Playing Catch up!

Nothing too crazy or exciting to share, but here's the latest anyway :)

Sorry we have been out of touch for the past week. We have finished moving into our new apartment which is AWESOME... pictures soon to come! No internet in the apartment yet, but hopefully in the next week we will be back in business. I am using free internet at the starbucks I frequent to update you all, and to visit my sweet Chinese friends that work here.

Anyway, our is much bigger and in the same community that our school is in. The community is called Ding Tai, which is a HUGE community with a couple thousand people. Almost all of our students, and Grace's classmates live in this community. We are so exciting about this awesome opportunity to connect with these families and invite them into our home and share life with them. Many of our students parents have asked us to come for dinner, and to get together for play dates, so now we will be neighbors to many of these amazing families!

Last friday afternoon the three of us were walking through the courtyard of our new community just as all the kids were walking home from school with their parents. All of a sudden we were swarmed with our students running to us screaming at the top of their lungs "Mr. Jon and Mrs. Jessica"...but coming from cute little Chinese kids it sounds more like "Meeeeesta Jon, and Meeees Jessseeeka." Their parents were coming up to us so excited that we were moving into their neighborhood. Such an awesome welcome to their world. I don't think I've ever felt welcome ANYWHERE like I did that day. You would have though the President just walked through their neighborhood by the way they reacted to Jon. They were climbing on him, hugging him and just ECSTATIC to see him. To say we LOVE these kids doesn't seem to do it justice.

This Sunday I am having dinner with 12 moms of my students. They have all asked me to set up a private English tutoring session for their children one evening a week, and now they want to take me to dinner to talk about it! I am excited to see how this turns out, I already love their kids and can't wait to get to know these moms.

This week as Easter is approaching our school has asked us to include the Easter Story into our curriculum... This is HUGE as this is NOT aloud in here, but these kids are getting to have the seed of Christ planted in them week by week because the owners and directors of our school are all Christians. Today Jon and I tought each of our classes a song about the resurrection of Christ and hope to video tape it on friday once they have down pat! I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children live in the truth. 3 John 4

We are now apart of a "fellowship" here that is all Chinese believers, except for 5 Americans that include us three, my cousin Matt (from Destin), and one of our new American friends named Luke.
Our fellowship will not be holding an Easter service so we plan to spend Easter morning in the homeless park serving bag lunches and drinks and just hanging out with the people.

Okay I guess that about sums it up...

God Bless,

Jessica :)

CARE PACKAGES

A lot of you have been asking about sending care packages, and many of you have already surprised us with one so I thought I would share this cool new find with everyone who has messaged me about it!

After receiving some care packages we realized just how expensive it is to ship to China so we wanted to tell everyone about a better option that will save you a ton of money and still help us in a huge way! There is an online store here in Shenzhen called nogogo.com that sells a lot of the awesome American groceries that we miss from home! They will Also deliver it to our door for FREE if you spend 150 RMB (Chinese dollars) which equals $25.00 AMERICAN DOLLARS! Pretty awesome right?

The prices of the items are a little higher than you would pay back home of course because they are imports here, but it is WAY cheaper then packaging these things up from the U.S. and sending them here.

We also want to tell everyone who has already sent us packages and have messaged sbout doing so that you have no idea how much it means to us and how exciting it is to have things that remind us of home! You are all a big part of this journey and we could not be more grateful.

Tonight I am overwhelmed by God

FAITHFUL. That is what God has been to me. Faithful. Like a good father. There have been things along the way that I didn't like in my life, but that's not important. What has been important is the amazing and beautiful hand of God that has brought me through everything. Through things I didnt know how I would get through. I know there have been times in my life where I have wondered "where was God"... What a silly question that crosses my simple human mind. I feel like it is then that God questions me. Where were you when I created you?

With all of that being said...God has given me a wonderful life in Him. A wonderful life to love and serve Him however He sees fit. He has shown me so much Grace. He has given me a wonderful husband. Wonderful doesn't really do him justice... God has brought me to a church where He is glorified and where the people love Him and His gospel. He has given me amazing support through my family and friends back home. He has given me new friends and relationships here in China that are growing everyday. He has given me a healthy beautiful daughter that brings more joy to my life than I could have ever imagined.

