Chapter 23: Of Momentary Yielding, Volume II

These last few weeks have been crazy. So busy with school and life and extras (it's getting to be a bit stressful). But one of the coolest parts in these weeks happened yesterday.

We have this program that encourages students to think more deeply about life and truth. They go away for the weekend and open up and share with each other. Even though this event is only for high schoolers (and I teach middle school), I was invited to lead a section of the weekend called The Hootenanny. Really fun.

One of the skits that we did was about a girl who had invited Him to take the wheel (I know, flashes of Carrie Underwood just traveled through all y'all's minds). Even though the girl had originally asked him to come, she kept pushing him out of the driver's seat when something "more exciting" came along.

As I was watching this skit, I felt like a hypocrite. How many times do I take over instead of letting him be in control? 'Far too many' is the answer to that question.

It seems that I am living two different lives: the life that he wants where everything is good and pure and it is easy to do the right thing, and the life of selfish disobedience where I choose to take control of my own life and immediately run it into the ground. But then I remember what I honestly want - to follow him. I abdicate and allow him to rule, only to snatch power back when I see difficulty coming.

Stupid old man within me. Why can't he stay dead?

Chapter 22: Of Momentary Yielding, Volume I

I'm in a strange place. I'm new to China but not new to living apart from my passport country (as we say here), family, and friends. Part of me is still super excited to be in China, but part of me is also really tired of being far away from people I know and love.

One of the major differences between China and Nigeria is that China has a lot more. There is constant electricity; there are stores like Wal-Mart, B&Q (British Home Depot), and Carrefour (French Target); there are paved roads without potholes; there are multiple Starbucks, KFCs, and McDonald's; and there is a fellowship of expats that is phenomenal.

But sometimes having all of those things just makes me miss the things I don't have - namely, important people in my life.

I got an email the other day from a friend back home and, honestly, the first thought that ran through my head was, "Whew! He still remembers me." This is not to say that I haven't been blessed by friends who are good at keeping up with me, or with a family that is patient with my poor communication skills. This was, however, a momentary yielding to a heavy thought that seems to be pressing more and more against the edges of my consciousness - this isn't a short term trip anymore. It has become a lifestyle, and one which I don't see the end of anytime soon (though who am I to say?).

And even though I have been expecting this since the fourth grade, it is still a weighty realization to come to.

Chapter 21: About the Author's Sister on Her Birthday

Reasons My Sister Is So Great

5. My sister is legitimately fun! We always have a good time when we are together, whether that's going hiking, kayaking, or simply going out to coffee and talking.

4. She is easy to talk to. She really listens (and helps me to do the same;). And she has good insights into other peoples' problems.

3. She has loads of self-discipline and motivation. I am so proud of the ways that she works to change her life for the better as a mom, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a person. And she has dealt with some hard issues and circumstances in her life and handled them amazingly well.

2. She is a wonderful mom. I am amazed by her children, and that speaks loads about how much effort and love both she and Chris are devoting to their kids. And now little Natalie has been blessed with a mom who has loved her for months before she was even born.

1. My sister loves Him a lot. None of these reasons would mean anything in the long run if she didn't. I love seeing how He keeps changing her heart to be more like His. And I pray that she will continue to be as open to his molding.

Chapter 20: On His Niece, Natalie Aubrielle

I spent the past two days with middle school students in a city called Weihai. It was really great, and I had some fantastic moments, but that is not the point of this post.

In Nigeria, I found out that my sister was pregnant and due on September 2. Part of me was hoping that the baby would come while I was in the US, but (thankfully) she did not come. So I moved to China and knew that I would not get to meet this little girl until she was almost 2.

Back to Weihai: I was hoping that I would be able to Skype with my family when Leann went into labor. If not that, I was hoping to Skype with them pretty soon after the baby was born. Unfortunately, I was at fall camp when little Natalie was born, so I still have not had the chance to talk to my family. It's hard.

Now, I'm not the hugest fan of babies (though some of the staff babies here are doing their best to change that!), but as soon as I saw my brother-in-law's picture of my niece on Facebook, I was a fan of her.

I'm not sure how blessings work, but I couldn't help but kiss her digital forehead and say a prayer for her.
I am sure the good Lord can transmit the blessing of a kiss even through an avenue such as Facebook.

