Long-distance, long-time!

I was deleting my 1000+ emails (mostly from facebook) when I suddenly remembered that I have a xanga page! I was surprised (in a good way) to find that a few people still use it to blog. I used to be so addicted to my xanga...it helped me process my thoughts and opinions in a non-confrontational way. I've gotten rather rusty and have started processing my opinions on other people since being in China because blogs are blocked there. Hmmm...maybe I'll employ the Ryan from The Office style of blogging--he made a blog for Creed which was just a Word document titled something stupid like "creed'sblog.com" and saved it to his desk top.

Perhaps while I'm home this summer I'll start blogging again...maybe.

Either way, hi to all my old xanga friends! :)
 okbye!
Catie

Random thoughts

Last week, our entire school took the SAT's. That's right...the entire school. Did  you know they have standardized tests for 4-YEAR OLDS?! It was really neat to see how smart my kids are, but it was funny to me that we give our diverse students a test designed specifically for American kids in American schools. One of the questions on my test (remember, for the 4-year-olds) was, "Who was the first president of the United States? JFK, Abraham Lincoln, or George Washington." Do 4-year-olds in America even know who JFK was? Oh man...as interesting as it was, it just reinforced to me the fact that standardized testing may be good for gathering data and determining if the students are at so-called grade level, but overall I think they're a waste of time and just add to the stress of learning!

Here's the break-down of our school's diversity:

NATIONALITY	NUMBER	PERCENT
Australia	1	0.4%
Canada	10	4.3%
Federal Republic of Nigeria	3	1.3%
Hong Kong	4	1.7%
Japan	5	2.1%
Malaysia	11	4.7%
People's Republic Of China	8	3.4%
Republic of Korea	114	48.5%
Republic of the Philippines	3	1.3%
Singapore	13	5.5%
Switzerland	2	0.9%
Taiwan	3	1.3%
Thailand	1	0.4%
The Netherlands	2	0.9%
United Kingdom	2	0.9%
United States of America	53	22.6%
	235	100.0%

I graduated up to book 2 in my Chinese lessons. These are the characters I can read and write so far: 我 你 他 她 一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 是 们 门 请 笔 给 要 两 都 那 哪 什么 吗 妈妈 不 也 问 这 有 好 的 人 个 万 千 白 口 飞 月 水 心 

I can say/understand a lot more than that, but most of the book I was in used "pinyin" which is the phonetical spelling of the Chinese language. That makes it a lot easier to start with!

你 给  我 这 个 笔. "You give me that pen"

我 的 妈妈 要 四 个 笔. "My mom wants 4 pens"

这 是 什么？ "This is what?"

我 要 辣 椒。 "I want hot chilli peppers"

I don't know many nouns except for you, me, him/her, them, etc. That makes using characters not very exciting  yet, as I get tired of talking about pends. But the character "bi" for "pen" is fun. It looks kinda like a face to me. 笔

Well, there's your Chinese lesson for the day. I leave for the island of Hainan in 2 days...and I am SO excited for some sunshine and beach reading!!

okbye

don't understand

Well, as of last night, the Steven Curtis Chapman China tour is no longer making a stop in Chengdu.

Our original venue cancelled on us 2 days ago, just 3 weeks before the concert date. We were then left to find a new venue, which would add an extra 20,000 rmb in addition to the original 40,000 rmb we had to cover. Our community just doesn't have the funds to cover that kind of money.

In one way, I am so disappointed because I feel like we failed. My competitive go-get-'em nature does not like to give up easily, and I feel like we went down without much of a fight.

On the other hand, I know it was a wise decision to make. If we don't have the money, it would not be fair to anyone involved to go blindly into the situation just hoping we somehow got the money. Granted, HE could provide for us at the last minute, but we cannot jump into it stupidly. Bethany compared it to jumping in front of a mack truck saying "I trust that G*d will protect me!"

