  Tears come to my eyes just thinking about it.  To say that this adventure has been easy and nothing but sunshine and rainbows would be a lie.  But I can say that this adventure has been worth it.  Beyond worth it.  It wasn't always easy standing on a bus full of people but looking around you and feeling so alone.  Is that even possible in a city full of almost 3 million people?  It wasn't always easy wondering around a city completely lost.  It wasn't easy standing in a restaurant trying to get some food and having people rambling off in Chinese and not having a clue what is going on.  It wasn't easy having no idea how to get your tickets to get into the park.  Basically, living in a foreign country for five months wasn't the easiest thing that I have decided to do.  

But all of the good things that have come out of this adventure out weigh the bad by so much.  I have learned to better recognize the Lord's hand in my life.  I have gained a stronger testimony that He knows who I am and He knows my exact needs.  He knows when I need to run into a kind stranger who will go out of their way to help me.  Tender mercies happen all the time in our lives.  I know that they didn't just happen because I am living in China.  I think I was just more aware of them because I had no one else.  Take the time to look around you and realize that the Lord is aware of you.  

Speaking of kind strangers, I have learned that I need to be better at being that kind stranger.  So many kind strangers have been the answers to my prayers and I can do the same if I will just look around me and see where I am needed.  

I have also learned so much from my little yahoo students.  They have showed me how to love.  They gave me so much love.  Take the love that you get from any normal child that you know and multiply it by ten.  Not a day went by where I didn't get a hug or 100 hugs from my students.  Not a day went by without multiple children telling me how much they loved me.  It was great and it made all of my crazy, uncontrollable classes worth it.  I have also never seen a group of kids take care of each other like these classes take care of their classmates.  When someone is sad, there is a group of about 10 other students trying to cheer them up.  It is a sight to see.  They have each other's backs in every situation.  It is perfect.

Ah, my students.  I am going to miss them.  I told them that I was leaving and going back to America.  It broke my heart to see some of the students crying.  They would say, "Teacher, you go to America?"  "Teacherrrrrr.  Nooooooo."  "Don't go to America."  "Teacher, I am sad." and all of the other combinations that revolve around me not going back to America and how they are sad that I am leaving.  It was a sad thing to see.  Maybe, just maybe, I was actually able to touch their lives in a small way.  I hope so.  

{you wouldn't believe what gets transported on scooters here.  it is actually pretty insane and comical.  you will see anything from dogs, five people, beds, tons of flowers, boxes stacked so high, tv's, or even some trees.  it is crazyyyy.  and they are very talented balancing that stuff.  i am impressed.}