When you come to China, You really come to China.

Have you ever played the game frogger? You know the one where you are a little frog hopping from lane to lane attempting to avoid being flattened by the zooming cars or smashed by a speeding bus. Well that pretty much describes life in China, only in this game there are five hundred other frogs also trying to cross the street and all of them are staring at you as though you were the first white frog they have ever seen.
It seems strange that it was only 5 days ago I was returning my seat to its upright position in preparation for the final descent into Beijing. Once all of my belongings were placed safely beneath the seat in front of me, I had a moment to ponder what I was getting myself into. It was that moment that I smiled. The fear, the worries, the uncertainty had all disappeared; it was only excitement and amazement that filled my mind. After all the preparation, all the prayers, all the parental concern; I had arrived at my final destination. The woman sitting next to me clapped as the wheels touched down and I didn't know it if was because she was grateful for a safe landing or if, like me, she was simply excited to be here. As I disembarked, the weariness of a 13 hour flight and several sleepless nights drifted away. All I could think of was: I am in China; I am here.
It is the phrase that keeps repeating in my mind this week. I am here. (Though most of the time I couldn't tell you where here is!) Usually there is a qualifier added on to the phrase, like "I have been here five days" or "I am here for one year", but these phrases are less meaningful to me. All that I really need to know is that I am here, ready to do the bidding of the one who sent me.
This week I also keep thinking about a song; a song with the same three words, a song that I had sung many times but didn't truly understand the depth of the words until a year ago. It was a Sunday morning and I was sitting in one of the back pews of the Wheaton CRC. I pulled out the green Sing! Hymnal without thinking about it and began singing the familiar tune. My lips moved to form the words but my thoughts were elsewhere. I was thinking about China. Surely I wasn't ready to go on such a trip. China is so far away from my family and friends, all of the job contacts I have made and the nice apartment in Chicago with the rooftop patio I had been dreaming about. I had almost made up my mind that I wasn't going to go when the words I was singing sunk in:
Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.

I will go Lord if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

Well I am here. And you know what? I even have a roof top patio.