A teacher
Recently G
blessed one of our families. In late spring a teaching opportunity came up for
the wife. Believing that G had brought this opportunity into their lives, they
followed in obedience to the L and pursued getting the appropriate visa to
teach. That eventually required them to live outside this country all summer,
enduring various trials and challenges. It became a very difficult summer for
them but in the end, G allowed them to obtain their visas. Just last week her
school informed her that beginning this November the government would require
many teachers to have five years of
teaching experience before they could teach in China. She had four years of experience. Because she
now has her visa (and thus visas for the family), she was grandfathered into
the law. By the end of this year, she will meet the required five years of
experience. However, if they had waited to pursue this teaching opportunity,
even one semester, she likely would never have gotten the job nor their visas.
Sometimes we don’t know why G allows trials into our lives; sometimes He
graciously gives us a glimpse of His purposes. It’s like the tapestry seen from
below – a tangled mess of knots and threads.
But on the top side, Heaven’s side, it’s a beautiful, woven picture.
Rejoice with them and with us.
A tutor
Since Mark
is not attending formal language classes this year, we decided to hire a
private tutor so he can keep up with his Chinese. Can you imagine that he wants
to talk?? Anyway, we discovered that one of our favorite teachers from last
year no longer taught classes but would tutor privately. She tutors some of our
good friends, and we knew her and she knew us so we thought it might be a good
fit. So we get together once a week for about three hours. We have a great time
with her – talking, reviewing, laughing, joking, reminiscing, and sharing. It’s
fun to not only see progress in language but also watch a friendship develop.
We get to review and solidify words and concepts she taught us last year and
use those things in many different combinations. We even get to use Chinese
words, concepts, and traditions and connect them to the Truth. Our friends have
also developed a friendship with her and her husband so they all have discussed
the Truth at various times. Remember us on Thursdays that we would not only
learn but also have wisdom on how best to live out the Truth.