rickety bridge

well, in the midst of rejoicing over being issued visas, we received some unfortunate news. . . the chinese government has decided that it doesn't want us to conduct the 2nd annual HP cultural exchange.

grrr. it's not like we had spent hours preparing stuff for the two weeks we would be there, but we did have some pretty cool plans. cool english lessons. fun games and teambuilding activities. a dance party with booty shakin', boot-scootin' good music. fun crafts. cardgames. hanging out. dinners in students' homes. the couch restaurant (only the best chinese food in the country!!). 168 stairs every nite to get home. . .

hold on loosely. be flexible. this is what i've told my team repeatedly.

but when i have to put that into practice, i realize how firmly i've been holding on to what we were going to do. i had already hugged our students from last year. i had already sung wo ai ni to the students in a talent show like i promised them i would do last year. i had already walked up and down the streets of HP and imagined how we would "ni hao" everyone on our way to school each morning. right after we would stop for a little bing shway (sorry, it's a phoenetical spelling, not the real deal) and sugar-filled bun for breakfast.

so our plans are changing. but we're still going. and we're still doing what he has called us to go there to do. so really our plans aren't really all that different. we're still going to show what it's like to have his skin. . . and to love in his name. 

time

time is really a weird thing. 

i can imagine as my friend christa was huddling close with her children after racing down 22 flights of stairs during an earthquake, five minutes can seem like an eternity.

or when you have to use the restroom really badly, and the door to the restroom is locked. someone volunteers to go back to the controlroom for the key, but the three minutes it takes them to get back with the key is absolutely forever. forever!

but when you have a mountain of work that needs to get completed or "farmed out" in the next 12 days in addition to shopping, packing, planning, leading. . . time slips through my fingers like the white sand in destin. (ahhhh, the beach! but alas, i digress)

time. i don't have near enough of it, and yet, i still waste what little i have.

there's the paradox.

hyperventilation and insomnia

it's been forever since i've blogged. i wish i had a really good excuse. well, i do have a couple, but they're still not exactly earthshattering.
our family has been through two proms, ACL surgery, finals (while jacked up on painkillers), senior lunches, a baccalaureate, graduation, a bon voyage to young life work crew for a month, a house guest for the past two weeks (and counting) college orientation and preparing for a giving trip to london on july first. all this while trying to shepherd our team through the preparing process.
this is where the hyperventilation comes in.
and the insomnia.

now don't get me wrong. i'm not an untrusting sort of person. especially when our Father is involved. . . but i do have a ton of loose ends flapping in the breeze. . . and not enough hands to grab them.

so we are turning the home stretch. we are finalizing plans. best of all we have everyone's passport in hand WITH the visas attached (no small feat for these olympic times!). support is coming in and all is firming up.

as you are "thinking" about our team. . .
please think about unity, humility, preparation, the ability to PACK LIGHTLY, travel logistics, and all of our families that we leave behind. mercy and grace and all that goes with that!