The Rooster Has Hatched!

So here I am, 4am on Friday morning, sitting in the terminal in San Antonio waiting for my next adventure to begin!  I’m sure my excitement is evident to the people sitting around me, however that probably has something to do with my bouncing and jamming to Group 1 Crew…

It won’t be long before I’m sitting in China!  I wonder if I’ll still be jamming to my happy beat when I am.  This trip has been a long time coming, so I imagine that I will be!  China has been on my mind for years now, so even though I’ve never been there, I have a lot of happy memories associated with it.

I remember my sister telling me that Giant Pandas were endangered when I was about 6.  I indignantly declared that they would never become extinct because they were my favorite animal—and so they have been ever since.  This was the beginning of my dreams regarding China.

When I was about 14, my best friend (Bekah, with whom I went on my Amtrak road trip) went to China for vacation.  She kept a journal while she was there, and let me read it when she got home.  I was fascinated by her descriptions of the places she visited and the food that she ate. (While some of that was just horrifying!  I still remember how she saw a monkeys head sliced open in a restaurant so people could eat its brains…. Hopefully that is not an “honor” that will be extended to me!)  From this point on, I knew for sure that China would play some part in my future.  I didn’t know exactly how, but I knew that someday I would get there and see those things for myself.

When I started college a few years ago, I began taking Chinese classes so that I would be ready if and when the opportunity to visit China should arise.  I’ve studied Chinese for the past two years, and I can confidently order vegetarian dumplings and tea… haha I can’t wait to see what I’ll be ordering at the end of six weeks!!!

I know that my Chinese will improve simply by being immersed in the language and culture.  I’ll be thinking about it all the time, and not just two or three times a week.  My group and I are enrolled in a Chinese University where we will be taking intensive Chinese classes and giving informal English lessons to some of the Chinese students.  (EEPS! Perhaps I’ve finally discovered something more daunting than a squatty potty!)

This is such an incredible opportunity though!  Scary as it is, I know I’m going to learn so much.

That’s about all I have for right now, but the plan is hatched, stuff is going down, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it :D

 Rebekah

Deep Breath annnnnnd Plunge!!!

Last summer I went on the most amazing “road trip” with my best friend Bekah.  It was 30 days of just me, Beks, Amtrak, the western United States, and our 5,000 pounds of luggage.   Bekah and I had so many adventures!  Snorkeling in California, surfing in Oregon, riding a Harley in Washington, and staying with some rather sketchy folks in Montana…  I got to take my first bus ride, and walk for miles and miles when the bus route didn’t line up with where we were going.  I had the chance to step outside my comfort zone and live life to the fullest. Along the way, I learned so much about serving people and loving them where they were at.  It was one of the biggest adventures of my life, and if you had told me then that I would have the opportunity to have another crazy and life changing adventure this year, I would have raised my eyebrows, laughed, and said bring it on. 

I’m still laughing, and I’m just as ready for whatever the summer can throw at me, however my raised eyebrows give away how unusual I find the particular Asia-style challenges that I will be faced with in the coming weeks!  That’s right, the gloves are off and I’m going to be navigating the TOTALLY UNKNOWN challenges of communicating in a language I can barely order a salad in, public transportation with Black Friday type crowds all day everyday, and—most terrifying of all—the infamous squatty potty.  Yeah, let me just let that last one sink in for a moment. Squatty.  Potty.  Like you squat to use them.  *Shudder*

Have I mentioned that I’m a girly girl??? 

However, if I’m (moderately) undaunted by the thought of navigating across language barriers and employing my weed-whacker-like elbows to get me through droves of people, then certainly I can adapt to the squatty potty…right??

This, among other things, will force me to come face-to-face with the outer limits of my comfort zone as I adapt to the vast, unknown land of China.  I’ll get to see life through the eyes of citizens of one of the most ancient countries in the world.  I’ll have the opportunity to eat what they eat, sleep where they sleep, and live how they live.  For six glorious weeks, I will be encouraged everyday to throw off the boundaries of my western lifestyle and embrace the terrifying and captivating way of life in China. 

As David says in the Psalms, “The Lord is my light and my salvation…of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1-3).  God is living and active among the Chinese, and I have the opportunity to witness his provision and love as it is received in a culture that is the polar opposite of my own.  No matter what situation I find myself in, I can rest in the knowledge that God is in control, and he has a plan for me and for this trip. 