In the past few months he has given me more opportunities to LOVE. I am learning to LOVE the people that are different than me. Love the people that don't know my God. Love the people who know Him, but reject Him. Love the people that are better off than me. Love the people that are worse off than me. Love those who have caused me pain. Love those who don't love me back. Love them through my actions and character.

He has given me a job in this season of my life that I am passionate about. Even through the storms and through the unknowns I am learning to trust. How could I not trust Him with all that he has given me. It doesnt mean that I will always get what I want but it does mean I will get what I need. Tonight I am grateful for so many things.

God is so big and so limitless and he is proving that to me day in and day out. I find peace knowing that if I cry, my tears are all in His hands. I know if I smile He is rejoicing with me. I know if I fail, He loves me all the same and will be there to teach me something from my mistakes. I know if I pray He's listening and if I ask He will answer in His time.

As I write this post my prayer for you all is that you would clearly see each and every one of your blessings. Then as you reflect on those blessings, thank God for them- and then hand them right back to Him. All of them- especially the ones you are most thankful for. Then, sit back and watch. Sit back and be amazed when you completely offer your life to Him- you will have more to be thankful for than ever before.

Tonight I am i am filled with an inexplicable happiness and peace - my daily proof that we are living our purpose in this season of our lives.

Enjoy the little things in life,
for one day you may look back
and realize they were the big things.
~Antonio Smith

He makes everything Glorious....

Today on my way to work I had a moment. I hadn't had one like this is a while and it was revealing and refreshing. The song "Everything Glorious" by David Crowder came on my ipod and it brought tears to my eyes. Simple tears for those I know hurting and suffering right now. I've always loved this song. It's so simple, yet such an awesome reminder that HE makes Everything glorious - the bad, the ugly and the good.

There are several people in my circle that are going through some REALLY rough times right now, stuff that I hope I never have to go through. I pray that they will all find comfort in knowing that life truly is glorious no matter what our situation is, because our situation can glorify God if we will only allow Him to be the focus instead.

Here is this simple, yet beautiful song below... Love it!


Love,
Jess

Let us Love like we were Children....

I LOVE Needtobreathe and their music. I have yet to listen to one song that doesn't fill me with joy and motivate me to love those around me! Their songs bring so much hope that with one little listen, it can turn my attitude around. This song stays on repeat on my ipod quite a bit, and it makes me want to go out and love on every person I meet. Sometimes I wish there was always music playing in the background of my days... if there was, this song would be on my life's soundtrack :)

We should all love because it might be the difference in someone's day, someone's month, someone's year, someone's life! Love because Christ loved us. Love because no one deserves it because of our sin, but everyone needs it. Love those that are hardest to love because they need it the most!

May God bless you all, Lyrics and video below.... ENJOY :)

Jess


We were born to embrace
Not accept it
We were given nothing more
Though we kept it
And as the colors of our boots keep fading
We live a life that we hate without saying

Who would listen to the cries of a poor man?
We've never done nothing
How can be something?
Every heart has an hour of existence
Every breath brings a chance for redemption
If somehow we could wake up

Let us love
(like we were children)
Let us feel
(like we're still living)
In a world
I know is burning to the ground

Give us time
(to beat the system)
Give us life(?)
(that we've been missing)
In a world
I know is burning to the ground

In the crowd of the dead and disappointed
We're ashamed, giving up on what we wanted
Take a chance on a long shot this time
Aren't we all just at least worth another try?

I'm a king in the land of abuses
Under my "that i will"(?) promise of excuses
Who's to win if we know that it's not fair
Who would fight when it seems that no one cares
If somehow we could wake up

{chorus}

It's hard to stay here
But where do we go?
And i know
You can't feel it anymore
It's true, time is irrelevant
It's time, before further and further away
Waiting for always to change

{chorus]

I feel your hurting
On the road behind you
Let the wind go with you
Till the morning comes

And your sorrow
No, fear can't save you
It won't answer
For what you've done.

Need to Breathe

FREE HUGS

This weekend we went to Hong Kong for a 3 day mini get-away. As we were heading out to dinner we walked past these smiling faces holding signs that said "FREE HUGS"... You may have seen them on Oprah as they have made news all over the world for their true love for humanity.

