slice of life – Page 9

Suzhou & Tongli, China

Suzhou was an experience of surprises and fun! Our friends Song & Sarah invited us to visit them there. We got an education in entertainment in Sozhou! From the Cultural Center where I belted out Italian Opera, to the private karaoke rooms…what a hoot! The theatre was showing some of the same movies we’d left behind on the silver screen in the USA. The silk factory was fascinating and the water & fire show at night rivaled Vegas. I was especially amused by the squatty potty…I can honestly say it was the ONLY TIME in my life I wished I was a guy!

Song & the boys showed us around The Lion Garden while Sarah took Allie back home for a nap.

The last set of pictures is Tongli, where I spent a day trip for my birthday. Those water bubbles were a blast and for part of the afternoon we got to experience the life of Chinese royalty! Princess Di…Asian style.

Now That’s OLD! {some notes on my birthday…}

{Originally written June 10, 2008}

Some who know me well have accused me of planning this trip to China to coincide with my birthday because I wanted to avoid the surprise birthday party replete with black balloons and a cake bearing the words “old Fart” inscribed in frosting. Others who are familiar with my attraction for men “short, dark & Asian” have claimed I’ve come to China simply because I am tired of being single…the ratio of men to women is an amazing 30:1. I take umbrage at both accusations. Though I do so grinning…30 to 1? Really? Hmm.

I didn’t tell my friends here that today was my birthday because I wanted it to myself…to reflect & pray & celebrate all the goodness that the Lord has lavished on me over the years. Also, as a guest in their home, I didn’t want my friends to feel they had to make a fuss. All that went out the window when Matt called from Colorado and left the message with my host, “Tell her I called…I wouldn’t want mom to think I missed her birthday.” Secretly, Song immediately launched into conquering a birthday cake and Sarah busied the boys with making cards for me. No one let on all day that they knew.

The day began with an unusual “quiet time”…Bible reading in Isaiah while construction roared all around us & horns blared in traffic. One glance to the streets 15 stories below where 6 rows of cars straddling 4 lanes reminded me that lanes are merely a suggestion here, not a mandate. God’s word urged me to “cease to dwell on days gone by & to brood over past history” & he continued “here & now I will do a new thing, this moment it will break from the bud. Can you not perceive it?” {Isaiah 43:18-19}. “My witnesses are you, my servants, you whom I have chosen, to know me & put your faith in me and to understand that I am he.” {43:10} I received again the commission in Isaiah 58:3-12…my purpose for living though I felt I was reading it with fresh eyes, embracing it as if for the first time.

The bulk of the day was spent in Tongli, an ancient city on canals…with 15 rivers, 5 lakes, & 49 bridges joining 7 islands, this awe-inspiring town has often been called the “Venice of Asia”. Depending on which brochure you read, the city’s ancestry dates between 4,000-6,000 years back. Regardless, Tongli is OLD. I smiled as I pondered God’s sense of humor… turning “39 again” pales in comparison to this place! We enjoyed strolling throughout the narrow streets, thankful that the rain had driven away most of the tourists and the place was quiet, peaceful, almost deserted. Though no one here speaks the slightest English the locals gave friendly smiles & calculators served to interpret prices, each of us fussing in our own language “too much”, “not enough”. Ultimately they were happy to bargain with one of the few customers they would see all day. We delighted in a boat ride meandering through the canals and played dress up in Emperor & Empress style attire at one of the gardens. Later, in a huge air bubble on one of the rivers, it didn’t take me long to decide to simply float & leave the “walking on water” to Jesus!

With plans to meet Sarah & Song for dinner, we returned to Suzhou. Three year old Dillon could hardly wait for me to get cleaned up before he came to my room, took my hand & directed me, “close your eyes”, led me to the dining room where a small host of friends & my younger son Zech shouted “surprise” & burst into a chorus of “Happy Birthday to You”. The cake beckoned us to eat dessert first before we left for dinner. It was touching and a sweet time.

The evening culminated in Chinese theatre at Master of Nets…an interesting experience in that we moved from room to room in an ancient Chinese home to enjoy 7 different cultural performances including opera, drama, and several different types of instruments being performed by locals robed in traditional Chinese ancestral attire.

After everyone else had gone to bed Sarah & I sat up sharing our hearts and praying together ‘til after 1 a.m. A burden for the lost people of China washed over me as we poured out ourselves to the Lord for unsaved friends. I finished this very long day prompted once again to read in Isaiah…

“My people shall live long life as a tree, and my chosen shall enjoy the fruit of their labor. They shall not toil in vain or raise children for misfortune,” {65:22}… “no longer will you be deserted…I will make you an eternal pride & a never-ending JOY” {60:15} “Let me rejoice with all my heart, let me exult in my God, for he has robed me in salvation as a garment & clothed me in integrity as a cloak” {61:10}… “The spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me; He has sent me to bring good news to the humble, to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to those in prison” {61:1}…

God is up to something…I feel it in my spirit. To say that this was my best birthday ever would be an understatement.

How Great this Wall

“Though the mountains move & the hills shake, my love shall be immovable and never fail, and my covenant of peace shall not be shaken” {Is 54:10}

What surprised me the most about the Great Wall at Badaling wasn’t the vastness of it that extended beyond the imagination, it wasn’t the steepness of the steps that rendered me breathless not even halfway through our climb, it wasn’t the commercialism of merchants peddling souvenirs along the paths or even the dopes who shopped there & had to pack their wares up the grueling incline…it was the Kenny G music wafting out from mini-speakers all along the trek. Kenny G music? Are they kidding? Our tour guide tells me it is to contribute to the tranquility of the experience. Okay, if you say so. The climb was exhilarating and the views defy description. We paused in the middle of the experience to give thanks for a delicious, nutritious chicken sandwich and enjoy a picnic on the Wall. And though Zech hassled me, accusing me of extending the break cos I was “too old to keep up”, I took some extra time to pray by name for friends and family and to praise God for this glorious scene. On the way down, I caught up with Zech, even passed him. Okay, so I was wildly sliding on the handrail at warp-speed but hey, it brought significant relief from leg cramps and it was fun to blow past the kid who starred in utter amazement at his mom’s craziness.

Since we were on our own private tour, on the way back we got a special surprise from our driver. He pulled off to let us see the section of the wall known as Ju Yong Pass. We were so exhausted from the day, we took pictures from the bottom of the hill!

Interesting facts I learned today from our tour guide…Beacon towers on the wall used smoke signals to communicate with commanders afar the number of enemy attackers—1 puff of smoke = 50 soldiers, 2 smokes = 100, 3 smokes = 500 or more; the War towers were soldiers’ residences; it took one fifth of the Province’s population 200 years to build 6,700 kilometers {4165 miles}; people who died in the building of the wall were buried within the wall, and my name in Chinese is broken up into 3 separate characters meaning Di—pretty, an—safe, and na—beautiful. If you say my name really fast, it means “pretty safe and beautiful”. I kinda like that last statement though I’ve no idea what that has to do with anything we saw today.

NOTE: No disrespect to Kenny G, okay…I LOVE saxaphone music…but if you wanna hear sax music that will blow your socks off, check this out: www.robertpwilliams.com This guy is annointed!