Through the culture shock, friendships, and thrilling new experiences, I expect to see evidence of God working in each situation.  I anticipate Him stretching, challenging, and transforming me more into his likeness through my experiences in China.  I want to come back renewed in Christ and ready to take on new challenges for his name in the US.  I know that God is going to do amazing things, and I’m so excited that I get to be along for the ride! 

As always, I appreciate your prayers as I embark on this adventure.  I also want to thank each one of you who donated financially to make it possible for me to have this experience!  I honestly couldn’t have done it without you, and I can’t wait to share my adventures with you through this blog :D  I intend to post as often as I can, however I will not have my laptop in China so will instead be relying on the Internet cafés that are available there.

As the Chinese say, 再见 zai jin! (until next time),

Rebekah

The End

Well friends, the trip is over!  I'm sitting on my bed in my parents house as I type this post.  The road trip was amazing, and it's crazy to think that it's done!

When I got back to San Antonio, my parents took me out to Buffalo Wild Wings (it was AMAZING to not even have to think about paying for my own food!!!!) and asked me what my favorite part of the trip was.  I paused for a moment and then said that it was getting to do something new and exciting every day.  I kind of felt like this was a cop out answer because it wasn't very specific, but I feel like it was merited because it actually pertains to the whole trip.  It takes a pretty loose word to cover such an extensive and varied trip!

The highlights of the trip (from each city) were:
Arizona: Meeting all of Bekah's awesome family, "horseback riding", and eating at Egee's.
San Diego: Snorkeling, working at the food pantry, blaring music while walking down the humongous hill after visiting Point Loma, and taking my first bus.
LA: Disneyland (shopping, riding, and eating), and making a million transfers with our outrageous amount of luggage (Bekah will definitely NOT agree with that last one!).
Sacramento: Swing Dancing and stealing wifi from Panera.
Portland: Surfing, swimming in Deep Creek, going on field trips with Darcy, Mike, and Mikayla.
Seattle: Taking the ferry, meeting people from all over the world, working at the mission, baking cookies, riding Kevin's Harley, and taking pictures with the troll under the Fremont bridge.
West Glacier: Meeting our Couchsurfers host, white water rafting in the rain, watching movies while cuddled up in bed, and eating warm huckleberry pie with huckleberry ice cream.
Chicago: Basically getting paid a lot of money to stay the night, and taking my first solo taxi ride.
Holland: Seeing Christine and Nate, giving Bekah the tour of campus (and accidentally showing her around the wrong dorm...yeah I won't be living that one down for a while!).

The interesting thing about that list, is that almost everything on it was caused or impacted by some sort of inconvenience.  If nothing else, this trip has taught me that sweating the small things does not pay off. This is mainly because, more often than not, those annoying little things are what you'll remember most when the trip is over and you're home again.  It's far preferable to laugh at yourself in the moment and in the future rather than to sulk in the moment and be embarrassed when you look back at how you handled things.  Besides, humorous stories of misfortune are the most entertaining stories of all!  (As I'm sure you know if you've been reading Bekah's blog and mine. ;)

On that note, thanks for tuning in and being a part of our trip!  I know that I for one wouldn't have been so diligent about posting every night if I hadn't been aware of all of you reading back home.  (That especially goes for my mom who made sure I knew that she expected to have something to read with her coffee each morning! ;)  God has done awesome things in Bekah and I in the past month, and it's been a pleasure to share those things with you.

I don't think I changed any lives during this trip, but my life has definitely been changed.  True to the title of this blog, I have experienced many people loving for real in each of the places we have visited in this past month.  I've seen people unselfishly serving in the missions we've worked at.  I've witnessed random strangers giving generously on the streets.  I've experienced people I didn't even know loving me when they didn't have to.  It's amazing.  God is everywhere, and I know without a doubt that he's working everywhere without making exceptions or showing distinctions.  GOD is loving for real, and it is our privilege to follow in his footsteps.

Rebekah

On the Train and In the Station

The final stop on our road trip isn’t really going as planned, but I guess everything s working our ok.  It makes for an interesting story though!  You’re in luck, because f you keep reading, you’ll get to hear that story ;)

On Monday morning Bekah and I boarded the train in West Glacier, Montana to begin our 36-hour trek through Chicago and on to Holland, Michigan and my college!  I was really excited for two reasons: first, I love the train and I was going to get my fix. And second, I was going to show Bekah Hope College, and all my favorite hangout places around campus!

