stuff, literally ....

Those first few months just after we moved here in late '08 were not easy ones. After a brief warm & sunny welcome period the weather changed drastically to very cold, bitter & uninviting. We all got sick during that time and I was so thankful for people helping us out because at times it was downright miserable. The glimmer of hope I had rested in the excitement & anticipation of our shipment from the US arriving with our things from home. After many delays, it finally arrived 2 months after we did. But that didn't matter because it was like an early Christmas & we were all excited. Then a funny thing happened.

As we began unpacking the boxes, instead of the sense of comfort & familiarity I was thinking they would bring, a huge pit began to develop in my stomach. Our helper was working with us and even though she has worked for foreigners before, I could tell she was amazed at the sheer volume of things we had (and probably was also questioning why we thought we needed all of this). The unpacking took a few days. And as the hours of sorting, organizing, storing wore on, her comments of "so much, so much" morphed into just laughing & shaking her head. And what didn't seem like enough on the US side, now looked overwhelming, exorbitant and yes, even very much comical.

And that is when my eyes were first opened to not only the dawn of new lifestyle, but to how we had grown to live back in the states. Weekly trips to Costco & Target were not uncommon. This resulted in not only unfruitful busyness but the accumulation of random extra stuff that looked so important & useful in the store. Here, excess is a new concept. Unfortunately it is beginning to infect the younger generation and nouveau riche. But historically, especially in the last 60 years, most Chinese have not had enough to eat, let alone the means to amass non-necessities. Most still live in (what we would consider) humble homes or apartments. Although there is a much better standard of living as of recent days, most still only buy what they need. And, believe it or not, they're surviving.

So this is something I have by no means mastered yet, but a lesson that I am very consciously trying to learn. Simplicity does not equal deprivation. In fact, as I'm beginning to realize, it breeds something quite the opposite & something I very much desire - freedom. When our space is clear, my mind is clear & this frees me up to look beyond the trappings of this world and engage in the deep things of the Lord. And although I live in time & space and need to reign over the daily necessities, they don't need to reign over me.

back to blogging, with a twist

This chapter of our Arns' Adventure blog is devoted now to a new focus.
With a year behind us, the excitement and newness of living in Beijing has begun to wear off. And out of it has come a style of life that lends itself to simplicity, quietness & time to actually come before God and mean the words, "speak Lord, for your servant is listening".
In the past year, He has humbled me more time than I can count,
stretched me in more directions than I can measure
and spoken to me more clearly than I have ever heard before.
-And I don't want to forget any of it.-
So this blog will now highlight what He teaches me,
an American woman in a foreign land trying to learn how to listen.

striking differences..

On the heals of our most recent visit back to the US, it seems like the contrast between our life there and our life here is becoming greater and more defined. We didn't fit into our old shell there anymore. And although it doesn't feel like home here yet, I can tell that we've been growing. Life here is pretty simple.

We live in an international area with families from every corner of the globe along with the locals. Everything we need for daily life is within walking distance, which is good because during the week, we also don't have a car. Taxi's are always available, but this extra step of getting everyone packed and into a vehicle quickly is usually more trouble than it's worth. So most of the time we just stay home.

As a result, I'm finding myself less occupied with shopping lists & what we 'need' to do or get done and more with teaching, shepherding, studying, resting and listening. This more home-bound type of routine is not the easiest for me... by any means... at all. But what I am finding through this season of slowing down, is a miraculous gift from God Himself, the gift of being able to hear His voice. And clearly at that.

This is the first of many things that I want to remember and take with me from our time here in China. An overwhelming & busy life is not something I have to lead. Being still and knowing that He is God, does in fact lead me to really knowing that He is God. That He is faithful, His ways are just and true. He keeps watch over His flock and will go to any ends to keep His own. That He is righteous, glorious, perfect, holy and anything else good I can think of and everything else that I can not. And somewhere in His unexplainable grace He has found it fit to save a me and call me His own. In this new found stillness, I keep preaching these to my heart over and over again in hopes that it will really sink in.