momeries

My mom has been here in Beijing for 11 days now, and she’ll fly out tomorrow at 1:00pm. It has been crazy and cool and weird and wonderful having her here. I am so, so grateful that she has been able to see, touch, smell, hear, and taste my world here in Beijing. I’m so grateful that she got to meet all the precious people I live with here, and that they got to meet her as well. We've definitely had many experiences, and I've decided to call them all my "momeries." I’m especially grateful for the things she has taught me while being here with me.

We may have pushed her slightly over the edge by taking her to dinner on her first full day and ordering cartilage and whole fishes… but she recovered surprisingly well – even enough to try the squid we ate last night! On Thursday, she gave a 30 minute presentation to the Dandelion teachers about what she learned from home-schooling, and how they can also focus and learn to be models of good character in order to develop their student’s character. 

I have completely fallen in love with my students, if you haven’t noticed by now. They fill me up with sunshine with their smiles, waves, and encouraging words. I am overflowing with vision, purpose, and enthusiasm when I am around them. One of my greatest hopes in mom’s trip was that she would get just a taste of how much they mean to me. But considering that it took me going on five months to get that comfort level with them, I didn’t know what to expect. 

I shouldn’t have worried. With only one full school week to be with the students , mom jumped in even more than I did at the beginning. Considering her complete and total lack of Chinese, she communicated so well with them. She remembered many names of students I had sent her pictures of, and she learned many others. From waving to my student Bill and calling out his name, to sitting and talking with my shy student Jennifer for nearly half an hour, I’ve been so blessed to see her investing into the faces and hearts that I love so much. And I know she can see why. 

But there’s more… 

In general, as I go out and about in downtown Beijing for various reasons, I keep an eye out for opportunities, but I don’t creep people out by being overly friendly on the subway or staring at people on the bus. I mean, that’s just weird, right? But then again, maybe it’s not…

On the way home from worship practice on Wednesday, mom was sitting on the subway and I was standing (why sit when you can surf, right?). She was reading “More Than a Carpenter,” by Josh McDowell, and I noticed that the Chinese guy sitting next to her was glancing at it over her shoulder. As we were pulling up to the next stop, he asked, in English, “Do you believe in Jesus?” “Yes! Do you?” mom answered. “Yes,” he said, getting up as the doors opened for his stop. “See you later,” he said, and we smiled, because we know we will. 

So that was cool. But three seconds later, a sweet, late-20’s looking lady filled the empty seat. Mom looked at her, and just said, “Hi.” She smiled shyly, and then responded in English as well. It turns out that her English was very good, and we talked for the majority of the trip. Her name was “Mi,” and I believe she felt the love of Jesus as my mom sincerely wanted to know about her and her life. After she left, we only had a few more stops. The next guy who filled the empty seat had no idea what he was signing up for. You could tell by his facial expression when he looked up and saw these two who-knows-what-race female faces staring at him. But considering the past passengers that we had learned just a little about, we knew by now that we couldn’t treat this new guy any differently. Isn’t it funny how you may be just seconds departed from a wonderful conversation with a stranger, and then you hesitate or even refuse to initiate another? Well, mom didn’t seem to have that problem on this trip. And I’m so grateful. 

I’ll look at Beijing with new eyes now. I hope that you’ll see your city, your neighborhood, and your home differently as well.