Welcome to the Jungle

We finally made it to Taiyuan! It has been awhile since I last updated, and there has been so much happening. Added to my list of sights seen are the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace. (I would recommend not walking around the Summer Palace for 3 hours while it is raining.) Both sites were very beautiful. We finished up training on Friday, had our commissioning service Friday night, Sat had regional meetings with all the returning teachers, and Sun got up got on the train and came to Taiyuan!
It was such a relief to finally get here! Last year's teachers nicknamed our city the Dirty T, and they told us it was dirty. However you just can't comprehend it 'til you get here. I think all the dust in the world originates in this city and is carried to the 4 corners of the earth by the winds that come off the desert. Welcome to Shanxi Modern Bilingual School, on your right you have a coal factory and on the left is a concrete factory. Have fun breathing! It looks cloudy almost all the time, and I can't see the stars. My apartment had a layer of black dust on everything. My roommates and I have been cleaning and sneezing since we arrived but its paying off and the apartment is shaping up nicely. We have a nice sized living room, a dining room, a bathroom,(sometimes we have water, sometimes we don't,) a kitchen with 2 gas burners, a small refrigerator, and a toaster oven, (oh and the washing machine is in the kitchen too, no dryer,) and we each have our own bedrooms. We are on the sixth floor, 97 steps (yes I counted,)no elevator. But on the bright side we are on the top floor and on the end of the building, so we only have one neighbor and no one stomping around on top of us! We also get a good work out climbing the stairs!
I'm not going to lie, the first day we got here I was a little in shock. When I stepped outside the air smelled like engine exhaust and I wanted to hold my breath until it passed. Then I realized it wasn't going away, and I can't hold my breath the rest of the year. Then we got to our apartment and saw all the dirt and grime, I thought,
"what in the world am I doing here? I'm going to develop lung cancer and never be able to play volleyball again, its so filthy I can dust write on every surface, the only hot water is in the shower, and sometimes we don't even have water! I don't know if I can do this."
Ok so I realize now that seems a little over dramatic, but at the time it was what I was feeling. So I sat down and had a little heart to heart with the Father.
Many of you have heard the story about when I was little I wanted to go to the jungle and live in a grass hut and eat bugs, while I made friends with the people who lived there and shared about the Hope that I have. Well in my little heart to heart, guess what the Father said?
"Welcome to the Jungle!"
What? This isn't the jungle, this isn't what I wanted!
Oh but maybe it is. It is the proverbial jungle. For many people the real jungle would be way out of comfort zone, that place where you realize you're not in Kansas anymore, and you have to rely on the Father. He found a different place to get me out of my comfort zone, to stretch me, and show me just how strong, He is.
My jungle is a polluted city of 3.5 million people.
My grass hut is an apartment building that shakes like there's an earthquake when semi trucks go by.
My bugs (I actually like most of the bugs!) are rice, noodles, vegetables, and tofu.
The people are my students and coworkers.
The objective... is the same.

Wow. That was not what I was expecting to hear. He had made my dream come true, yet it looked a little different than I had envisioned. But you know what? It made it better. When I realized that this is what I have been called to do, that He has a purpose for me, and it won't be easy, but I don't have to do it alone. I feel honored to be a small part of His plan, and at the same time its not about me. Its not about what I want or what makes me comfortable. Its for His glory and His kingdom that I'm here to love and serve His people.

Song of the Day
If You Want Me To
Ginny Owens
The pathway is broken
And The signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to

Chorus:
Cause I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
so if all of these trials bring me closer to you
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
When you lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'd never go alone

So When the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the suffering Your love put You through
And I will go through the valley If You want me to