Our train was two hours late picking us up in West Glacier, but that was ok because it meant that we could stay in our hotel and sleep for an extra hour.  (One of the perks of Bekah being able to check the schedule on her iphone!  We woke up early, checked the train’s status with bleary eyes, saw it was delayed, and promptly went back to sleep!  It was manna from Heaven!)

Once we boarded the train, we settled in for the longest ride of our trip.  Everything was going wonderfully.  We ate food from our cooler, watched movies, read, chatted, watched more movies, ate more, slept a little, woke up in the morning and did it all over again!  However we shook things up a little bit on our second day and went to the dining car for lunch.  SUCH a good decision!  I had the most amazing chipotle black bean burger… mmmmm!  I’m not a vegetarian, but it would be oh so easy for me to convert if I needed to for some reason! 

Shortly after lunch it became clear not only that our train was not going to make it to Chicago on time, but that Bekah and I would not be able to make our connection into Holland.  The train was about four hours behind schedule at this point, so the Amtrak people started calling travelers into the dining car and began writing up hotel and transfer vouchers for everyone who was missing their connection.  There were at least 50 such people. 

I was really disappointed when I talked to the lady and found out that we would have to spend the night and most of the day in Chicago because there is only one train that goes from Chicago to Holland per day, and that train leaves at 5:20pm.  What could we do though, right?

We finally got to Chicago around 7:30pm (We were originally supposed to get in at 3:20), and by 9:30 we were in our hotel room.  The good thing was that the voucher Amtrak gave us paid for our room, meals, and the shuttle that took us from the station to the hotel, and back to the station in the morning. 

Bekah and I adapted our plans so that we would explore Chicago today, take the train into Holland tonight, do a quick “midnight tour” of campus, and then take the train back to Chicago the next morning so she can catch her train to DC and I can catch my plane to Texas.  It’s kind of a mess, but it will work out!

We got to the station this morning and tried to get a locker so we could store our luggage and go explore the city, only to find out that all the lockers were full… yep they were ALL full.  After a brief discussion, I offered to stay in the station with our luggage while Bekah went and explored the city.  (Mainly because she has a huge list of things she wants to see and I can come back anytime.)

I’m trying my very hardest to look on the bright side, so here’s what I’ve got so far:

1)    Bekah was dying to explore, and she gets to.  Exploring=good thing!

2)    I love layovers, and now I get to prove it.  Proving points=good thing!

3)    We’ll get to Holland tonight and I’ll be able to give Bekah an exclusive midnight tour of campus instead of the regular tour that everyone gets! Ooh how fancy ;) Exclusive tour=good thing!

4)    When we get donuts at Good Time, we won’t be there until close to midnight (when all the students go anyway) and it will make perfect sense to get two donuts and keep one for breakfast on the train in the morning!  Breakfast=good thing!

5)    We’ll still get to stay the night with Christine, even if it’s only one night.  Staying with friends=good thing!

6)    We’ll get back to Chicago in time to make our connections this time.  Making connections=a VERY good thing.

7)    And finally, when our trip is over, Bekah and I will each be calling Amtrak customer service and will most likely be receiving vouchers for a free train ticket to use at a future date as compensation.  Free tickets=lovely, lovely good things. 

There we go!  I feel so much better after seeing it all laid out like that! 

Well that’s about all for now! I hope you enjoyed the story :)  Here are some of the pictures I took of Montana as we sped through on the train.  Enjoy!

Rebekah

Thoughts on New Experiences

So our stay in Montana is at a close, and our trip is wrapping up nicely.  It’s so hard to believe that this wonderful, insane plan that has been at the back of my mind for two years has become beautiful memories of the most fantastic people and places.  It’s sad to think that it’s almost over, but I wouldn’t trade a moment of it for anything.  

I’ve noticed that time seems to go faster and faster the older I get.

I remember when I was a little girl and my family would go to visit my grandparents.  Whether it was for a weekend or several weeks, I remember thinking of all the time we would have to spend together and all the wonderful things we had planned.  We would have adventures, eat delicious food, and make memories.  I would go to sleep each night so happy and ready for the next day.  Then one day I would wake up and it would be time to go home. 

I used to wish that time would stand still, and that I would be able to stay in those moments forever.  It didn’t take me long to realize that if I were to stay in those moments, I would never experience any of the moments to come. 

Every moment we live is so fleeting.  Every opportunity comes once, and then is gone forever leaving only a memory of what was, or what could have been.  I’ve learned that it’s so important to seize each moment, and live with no regrets.  A life filled with regrets is no life at all.  (No surprise, my mom was the one who taught me that!)  At least if you try something and look silly, you will have lived that moment. 

