Up on the roof

It's a "double-blogger" Wednesday...I am feeling extra inspired to write this week, so here I am again. Hopefully the internet will hold up long enough to get this posted in a timely manner :)

As I mentioned in my previous post, this was the first week we've had without rain in almost a month. In fact, the weather has been pretty near perfect here this week. Not too cold, not too hot; keep the windows open kind of good. On Tuesday afternoon I decided to spend a little time up on the roof studying. At one point during my time there I looked up and saw a bright blue sky and white puffy clouds. Suddenly, it hit me...the sky was blue! I know at this point you are thinking "so what?" but what you don't know is that I have not seen a blue sky since I arrived in Luoyang. Yes, we've had days without rain, but even on those days there is this grayish-yellowish tint to the sky and even though you know the sun should be shinning, it's more like a low glowing circle in the sky that you can stare at directly without even squinting. So now that you know, you can imagine my excitement when I noticed the sky was blue.

I have been reading this book over the past two months called One Thousand Gifts. In it, the author talks about the importance of giving thanks in all things and for all things. As she passes her days, her eyes are opened to everyday things that she had never really paid attention to before, daily graces that the Father has given to her. It has challenged me to really keep my own eyes open to those things that I may normally count as ordinary and to see them for what they are, gifts from my Father. Over the past month, a few of those gifts have included: waking to the sound of babies crying, walking in bare feet, laughing with new friends, the feeling of home, hearing a familiar voice on the other end of a call, emails, sleeping with the windows open, the way Isaac's eyes disappear when he laughs, a good latte', hearing Fahlin say "Becca", blowing kisses, daisies....I could go on and on, but you get the point. Today, I can add blue skies to my list of gifts. As I talked with my friend Laura on Tuesday evening and I shared with her the joy I had found in my blue sky experience, her response was "you know, we can send you chocolate and coffee, and other things you love, but we can't send you a blue sky." As simple as that may sound, it was a great reminder that this was a gift from the Father, and I thank Him for opening my eyes to see it for what it is. On most days I am fully blind to all the graces surrounding me, but on this occasion, I am thankful that He allowed me to see and appreciate.

I will leave you all with a little song my sweet friend Abbey "rewrote" for me during my move to Maria's. It's an old song by Watermark, and each time I have moved, she has changed the words around to fit my new place and space. Being that it's September, I thought it would be fitting to share...

(I have italicized her inserts to the song)

Well it's sweltering hot September
and the leaves have fallen true in Luoyang
And I do believe I'm still in love with You
Yeah, my scenery keeps changing
and sometimes it's hard to view
But You've let me see so much since I've known You
But I headed to where it seemed like nowhere
You told me You'd come
You told me You'd meet me here

So I've settled here, and that is that
For You to show me who I am
You had to take me to a country I'd never been
And all the things I dreaded most
about the things unseen
Have now become the sweetest part of me
And though I headed to where it seemed like nowhere
I knew You would come,
I knew You would meet me in China


And You were to say,
"Welcome to Maria's
I know you've traveled far
And it's a lot more foreign and isolated here
than what you're used to
And I know, that in the winter time
things aren't what they used to be
So all you really have here now, is Me..."

Our rooftop view at Maria's Big House

Our rooftop haven

I can see clearly now the rain is gone...

It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright, bright sunshiny day!