I've been reading through a lot of my previous entries, some back as far as two and a half years ago. I used to write some really great stuff on here! I was challenging myself and making myself laugh...I used to be funny! I'll work on getting the humor flowing again.

okbye

hopeless or hopeful?

When I was younger, I was always encouraged when I thought about my generation of believers. I used to think "We'll all get older and get married and raise more G*dly children and then soon there will be strong believers everywhere!" Good thought, bad math. I wasn't taking into account the fact that unbelievers outnumber us significantly, and they also are reproducing, some at a frightening rate!

I am a die-hard American Idol fan, and I am SO IMPRESSED with Idol Gives Back. For those who don't know, (how can you not know about this?!) it is a night filled with A-list stars and musicians who come together to use their celebrity to raise money for 6 different charities around the world. It was a two-hour show filled with performances and videos, and I was moved to tears at multiple times. Through this night they raised MILLIONS of dollars which will be distributed to those in need both in America and in Africa. After the show, I was talking with Bethany about it and it was neat to hear her views and share my own. She was saddened by the show, because to her it pointed out 1) there are people in other places in the world (i.e. China, middle east, etc.) who are not receiving this assistance; 2) they may be receiving food and shelter, but their spirits are still lost; 3) there seems to be so much hurting that no amount of money will solve the problem.

I can understand all of these things, but want to point out a few more things. Each of us, redeemed or not, were created in His image and have the capability of displaying characteristics of Him. Idol Gives Back was a huge example of a bunch of fallen people demonstrating His generosity, grace, mercy, love, and compassion. I was so encouraged by this display and can only hope that some will come to know His Truth as a result of this evening. I believe He can use even the unredeemed to accomplish his purpose; in fellowship this Sunday we talked about how He could do all things in this world in the blink of an eye but instead He chooses to use us. And His plan is not de-railed by our screw-ups--we cannot stop His Will from being accomplished. He will use who He can in whatever ways He chooses to do what He wants!

So, from all these things I see a hopeless world in a hopeful situation. We as an entire world are lost, fallen, and it's getting worse. The earth is deteriorating, our bodies are deteriorating, and things cannot be put back to "the way they used to be". That's against the laws of nature--we cannot go from confusion to order, only the other way around. That is so incredibly hopeless. I feel helpless and useless when I think about the immensity of the problems in this world.

BUT THERE IS HOPE! We know the Truth, and right now the world is so ready to hear it. Those of you in America may not see this so much, but if you would take a look at the rest of the world, they are craving the Truth that we have. There is a movement called Back to Jerusalem...I can't talk about it on here, but google it. It will seriously blow your mind and make you realize that American believers aren't necessarily the key players in the spread of the Truth anymore. We know that He is coming again, very very soon. He could come while you eat your lunch or check your facebook for the millionth time. It could be while you wash your hair or watch tv.

What are doing today to bring hope to this hopeless world?

Everything We Do

Since being in China, I've been overwhelmed with so many new things to learn that it's hard to pin point what each lesson actually is. One that I've been able to identify is that everything I do can be used by Him if I am walking with Him. Related to that, I've been reminded of the Veggie Tales song, "Little guys can do big things, too". One not-so-spiritu*l example: Our school did a coin drive/competition over the period of a week. My class is the smallest, not just in age, but in numbers also. However, we proved Veggie Tales correct and sailed through to win the coveted pizza party and bragging rights! tehe

My life has been busier than usual because I've been handed a unique opportunity I never expected--Steven Curtis Chapman is coming to China and will be doing a concert in my city...and I get to plan it! WHOA! I'm just so thankful for this opportunity to use my organizational skills and meet more people here. At the same time, I'm shocked to be the one doing this--I'm working with people who speak Chinese or who have lived here for years; I barely speak Chinese and I've only been here 8 months. I'm 24, delegating jobs to people older than me...some significantly so. I'm reminded of Timothy, when he was told not to let people look down on him because he is younger.

Still working on re-entering the blog world...I'm a little rusty.