every year auburn offers a "vision trip" for friends and family to come over and step into our lives for the week. due to my unexpected return to the states, i actually landed back in our city an hour before our crew of 20 visitors arrived! my parents were supposed to be on this trip, but also due to my venture back to nashville and the unknown timeline of my medical needs, they ended up not being able to make it. i was disappointed they could not experience this crazy place i now call home firsthand, but was so thankful for they way they loved me up and sent me back into this harvest! as an added blessing, my best friend Rebekah, her mom, and a slew of other precious guests were actually here in EAST ASIA right as i landed to help me transition back!!!
i mean can you believe it: my best friend with me in asia...all was right in the world! it was such a JOYOUS week. i loved being able to show off our city, bring our guests to class with us, have them meet our friends here, and just see what life is like on the day-to-day. we took a few trips into town to see the 'big city' side of things, ate at all our favorite restaurants, took a trip to the local market (which caused some people to not eat the rest of the trip...), and just got to be together for hours on hours! since this place and this year has made a forever-impression on my life, it was so special for me to be able to share it with reb. now instead of just stories or simply names, these are now places she's been and people she's met. the statistics have instead become friends; the absurdity has now been experienced first-hand! reb is truly a one-of-a-kind friend who stepped into my life here, took it all in, spoke truth/love/encouragement to me, and now fully "gets it". the Lord's graciousness to me is great, and this sweet gift from Him is not one i take for granted!
we ended the week with a little trip to beijing! i had never been to this iconic city so was just as excited as our visitors to see the sites and explore all around. we saw chinese acrobats do the most crazy things with their bodies--it didn't seem like it should be humanly possible to contort as they did. we saw the GREAT WALL, and it was truly great. apparently we had the best weather the city has seen in years: we could see for miles from the top of the wall--God's glory just astounds me! we also got to experience the famous "silk markets" where you can buy anything knock-off you can imagine for pennies on the dollar...talk about full on asia. it was a wonderful weekend in beijing, but i am thankful to live where we do! beijing felt a lot like america but more a part of america i would never want to live in. thus i am happy to be home sweet home and back to the routine here!
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