Retreat

Ten years ago, God brought a young woman into our family. She was a college freshman, far from her parents who lived in Taiwan. The "reason" she was introduced to us was that she was an amazing cellist and our son, Andrew, 8 at the time, was learning to play the cello. The real reason she was introduced to us by a perceptive professor friend was that she was in need of family and a bit of loving shelter, a place to think of as home and friends to nurture her. She came to visit from time to time, shared meals with us, played the cello, and became a part of our family.

This past weekend Jenn and I had a retreat together. She has lived in Beijing for seven years now and flew here to Xiamen to spend a very precious few days together. We headed to a hotel near the beach and enjoyed....

early morning quiet time at the beach,
swimming laps in the pool, in the early morning and after dark,
sitting under an umbrella poolside, reading and talking for hours,
eating grilled seafood and Chinese food under the stars a stone's throw from sea,
walking along the boardwalk at night,
taking a ferry around Gulangyu Island,
walking the old, winding streets of Gulangyu to visit the pearl shop,
eating noodles,
praying together on a covered bench above crashing waves on a boulder strewn beach.
watching kiteboarders.
talking about marriage, the Bible, faith, trials, answered prayer, God's goodness,
worshiping with believers from the US, Australia, France, Nigeria, Uganda, Tonga, the Philippines and more,
eating Indian food,
getting a Chinese massage,
just being together...

Our times together are few and far between but the distance between us and the length of time between visits seem to have no bearing at all on how quickly we pick right up, dive right in, and dig down deep into the stuff of our lives. This past weekend, we had many great conversations, a lot of laughter, a few tears, times of rejoicing and dreaming, and a whole lot of fun.

She kept saying, "I can't believe you're in China."

I couldn't believe it either.

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