Justice

I've never really understood injustice or been closely associated with injustice until recently.  It's never been too close to home for me to really think about.  But now I have seen it first hand, and know how God can overcome and fight for the innocent.

There are so many verses about fighting for justice.
Isaiah 10:1-2 says, "Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people..."
One of our Chinese friends, Holly, and her husband have just faced an uphill battle here in Beijing because of the law of the land.  They moved to Beijing about 6 years ago from a small village town so that they could make more money and have better education opportunities for their son.  They went on to have a daughter as well who is ready for public school.  Basically, if your family, including your extended family were not born in Beijing, you are not given the right to attend the Beijing public school system.  This is a way to deter people from moving to the city in order to limit the growth of an already overcrowded city. It would be like Jeff and I who both grew up in Sedalia, move to Blue Springs and they not accept Jack and Grace because they don't have to.  IF you have enough guanxi (know the right people) or have enough money, then you can "find a spot" in one of the schools.  Going to the right elementary school, will get you into the right middle school, and so on because only some of the high schools prepare you well enough for university.  So, it all begins now.

Well, if you can't get into the Beijing public school system, you can either pay a little money to go to a migrant school for migrant workers families or the child can go back to the family's hometown and live with grandparents.  Anyone who knows Chinese cultures knows that children living with grandparents is extremely common.  A lot of times it is actually the grandparents who do most of the child rearing while the parents work full-time jobs.  This is not what Holly and her husband desire.  They want their daughter to stay here in Beijing with them.  They did look into the migrant school, but like I said before, if she starts at a migrant school, then there will be hardly a chance for her to attend the Beijing public schools later.  

So, for months now, they have been trying to find a public school that would "have enough room" and accept her. But they were getting the run around.  "Not enough room" was the answer given by most.   As of last week, they had pretty much given up hope of her attending here and were starting to prepare for her to go back to their hometown.  But, through continued prayer, the prayers of their small group, the prayers of so many people, and the work of the Holy Spirit putting ideas and energy into the hearts of people, today was a VICTORY day!

After acquiring the correct documents from their hometown, having a family member bring them to Beijing, then her husband and daughter going back and forth around the city by public bus all day yesterday collecting more documentation, paperwork, and talking with people, there was a glimmer of hope.  Then today, with the help of some dear, giving friends who helped them meet with some more people and get more paperwork filled out, she was accepted to a Beijing school!!! This was the LAST day that schools were registering children and by 5:30 this evening, she was registered.  She will start tomorrow!
 
Isaiah 5:23 says, "Woe to those...who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent."

God performed a miracle here in Beijing.  He proved himself to their family and gave them a great testimony to share with family and friends!  When Holly got the call today she was overcome with relief and joy.  She KNOWS it was God, she trusts in God and sees Him at work.  I am so excited that I just got to witness the whole thing and be blessed by watching.  

Isaiah 30:18 says, "Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion.  For the Lord is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for him!"

Seasons

Hello there.  "To everything there is a season..." and recently, it has been a season of neglecting my blog.  For various reasons, I have put the blog on the back burner for a while, mainly because I have felt like I really don't have anything "new" to say.  We have been here for over a year now, the honeymoon phase is over, and there aren't as many "in your face" new experiences taking place.  So, I did not want to write entries on the blog that had no meaning, purpose, etc.  But NOW....I feel like I have some things to share!

When we were home in the U.S. and upon my "leave of absense" from my blog writing, I have received so many wonderful words of encouragement about the blog.  Several people have said, " you haven't written on your blog for a while, what's going on?"  Thank you, your words have lifted me and reminded me that this is a platform to share what it is like living in a different country....very different, our reactions as a family, and that I get to share the thoughts that God puts into my mind and heart.

Coming back from our trip to the U.S. was harder this time for me.  It was harder for me to adjust to less conveniences, weather, lack of summer activities, and the Chinese culture and people in general.  There's a bit more to the process of taking the kids swimming here, it's not as easy as hopping in your car.  Also, the public parks are very different, you actually are not supposed to play on the grass.  We also got back and most of our friends/the kids' friends were still on holiday back in their home countries.  (They call it "holiday" not "vacation" like we do.) So, I was in a funk for a while.  The kids and I were having fun doing different things and I remained positive with them.  But, I spent a lot of time with the Lord trying to "fix" what was going on in my heart.  I was trying to come up with all sorts of things/reasons why I was having a hard time and what the remedy could be, when in actuality, God was asking me to just CHOOSE to be happy.  There are many wonderful things about living here and I just needed to think on those things.
 Philippians 4:8. 
"Finally brothers, whatever is true,

Beijing Planning exhibition with models of the whole city

God wanted us here for this season!

whatever is noble,

whatever is right,

Making rainbow cards for the apartment employees

Peeling edamame with Miss Holly

whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely,

Beijing winters are so cold, I knitted Grace a neck warmer.

She likes to "do the loops" for me while I knit.

whatever is admirable-

if anything is excellent or praiseworthy

Junior Masterchef with Mommy

Parfaits

Lollipop cookies

think about such things."

Watercolor painting on the balcony

Central Park near our apartment

Soaked after getting caught on our bicycles in a rainstorm

The down pour once we got inside.

It is things like the last two pictures that I know our children will never forget.  We were far away from our apartment eating dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.  Jeff and I had not paid attention to the weather forecast.  While eating, the wind began to pick up, it began getting dark outside, and the servers started to roll the roof covering down.  We jetted out of there and began pedaling home as fast and as safely as we could.  It started sprinkling and by the time we rolled into our apartment parking lot it was raining.  But then, as we literally pulled under the car park roof, it began to downpour!!  We parked our bikes and ran through the lot to the building.  We were soaked, but so thankful that we had made it home before the Heavens opened up!

At last, Jack's good friend arrived back in Beijing!!

Sitting at a cafe with their family, catching up after the summer holiday.

Back to School!

All of us were excited and ready to get back to school, meet our new teachers, and see all of our friends!!  We feel very fortunate that our kids love their school!

So, I will be writing again!