I’m still working on the execution of this idea.  As I posted a few days ago, in hindsight I notice a lot of missed opportunities, but my eyes are open and I’m not walking around in a daze.  I know I want to live life to the fullest, and I know how to do that. 

Jesus knew the secret of living life to the fullest, and that’s what he showed us through his example.  He taught in John 10 that he came so we might have life, and have it to the full.  Real life, life that is fulfilling and meaningful, is life that is lived to the glory of God. 

The kids ministry at my church has this idea down.  Their ministry is called RAFT and it stands for:

Risking everything (taking chances even when you’re not sure of the outcome)

Asking questions (being fully engaged and aware of what’s going on in people’s lives)

(something that starts with an ‘F’ that I can’t quite remember) and

Telling others (Sharing the hope and good news that we have in Jesus!)

That’s what living for God is, and that’s an adventure that will go on as long as I live!  It’s the only adventure that restarts every moment, and that’s awesome.

Rebekah

Adventures on the Water Front!

Bekah and I woke up this morning to the sound of thunderstorms.  On this, the very first rainy day of our trip, what was on our itinerary?  Oh, you know, just white water rafting ;) There’s no way the rain was going to keep us inside though! 

First things first though, we walked down to a little restaurant and got huckleberry pancakes for breakfast.  They were DELICIOUS!  To bad huckleberries only grow in this area.  I would totally get Hope to plant some huckleberry bushes on campus.  I think they would become an overnight sensation!

It was time to walk over the rafting place shortly after breakfast, and by this time the rain had lessoned from a torrential downpour to a… I don’t know a slightly less aggressive monsoon.  ;)

We got down there and the rafts were still running (because there had only been thunder and no lightning, of course!) 

We got suited up and hopped on the bus that took us to the drop site.  I was pretty excited by this point because I’ve gone rafting once before and loved it.  Last time was in Colorado though and the rapids were only class 1 with one class 3, so needless to say, I was excited for something just a tad more intense!  These rapids were mostly class 3 so I was like ok, this should be pretty good!

It helped that our guide, Mitch, was super outgoing and the other people in our boat were a family vacationing from Connecticut.  It was so easy to get comfortable with everyone and just be silly. 

I was continually surprised by how few strokes we had to take before each rest though.  We would hear “All forward!” and after two strokes I would be totally ready to dig in and Mitch would call for us to rest.  I was like, I would rest but I haven’t started working yet!  It was nice that everyone was going all out though!  It gave us more time to joke around :D

As we got close to the rapids by the photographer, we decided to go Rock Band for the photo.  Unfortunately we all chose to turn our paddles into an electric guitars and then we pretty much failed at the presentation haha the picture ended up looking like we were all totally confused as to how we were supposed to hold the paddles in order to navigate the rapids, and we looked like we were about to go flying in a million different directions.  I would definitely give us an “A” for effort though!

There was a lot of calm water between the rapids where they would normally let people jump out of the raft and swim, but the water was way to cold for volunteers today!  It also didn’t help that it was still drizzling, so we decided to let fate decide who would take the plunge.  For this game, one person had to stand on the rim at the front of the boat, and the other person (me!) stood on the rim at the rear of the boat.  Then our crew would paddle and make the boat spin in fast circles and whoever lost their balance first would (theoretically) tumble off the boat and into the water.  Sounds simple enough, right?   I thought so, but apparently I can find the exception to every rule! I (of course) lost my balance first, but instead of falling backward into the water, I face planted into the middle of the boat.  I totally squashed Mitch’s supply bag, but I saved him the trouble of heaving me back into the raft, so I assume he accepted the tradeoff. ;)

We rode a few more rapids, got splashed with gallons of 48ish degree water, and made it to the next calm spot.  This time almost everyone decided that they were going to jump in the water—including Bekah!  I was surprised, but glad that she did it.  She was so funny because before she jumped ship she said, “Ohhhh it’s going to be so cold!” half a second later she plunged into the water, and a second after that she bobbed to the surface and all she said was, “yep…”  haha that was enough to say it all!

So there you have it, today was quite the adventure!  I think next time I want to go on class 4 or 5 rapids!  Let’s up the intensity!

Speaking of intense experiences, when Bekah and I got back to our hotel room we decided to wrap up in blankets, eat pizza, and watch the Lion King 1½!  Talk about intense huh? ;) 

Rebekah

A Lesson in Flexibility

Picture this:

*15 hours on the train

*1 hour of waiting at the West Glacier station

*getting to our hosts house and discovering that she had been robbed that morning.