At first I thought it was pretty cool, but as I stood there watching one person after another walk up and get a hug from a total stranger and walk away with a huge smile on their face I was completely touched. What an AWESOME idea... and what if we did this with not only HUGS but PRAYERS too???



These people are world changers, and I absolutely love it. They are spending their own time to bring a smile to many peoples faces. Everyone in this world is carrying some type of burden, and not everyone has someone to hug at the end of the day so I think these people are just the coolest!




Check out the story behind it all and the video below!

How it all started:

I'd been living in London when my world turned upside down and I'd had to come home. By the time my plane landed back in Sydney, all I had left was a carry on bag full of clothes and a world of troubles. No one to welcome me back, no place to call home. I was a tourist in my hometown.

Standing there in the arrivals terminal, watching other passengers meeting their waiting friends and family, with open arms and smiling faces, hugging and laughing together, I wanted someone out there to be waiting for me. To be happy to see me. To smile at me. To hug me.

So I got some cardboard and a marker and made a sign. I found the busiest pedestrian intersection in the city and held that sign aloft, with the words "Free Hugs" on both sides.

And for 15 minutes, people just stared right through me. The first person who stopped, tapped me on the shoulder and told me how her dog had just died that morning. How that morning had been the one year anniversary of her only daughter dying in a car accident. How what she needed now, when she felt most alone in the world, was a hug. I got down on one knee, we put our arms around each other and when we parted, she was smiling.

Everyone has problems and for sure mine haven't compared. But to see someone who was once frowning, smile even for a moment, is worth it every time.

Sometimes, a hug is all what we need.

Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, A man whos sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives.
In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal.

I'll leave you with this last picture...
Grace not exactly happy about the FREE HUG deal....She looks like SHE is the one that needs the FREE HUG haha! Just kidding, she was exhausted from the trek to Hong Kong and so she really had no idea what was going on... but of course they wanted the little blond girl to come hold their sign :)

Excuse me while I take a moment to vent....

Well today was the most GORGEOUS day outside, my students couldn't have been any sweeter and we are getting ready to spend the long holiday weekend in Hong Kong! Today felt like one of those days where nothing could go wrong....... HA, WRONG ANSWER!!!!

This is where it gets kind of ugly..

Every afternoon when I finish teaching my last class, I go and pick Grace up from her Kindergarten class and we all take the city bus home to our apartment. Most days Jon is with me, but today I finished early so I went to get Grace by myself so we could head on home.

As the bus approached I grabbed Grace, my backpack and stroller and managed to get all of it onto the bus. I paid the bus fare, and looked for a seat for Grace to sit in. The traffic in China is nothing short of scary so when you get on the bus, especially with kids you have to find a seat for them quickly. As the bus took off full speed I noticed that not ONE person was getting up out of their seats to give my child there seat. This never happens, in fact it's never an issue what so ever so why today was different I do not know. As I was trying to juggle everything in my hands and my 3 year old we both stumbled falling over in the middle of this bus full of people just staring at us.. I was FURIOUS. Grace was crying since just hit her head on the floor, and I couldn't believe what was happening.

The stroller and back pack went one direction and Grace and I went falling the other direction. We were able to stand up both with tears in our eyes, when someone FINALLY decided to give us a seat after this complete clown show. All of our things were still laying in the floor and the people were just glaring at me like I was this crazy American Lady that had lost her mind.

Not one person asked if we were okay, in fact they all looked the other direction trying not to make eye contact with me.

I do not what so ever feel that this is typical for the Chinese culture, in fact almost every single day someone reaches out to help us in one way or another. Today just happened to be a group of people with their head in the clouds. We are all guilty of this. It made me stop and think about how many times I have walked by someone that clearly needed my help... how many times have I noticed a elderly person or mother who needed an extra hand and I just went on about my day. You can really make or break someone's day by reaching out to them or not. If you can't help them, at least have some patience and a little compassion for them.

And that's all I have to say about that LOL.

Phew, Glad I could get that off of my chest because about an hour ago I was a HOT MESS and if I wasn't the crazy American Lady in town before.... I know I am now!!!