288 Valentines and a whole lot of love

So Valentine's Day, or the more aptly named “Singles' Awareness Day”, was less than one week ago.  China’s version of Valentine’s Day is celebrated in August, so February 14^th wasn’t marked by an excess of pink and red hearts, roses galore, or advertisements suggesting that you only truly love someone if you buy them a big enough diamond.  It was really nice to get away from the commercialization of the holiday, and I probably would’ve forgotten about it entirely if I hadn’t been teaching a lesson on it! 

The lesson I taught was somewhat superficial, considering that it wouldn’t have been entirely appropriate to teach my non-English-speaking 4^th graders about the tragic history behind the holiday or about couples and romance.  I did teach them about love and how love can be shown to family members, friends, leaders, etc.  Then I helped them make cards to give to their parents whenever they get to go home next; it was a pretty fun lesson and I made sure to take a bunch of pictures to share with my supporters back home. Valentine’s Day came and went the same as any other day. 

The next day, as I was talking with my team about our best Valentine’s Day dates, it struck me that I’ve never not had someone special to celebrate the day with; I realized that this was the 1^st time I’ve been alone on Valentine’s Day.  Over the next several days that realization started getting to me, and I was becoming pretty discontent over not having the typical American lifestyle of settling down and starting a family. 

Then I started to write this blog update about my Valentine’s Day lesson; as I was deciding which pictures to post, I started really looking at the faces of my 288 students, and I saw their smiles and thought about their lives and felt their desperate desires to be loved.  My heart broke for each of them all over again.  Father struck me with a reminder that I desperately needed: the fact that I don’t have the typical American lifestyle isn’t something to be discontent over; what I’m doing here, living and teaching in China, isn’t some huge sacrifice that I’ve made.  I have this incredible opportunity to teach, to love, and to share Hope with His children in China!  This Valentine’s Day, I got to spend the holiday with 288 special someones that I desperately love and who desperately need to be shown love.  How could I possibly be discontent over that?  Now that I really think about it, this was the best Valentine’s Day ever :-)

These are some of the many children I have the privilege to love!

There should be a snooze button for reality

Well, I'm officially back to reality after six amazing weeks of Winter break.  I probably should have mentioned that I wouldn't be updating my blog during break, so I apologize to those of you who messaged to ask if I'm dead (I'm still very much alive, by the way).  A lot has happened in the last six weeks, so I'll try to just fill you in on the most interesting aspects.
 

In mid-January, I got to spend a week with two of my favorite people in the entire world (which I think I'm entitled to say now that I've been to the other side of the world); my dad and sister came to visit me in China!   

Dad, me, and Tracie on the Great Wall of China!

I played tour guide and took them all over Beijing; we hiked up and tobogganed down the Great Wall, toured the Forbidden City and Tian’anmen Square, shopped at the Silk Market, saw a Chinese acrobatic show, ate a bunch of authentic Chinese food (including fried scorpion), had near-death experiences in taxis and on the subway, and went to the Night Market, the Beijing Botanical Gardens and the World Park!  

Tracie, me, and Erin eating fried scorpion!

It was an intense non-stop week and it was so wonderful to spend time with my dad and sister and finally be able to share the reality of my life in China with them (although we all missed mom and wished she could have come, too)!  

 When they left, homesickness hit me really hard, so it was a blessing that I immediately had to prepare for my trip to Thailand. 

Erin, me, and Lauren on the beach at sunset

Erin, Abbey, Sam, Lauren, and I traveled to Koh Lanta, Phuket, Thailand for a desperately needed vacation!  We stayed on the beach for a week and by the end of it most of us decided that we're definitely going to retire there some day.

I'm riding an elephant!

We laid out on the beach (and got ridiculously sunburned in the process), ate way too much food, got authentic Thai massages, went paddle-boarding and snorkeling, awkwardly experienced a fish spa, saw wild monkeys, rescued starfish, rode elephants through the jungle, got tricked into eating the hottest chili pepper in existence, had fire-throwing lessons, and met some of the coolest people I've ever met from all over the world!

After our wonderful vacation we journeyed to Chiang Mai, Thailand for our Annual Thailand Conference; my organization brought all of the teachers and their families, around 500 people, from all over Asia to meet together for one week in Thailand.  The conference was a time for us to fellowship with other Believers, see and hear about the work Father's doing all throughout Asia (I can't wait to share this with you when I get home!!), learn about potential countries of service, and to receive encouragement, support, counseling, and Thoughts for the struggles of our past semesters.  It was exactly what I needed for rejuvenation and preparation for this next semester- I've gained so much motivation and perspective for the next 4.5 months of my service in China!

I'm now back in Taiyuan and am getting really excited to see my students again on Monday!  I've missed those kids during the last six weeks; I'm so unbelievably grateful that I have the opportunity to be a part of their lives and I can't wait to see how Father uses the next 4.5 months to touch their lives and the lives of my co-teachers!