Can you say awkward timing???  Pam was super sweet, but it just wasn’t a good time to be crashing on her couch.  SO! What could we do besides offer to stay at a hotel instead?

Hence, a few hours later, we arrived at our hotel in downtown West Glacier.  It had a lovely lactation right next to a white water rafting place (where we’re going tomorrow!) and Glacier National Park.  It’s not quite what we were expecting during our stay in Montana, but we’ll take it! 

After we checked into our hotel, Bekah and I decided to walk around downtown and do some shopping.  What you have to understand about downtown West Glacier is that it consists of a general store, a rafting place, a bar, two restaurants, a Canadian welcome center, and about three gift shops.  We honestly did walk all over town!  We had a lot of fun, even though Bekah would argue that I took way to long to shop! ;)

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at a little café in order to sample a local favorite dessert—their warm huckleberry pie with huckleberry ice cream on top!  Apparently huckleberries are VERY popular here in Montana.  It’s not hard to see why, because the pie was absolutely delicious, and that's says a lot because I usually don’t like pie!

Even though this stop hasn’t gone exactly as we expected, I’m really excited about all the things we’re going to get to do here!  Bekah and I are spending tonight relaxing in our room.  We decided to watch ‘Did You Hear About the Morgans?’  a comedy that I thought took place in Montana, but apparently it is actually set in Wyoming…. Oops? ;)

One of my friends from Sacramento really inspired me tonight.  He shared something that happened today, and I was so moved by it that I’d like to share it with you.

Today he was approached by a homeless man, Lancet, who asked him for spare change.  Instead of just absently handing the man some change and walking away, my friend asked him share his story.  He found out that Lancet was begging for money in order to pay his rent.  My friend then shared with Lancet how he has had to rely on God as he moved to a new city and looked for a place to live and work, and how God has come through again and again and provided for him in amazing ways. 

Lancet asked if my friend would remember him in prayer, and my friend said that he would do him one better and pray with him right then, and continue to pray for him in the future.  Then he did just that, received a hug from Lancet, gave him some money, and walked away.

My friend did what we are all called to do.  He reached out to one of God’s children and he loved him.  He pointed him towards God’s love and gave him hope.  That hope is something that is so precious, and it’s something that we all take for granted and keep to ourselves. 

When I asked my friend if he had been afraid to talk to Lancet he said, “No.  What’s there to be scared of? To live in Christ and to die is gain.  If he is for [us] then who can be against us.  We do not [have] a spirit of fear, but of power. That’s what I tell myself.” 

What if we all took hold of that spirit of power and remembered that the God we serve is the God of perfect love, and perfect love drives out fear.  We have nothing to be afraid of, and if we all loved fearlessly and let God be known in and through us, what miracles God would work in our lives and in the lives of those around us! 

Before Bekah and I started this trip, I prayed that it wouldn’t just be a fun trip.  I prayed that God would show me how to love, and that I would learn how to be fearless and intentional in loving others.  That’s why we’ve been working at all of these missions.  

However, I’m ashamed to say that I’ve strayed from that prayer.  I let so many other things take priority, and I neglected my Bible study and prayer time.  As a result, there have been several instances where I have considered sharing something with someone, whether that was money or a kind word, and haven’t acted on that desire.  

It’s been difficult because as we travelled through city after city, we saw the same homelessness represented everywhere.  I knew that I couldn’t give to everyone so I just got into the habit of smiling and nodding my head as I walked passed, or even just looking away and walking past as if I were ashamed to have seen them.  I was overwhelmed and I decided to ignore what I couldn’t change instead of looking for ways I could help.

I wouldn’t trade the experiences and memories of this trip for anything, but I’m determined that the last week will not have any regrets as far as it depends on me.  I pray that God would use the remainder of the trip for his glory, and I thank him for using my friend to snap me out of this passivity and to remind me of what the goal for not just this trip but for life really is— to be intentional and to love fearlessly. 

Rebekah

The Amtrak Station in West Glacier, Montana!

Some of the GORGEOUS view

Bekah with ALL of our luggage.... 

Proof that I was in this gorgeous place!

I absolutely love this picture of Bekah :D

There were so many mountains in Montana!  And they all had
this pretty, mysterious-looking haze surrounding them :)

This has got to be the coolest mailbox I've ever seen :D

This is  why I shouldn't make faces at Bekah while she's taking pictures of me....
they never come out looking the same as I picture them in my head :/ haha