Thank you Lord....for lice?

Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus our Lord - 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Corrie ten Boom was a well known evangelist who spent many years of her life in a German concentration camp during World War II. One time the barrack which she and her sister were assigned had an outbreak of lice. She recalls it being absolutely dreadful, with no remedy offered to them by the soldiers. Because the outbreak was so bad, the guards who usually came to check on them refused to enter their barrack for fear of contaminating themselves. Without this constant supervision, Corrie and her sister were freely open to share the gospel with many of their roommates who had never heard it before. After seeing the Spirit move among the women, Corrie and her sister realized that the lice outbreak was part of God's plan to reach these women and they joyfully thanked Him for the lice, despite it's discomfort.

This week I had to meditate on that story time and time again as I picked through my daughter Abbey's hair for lice and nits. I can handle most things, but lice really grosses me out! They are such a hassle and if you don't get them all the first time, you will constantly be battling them! Yuck! Anyways, trying not to feel defeated nor discouraged I decided to follow God's Word and Corrie's story and be thankful for the lice situation in our home. So here is my thank you to God in the midst of my lice crisis:

Thank you Lord for allowing Abbey to bump her head at school so we had to take her to the doctor and that this lice was detected before it got REALLY bad. (Yes, her head is fine)

Thank you Lord that no one else in the family seems to have gotten the lice.

Thank you Lord for providing my Ayi who helped take care of all the washing, vaccuming and cleaning while I picked at Abbey's head for hours on end.

Thank you Lord for the fatigue I felt at the end of each day so that when I went to bed I fell right to sleep and did not ponder or worry about the entire situation!

Thank you Lord for allowing us to already have the Tea Tree shampoo that so many recommend to fight off the lice (and that you cannot get in China).

Thank you Lord that this crisis kept me at home and gave me the opportunity to get other things done that I needed to accomplish.

Thank you Lord that my husband was on a business trip so he didn't receive any of the "stuff" I probably would have dished out to him during my angst!

Thank you Lord that you are bigger than lice and that You have a purpose in all of this!

It's not easy giving thanks in every circumstance but I'm learning to do just that. We are doing better now but this will be our battle for the next few weeks. Joy! So whatever your circumstances may be now, I hope you'll be able to face them with a heart of thankfulness and at least be thankful you don't have lice! Take care....

Restored

This past weekend my family and I went to the city of Xi'an (pronounced She-an), a popular tourist destination here in China. Not that the city itself is anything spectacular, but it does hold one of China's most famous treasures.

In 1974, a peasant farmer was digging for a water well when he came upon buried artifacts dating back to China's first emperor. After several years of excavation, archeologists discovered an entire army of Terra Cotta Warriors (statues) that were created for the emperor to guard his tomb after his death. After years left underground, each unique statue was completely destroyed. Today however, almost 1,000 of them have been restored to their original design (there are about 6 or 7 thousand soldiers in just one pit). The museum is the actual excavation site and you can even see the broken pieces that have yet to be completely unearthed.

As I walked around and stood in awe of this place, I couldn't help but think of how this relates to us spiritually. I wasn't sure how God wanted me to use this lesson, but I knew He would reveal it to me in time. Two days later, as I was working on my latest writing assignment, I knew what God wanted me to do. I wrote a poem that relates the journey of these soldiers to our spiritual destiny. I hope you see the relationship as well and know that by the grace of God we have all been restored.

Restored

Tattered and in ruins,
Our lives entrenched in sin
We long for someone to relieve us
from the empty tomb within

A hand penetrates the dirt
unearthing our brokenness,
and gently collects the pieces
shattered by life's duress

Reclaiming what was lost,
the Craftsman now begins
to return us to the beauty
that always should have been

Breathing anew, standing erect
as we were meant to be
Finally, God's warriors restored
for all the world to see

I kissed writing goodbye?

Hello again blogging world. It's been a month too long. I hope this post finds you all doing well!

No, I haven't really kissed writing goodbye, although you might think so since I haven't blogged at all lately. I can honestly say that I have been busy ~ planning 5 different trips and taking 3 of them on back to back weekends (maybe I can get a job as a travel agent if my writing course doesn't work out); finishing 2 writing assignments; purchasing Christmas gifts for people back home; and trying to keep a finicky internet connection on my computer working! At least every other day we either have internet issues or satellite problems with our TV. But such is life in China.....

There have many so many times I have wanted to sit and write to you. I even had a variety topics to "talk" about:
~ Learning to receive a blessing
~ How the octopus got into my fish tank (Seriously!)
~ Lessons on discipline
But time always eludes me. I wish I could say things would change, but I won't make promises that I can't keep. Not that my time is any more valuable than yours ~ we are all busy. But I do miss sharing with you and I pray that God will allow me more time to write! You would think that by taking a writing course, that's all I would be doing. Actually I do more reading than I do writing ~ so strange!

Thanks for bearing with me. I hope you a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for you.