Grace

The first three days in China for the summer program are typically enough to make me want to run and hide. Frustrating, irritating, exhausting. And then, suddenly, it all begins to click into place and we are flying.

First we had heat, humidity, and ugly smog. Then we had rain so torrential that we could hardly walk across the street. And today, the sun rose in glorious clarity, with not a cloud in the sky, no rain, and no humidity. 

First we had no rooms, then we had ten rooms that all needed to be deep cleaned by a crew of middle-aged team members who more typically spend their days in front of classes, or at a desk.  Heat, humidity, smog, and rain are not good companions when you are trying to clean out rooms where students have not moved a bed in a year. Add in plumbing issues, finicky air conditioners, people arriving from around the world, and late planes. 

But tonight, we have ten clean rooms, 18 team members comfortably ensconced in those rooms, and a full day of training under our belts. The team that this morning didn’t even know each other’s names by lunchtime was reaching out across the new friendships to help, more experienced ones taking new ones by the hand to find bread and milk, phone cards. New friends helping each other settle in, lug bags, lift furniture. And by nightfall, prayer walking the campus together in threes. 

By now I should know this is normal and not get frustrated in the first three days. By now I should have learned to trust the Lord who is here before me to have it all laid out. But instead, I gripe and complain and chafe at what doesn’t happen on my schedule. Thankfully, I have a Father who is patient and still gives me grace. 

And team members who gather round and ask what they can do to help, if only I will let them do it.