“He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."Have you ever been heartbroken? So has He! How did you react? He reacted with love! Completely separated and cast out of the Garden, one might be fooled into thinking it was punishment, but it was love!
Had we stayed in the Garden, with access to the Tree of Life, we might have obtained eternal life in our fallen state, and thereby obtained eternal separation from a Father that loves us. The only option that allowed for a future reconciliation included the banishment from the Garden. The only option that allowed a loving Father to have a relationship with his children might have been viewed as punishment or vengeance, but it was Love!
These were some of the thoughts that Shannon shared with us earlier this week, and I have been thinking about them since then. As I sit here in China, there are times when I long for home, but in a larger sense I realize that it’s not “Maryland” that I desire; It’s the “Garden” and the complete reconciliation between the Father and his children.
“For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”
Why we are grateful this week:
1) The entire IECS teacher team is finally in China!
2) We were in Tianjin on Sunday to visit with Wil & Courtney Corder and Newt, & Claire Hetrick.
Please continue to “think” about us:
1) Jess and Jess Shamblee have had some very deep conversations with a student that we have known for over a year. Please remember them in your thoughts.
2) Please remember Tony & Lily. Lily is still looking great. She is due in about 3 weeks.
3) As we settle into our 4th week of classes, our immune systems are starting to fail us. This is fairly common for me at the beginning of every school year. With 200 students coming from different locations, I usually catch something! Right now it’s just a “head cold.” When I wake up in the morning, my voice is weak and my nose is running. After a Dayquil, Halls, Coffee, and a few good sneezes, I’m fine. However, I’d like to be done with this cold, and I’m hopping that nobody else has to deal with their own version of this cold. Jess and Shannon have also been feeling under the weather.
4) Peter’s twin brother, Connor, is a Marine Officer and he will be deployed to Iraq at the end of the month.
5) Jess and I have once again posted the pictures of our students on facebook. Please remember them in your thoughts. We will tag their names to the pictures within the next week.
Brad’s classes: Sophomore Business Class 1, Sophomore Business Class 2, Freshman Applied Class 1, Freshman Applied Class 2, & Freshman Applied Class 3
Jess’ classes: Junior Business Class 1, Junior Business Class 2, Sophomore Oral English Class 1, Sophomore Oral English Class 2, Freshman Applied Class 2, & Freshmen Oral English Class 3
6) The students have asked us to be guests at one of their student lead English Clubs. It’ll be this Monday night, and it should be fun. Peter and Shannon have been asked to speak about Love & Marriage. Jess Shamblee will introduce herself to the students.
7) We will have three English Clubs on the western campus, and the final dates are set: October 10th, November 14th, and December 12th. We are still working on the three dates for the main campus English Clubs that we would like to organize.
8) Peter and I will be having lunch weekly with a couple guys, and the girls will be meeting with a few students on a weekly basis as well. We are hoping that this will be a great time of learning for all of us.
9) Wil and Courtney Corder, arrived in Tianjin for a year of teaching last Thursday. The two of them are alone in a foreign town and dealing with jet lag. They start classes on Monday morning. Please remember them in your thoughts.
10) Please remember the “Communication Guidelines” when communicating directly with anyone in China!
Going the second mile and loving it,
Brad