Natalie Aubrielle Symons, I wish I could hold you, but that day will come soon enough.

Chapter 19: Which Reveals the Author's Top Ten List

Top Ten Things I Love About Teaching Middle School in Qingdao

10. View from my classroom: ocean. View from my office: mountains.

9. Taking Chinese lessons (this isn't a middle school thing, but I do still love it!)

8. The students can understand what I'm saying the first go around. I don't have to repeat myself very often.

7. I get to use powerpoints on a daily basis. While this is also a LOT more work, I just enjoy having a tool that helps keep me on track and not running down every single rabbit trail I see.

6. The students are super well behaved. It's just great to see how respectful and hard-working they are while still keeping the fun of being in middle school. It's cool how balanced most of them are.

5. Working with the middle school teachers. They're really great and so dedicated to what they are doing. It's very inspiring to see.

4. My principal. He's awesome and so encouraging. Also, he's Australian so I'm enjoying learning about that culture a bit more.

3. Block periods! I love having so much uninterrupted time to teach and work together.

2. Middle school students laugh when I make a joke. Not sure what this says about my sense of humor.

1. The kids are at an incredibly awesome and slightly awkward stage in life which makes them a lot of fun to be around.

Chapter 18: Being a Rather Large Nutshell of the Author's Busyness

So much has happened since I last posted! None of it violently thrilling (or even peacefully thrilling), but busyness has been my theme this week. In thought and in deed.

At the end of last week I was busy with the IT conference and spending all day (three days in a row) helping students log in to websites, mail, skydrive clouds, and all other manner of e-problems. Friday afternoon was a relief.

Sort of. As soon as I got home, we had a British friend come over. We went to a noodle joint run by Chinese Muslims. Basically the best noodles for the fairest price in Qingdao. If you could have fajita lamb with onions and peppers and noodles, you'll have a good idea of what it tastes like. So we got to know Joel, our British friend, and it was great.

Immediately after that, we had two guys come to shoot a promotional video for our school system. These guys are great and they were a lot of fun to hang out with, but they stayed with us and it was a lot more work than I had been expecting. But our apartment and we will be in the promo video now for people looking to join the company. So that's pretty fun! (Completely random side note: We have a water tower with potable water and every once in awhile it will have a sporadic release of an air bubble even if no one has been near it for hours. Such a thing just happened, and in my empty home it made me jump a bit too high. Ridiculous.)

Monday I started Chinese classes. I'm really excited about this, and my teacher is very good. We got through 6 lessons in one session, which was twice as many as he was expecting! So I am going to start learning the Chinese characters as well as the spoken language. Exciting!

Last night we (for future reference, "we" will usually refer to Zack, my roommate, and me) had an invitation to dinner with a great family at the school. The dad is a few years older than me and he and I are quite similar in many ways, so it was fun to be there, even though I was pretty wiped out at this point. But his son is 5 and reminds me so forcefully of my own nephew that I couldn't help but be amazed at the similarities.

And on top of all this "normal" life craziness, I've been trying to get caught up with my teaching.

Overwhelmed. But getting better each day. And now for a night in with nothing to do but a bit of work and a bit more relaxation.

Chapter 17: About Ayi's First Day

Yesterday, I felt a little like a rich brat.

We had an ayi come to our apartment for an interview. For those of you who are not familiar with the word, "ayi," it's basically a house helper. She comes to clean, cook, do laundry, etc. It's like having a maid. (Most people had these in Nigeria as well.)

Because we didn't plan very well, we had Ayi come yesterday for an interview with a wonderful Filipino interpreter who was translating fluently between two languages that were not her native tongue. The poor planning comes due to the fact that we've been having a middle school technology conference these past two days. Utterly and exhaustingly draining.

So Zack's and my thoughts were on the IT Conference and not on the fact that we had to have the house somewhat clean with cleaning supplies marked or in obvious places.

Ayi came while we were at school. She was evidently overwhelmed. I can imagine what she must have thought of Zack and I as she was cleaning. "How did these crazy foreigners get this place so dirty in just three weeks here?"

But she seems like a really nice person, and she is certainly a great cook! Hopefully she doesn't get scared off by our initial mess.