Xiamen

Visiting 厦大 on a rill beautiful day doe

What do you do when your flight has been delayed for 2+ hours and you're already on the plane? Try again to write a blog post of course!

The days leading up to the start of IS-C can now be counted on a single hand, and I now leave with my first week of being in China under my belt, and let me tell you, it has been difficult. For those of you who received my update when I first landed in China, I can say that for almost every chat request, I had probably failed quite miserably. Although I am at first discouraged, I remember the freedom I have in Dad's gr-ce, and the truth that is in the often said phrase, "you make all things new."

I think the past week has left my mind pretty muddled, and I don't think I can really fully articulate everything I have been thinking about, so I think I'll just leave some food for thought (and indirectly so, chat requests):

1) With no f-llow-hip or ch--ch, is Dad alone still enough? In the face of the world and the temptation to follow its ways, can you say that you've been transformed so that his desires have replaced your own fleshly desires, and not just suppressed them? (I don't know if I can say so myself...)

2) In the face of human brokenness and no support, can you truly say you rely on Dad and are able to extend his love to those around you to effect transformation?

(I found that in my time in China, everyone follows a set path; it's very difficult to go against the grain, and everything you do is in some way - directly or indirectly - a statement to elevate yourself. There is a very strong you vs. me mentality, where many people are very self-centered or centered solely on the things they have decided to care about; there is not much of the dadly selflessness that he asks of us.)

I've been living quite cowardly and selfishly in this past week here in Xiamen, and I'm glad to have a break from it for a few days in Hong Kong before leaving for IS-C, but I think I really need to be earnestly chatting about this before leaving, yet still trusting that despite any and everything that I am fearing, that Dad is greater than any of my failures, knowing that he will move despite my shortcomings. Hope all is well with y'all!