My word, it actually feels good to sit down to the computer and update readers on the current travels.  Kathy and I got home last night at 11:30 from our China adventure.  It was amazing to get up in Shanghai at 5:45 am Nov. 2 and arrive home 31 hours later and it is still Nov. 2!  Of course, we lost most of Oct. 22 in going so this was our payback in time.  I’m sure later today I will be feeling the jet-lag,but at this point, I am glad to be home and am ready to tackle the work of the day.

My mind is whirling with “what does one do with the results of a trip like this?”  We brought home some “stuff” that will turn into gifts for Christmas and decorations in our home, but what glorifies God?  In my journaling this morning I was asking God to show me what He wants.  He was quick to remind me that He only wants obedience to His Spirit’s leading in my life.  We did learn in a stark way what Christianity looks like in China.  It is in the top four religions of the country but only 4% of the population is Christian.  That is a population of 1.5 billion.  I was told that most of the Chinese people don’t claim a religion.  This is what Communism has done.  One of the guides told us that when students graduate from their universities they have much passion.  However, when they experience life for a couple years first-hand in the working world of China, their passion is gone.  They have no voice in their life whatsoever.  That voice is killed by the ruling government.  We were told that imagination is not a word for them.  There is no hope or dreams that they have for themselves.  God is telling me they need to know He is their HOPE and their DREAMS but this message wasn’t too much a part of this trip.  My first morning in Beijing I was in the hotel lobby reading my Bible waiting for our group and our tour guide.  A young lady was sitting a couple chairs from me.  She scooted close and asked if I were a christian?  I told her I am and she said she is too.  She is a university student she said.  She told me the Christians meet in home churches mostly.  Her English was limited so we couldn’t get too far into this topic.  I was excited to meet someone my first day but this was the only day this happened.  I later learned that I had met one of the 4% in the country’s population.

There is so much I could talk about in this writing and I will in the days to follow.  For now my day’s journey takes me back into the nuts and bolts of daily living right here at home.  I’m going to a school dist. this morning where I will be doing some part-time work for the next couple months.  I’ve got some connections to make with some of the Celebrate Recovery folks and Aslan Christian Academy has a major meeting tomorrow with a potential location.  These things are real and I will reconnect with them through the coming days.

Somehow I’d like to know how Kathy and I can take a trip like this and use the time more intentionally for God’s Kingdom work as well as fulfilling lifelong dreams for both of us in seeing this magnificent world our God has created.  I wait to see how these two dreams can come together with greater purpose.  Right now, I’m glad to be home and getting grounded again right here.