The Breakneck Pace

My wife told me that for the past couple of nights, I’ve been talking (or trying to talk) Chinese in my sleep. She says I say the same three sentences over and over. I guess I’m drilling. A language learner is never off the clock! But it was just another reminder of how much our lives have changed in the past few months. It’s one of my favorite things about life on the mission field – the breakneck pace.

We landed in China three months ago today. Hard to believe – usually it seems much shorter than that, and sometimes much longer! I would like to praise the Lord for how good He’s been to us in these 90-some days. Obviously, there’s still a lot of road in front of us. But it’s really amazing to look back and see all the life that can get packed into a short period. I thought I’d go over some of the changes that we’ve experienced/witnessed in our first three Chinese months.

– We’re not surprised to wake up in China every morning!

– We have a bunch of friends all over northern China, that we can also call our sisters and brothers in Christ.

– We have a house (well, a fourth-floor apartment) that truly feels like home.

– We have a thrilling Bible study on Thursday nights that we never meant to have!

– Mandarin doesn’t sound like jibberish anymore! Not complete jibberish, anyway!

– We haven’t driven in three months! Not a car, not a truck, not even a bicycle!

– I think I actually like rice… compared to the rest of the Chinese cuisine, at least.

– We have a nearly full-grown cat… worst thing on the list, by far.

– And I’ve learned a lot about fear – and why it’s so important that God’s people are not controlled by it.

If it were all over today, our lives would never be the same again. Thankfully, it’s NOT over today… We’ve got a lot in front of us. I was talking to an important mentor of mine yesterday, and we talked a little bit about the future and what we can be praying to see God do here. I am so excited to see God work here. When you live in a place where the need is so great, sometimes it feels like all your efforts only discover MORE need. And after three months, that’s all I feel we’ve really accomplished: realize how deep of a pit we’re in here. I pray someday we’ll find the way out!