Happy Thanksgiving

American Thanksgiving is coming up, which means this coming weekend is a long one for us! We get Friday off! We're planning a trip to Xi'an which was a former capital of China. It is also the site of the Terracotta Warrior Army, if you've ever heard of that. We're taking an overnight train Thursday night, arriving Friday morning. We'll spend Friday and Saturday there then come back on the train Saturday night. It should be an adventure since neither of us have travelled by train yet here. It's about 8hrs by train. We could fly but that costs more money.

We also finalized our Christmas plans this week. we're leaving here the 17th of Dec. and flying to Southern China where we'll spend a night with friends in Hong Kong. then we'll head over to Macau and fly from there to Manila. We're excited about going somewhere warm and having 3 weeks off! there are only 4 weeks left until the end of the semester, which means we have to start thinking about report cards again! really feels like we just finished those. but this semester is shorter than next semester.

lots going on around here. we had a seemingly busy week. lots of stuff happening with accreditation of the school. so many meetings and extra things to take care of. the students are also busy getting ready for the Christmas program. this week we also made a spontaneous outing to see the Chinese Acrobats. so amazing! seemed like a short program for almost $30. oh well, we had fun going with a group of friends.

we also had small group on Friday night. we're meeting with, so far, 2 other married couples. it's great to learn from one another. we're all at different stages in our marriages. one couple has been married for 2 years, and the other for 16. it's great to share our experiences and grow together.

yesterday we had my co-worker and her husband over for dinner and then we played Settlers! they've played it before, but hadn't in awhile so this was a refresher. but they are excited to play again! we're really enjoying the ch-rch we're going to. it really feels like it's full of authentic christians. we've been asked to share our stories, or give our testimonies. we'll probably do that in the next couple of weeks.

anyways, it really is feeling like home here. we've made our home together and everything is 'familiar' now. we have our routines, but always have things that throw us off. actually, about a week ago I woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of a woman crying. it sounded so close. it must've been upstairs. she was wailing and it sounded like she was just aching with grief. It kept me up for awhile...all I could do was pray for her. I have no idea why she was crying. she could've been mourning someone, or maybe it was domestic abuse (which is common here)...and it kinda haunted me into the next day....it's as if G-d wanted me to know about the pain that many women suffer in China. we've heard about it from other places before, but this time I felt it deep down.

Scott and I are happy to be here, growing together....I can catch a small glimpse of the work He is already doing in our hearts to open our eyes to what he's doing, and to see the people he loves deeply. (you should all read Sacred Revolution by Shane Claiborne)

zaitian!