Today is Tuesday

I checked out my new apartment this morning.

It’s a little dirty but really not bad. I made a list of pros/cons to think about whether I really should move or not. I came to find that all my motives for staying here were for my comfort or convenience, while the motives for moving better matched with what I came here for. It has two nice sofa-chairs, four chairs for the kitchen table (which my present apartment has neither of), and something neat – it’s close to the open roof!

I was dragging this morning & then read about the sluggard falling into deep sleeps in Prov. 19. Felt bad. Got ready, planned my lesson and found that I forgot – I had already graded my papers (happy surprise!), so I was ready to go & it was a relaxing morning after-all!

I had an hour to put things together in the office. Our school’s aiyi (eye-ee, the keeper of the building basically) was in the office as she usually is at lunch. She was humming, and it was so comforting & calming. I haven’t heard anyone hum like that in a long time. I told her so, and she came over to talk to me for a while. She saw me making things for class, & i told her what it was about. She said she was too dumb to learn that. Shocking!! I hate it when people just seemingly write themselves off. It seems that people do that all around me these days.

I went to a freshman class of 15 and 4 were there. 2 of those were leaving…

I felt that one of the 2 girls didn’t want to go, but actually she had actually been excused to leave class. I think she might’ve felt bad for going b/c her friend was skipping out… and telling me to go have a rest because people coming to class was “a dream.” i tell this for the purpose of sharing how demoralized my students appear to be. They are giving up on themselves and their education. But i think if they come to understand the value of their lives, they will try harder at life… i want to see God changing their lives!

I thank God that even though two guys, Tim & Kim had left, they came back when they saw I was going to be in the room alone. They wanted to leave, but I could tell they did not want to disappoint me – sweet.

Chief came in not much longer, and all three of us had a great time studying essay structure!! And we had a great time of bonding!! I told them at the break that they could leave early if they finished revising their essays, but they finished 20 minutes early and wanted to stay. We continued studying even though they hadn’t had their usual 10 minute break- that’s amazing!! And then when class was over, they wanted to stay and talk! SWEET!!!

Actually, it was Chief who wanted to talk the most, asking about American movies and history. He loves history and has studied US history a great deal. He knew names like Washington and Lincoln, and he let me know that he appreciates the values they stood for. It makes me wonder what else he appreciates. What was also encouraging was that Chief, who usually gives up & skips class, was ACTUALLY TRANSLATING for Tim & Kim very enthusiastically!!

The end of class came, and I had to leave (sadly) because one of our office co-workers was calling to ask if I could sing a short song for the performance tomorrow evening. Before they had only wanted me to attend! Well, I hope I don’t disappoint. I know a GREAT song in Chinese/English!! “Wu lun shi zhu zai…” (“On a mountain top…”)

Then it was time to meet Song! She’s a very bright, very sweet second-year student. We ate dinner – or rather she paid for my dinner & ate nothing. And then she served me the orange juice she had in her bag!! I can’t get over my students’ generosity!! And just Chinese generosity in general!! We came to my apartment, talked, ate rock-less raisins and almonds, and looked at pictures of activities, including the singing-and-water-balloon-and-“Nobody”-behaving-badly day video from camp. She said it looked like crazy English. Haha! I told her it was crazy. Crazy fun!!!

We went over to the library where she & her friends practice their dances. They were very friendly, and we asked each other all the usual questions, and then there was one who told me he was a fan of Michael Jackson. He wanted to know if MJ was really dead. I told him, yes, sadly, he ate too much medicine, and he was actually dead. I felt so sorry to tell him that because he looked heart-broken! He looked like he wanted to cry. He had nothing to say.

My heart burned to tell him, what did you expect from a hero that was just a man? I wanted so badly to say: but don’t be sad!! There’s Someone much better than him who’s still living!!! He died once, but he came back to life, and guess what!! He actually knows who you are!! And He loves you!! And He is a waaaaaaay better hero than Michael Jackson!!

They are a little band of athletes/artists… they meet together to practice. They wait every day for someone to call and ask them to perform for some event in the school. Meandering in the dark, looking for someone to follow… looking for someone or something to live for. Waiting for someone to give their lives meaning. Pr.y that someone soon will be able to tell them about the Lover of their souls!!!

- GreatHope, serving in China.