Love for Milk Tea & China

Several years ago, right before we began our family, my husband and I had the privilege of going on a trip to China. We went with a team of 10 and my father in law as our brave and fearless leader. ;)
We stayed in Hong Kong and ventured into mainland China daily. This trip is a pretty big marker in my life. This trip is when the Lord began to grow a deep love in my heart for China and it's people.
Over the last year, He began to take this love to whole new level.  He has placed a burning desire in my heart to live in China with my family. It is a feeling like I have never felt before and it only grows stronger with each new day.
I have no idea when this will happen but I believe with all that is in me, that it will happen some day. I trust that He will do all that it takes to get this family of 6 across the world and that it will happen in His perfect timing. It could be this year. It could be 5 years from now. It could be 10 years from now. As much as it pains me to say that it could be that long, I trust Him.
It is the waiting that is so very hard. I will be very honest here and say that I am one of the most impatient people that I know. THERE! I said it! (babe, if you're reading this.....not a word)  ;)
And so, I also fully believe that the Lord has great purpose in showing me this and then making me wait to see it actually play out. UGH...my flesh does NOT like this part.
But, I trust Him.

I was looking through our photo album from our trip years ago and sharing with my children about some of the pictures.
We talk about the possibility of the Lord moving us to China, the kids and I. We talk about the Lord's purpose in our lives. We share in the excitement of how He may choose to use our family. The kids get excited.
We look at books about China from the library sometimes. We even listen to a cd we bought that is teaching us how to speak Mandarin.
I believe in being open and honest with my children. I want them to know that there is a whole world out there, beyond the city in which they live. I want them to think about others and be open to how God may choose to use them.
I took photos of some of my photos to share with you.
Will you come along on a little journey to China with me?

 A beautiful park in the middle of the city. We walked through this park every morning from our flat to get breakfast.

We sat and drank our coffee and ate our breakfast outside, looking out at the harbor.

Loved watching these women on the harbor one morning. This is one of my favorite photos.

Hong Kong Harbor

The street food vendors were one of my husband's favorite things. He was so looking forward to enjoying a special little treat that he remembered having as a kid when they lived in China.

His special treat.....SQUID on a stick!
That man could not get enough of squid; squid on a stick, dried squid...you name it! He loves the street vendors while I steered clear of them!

Market!
We got to go experience one of the many market's one evening. It was really so much fun. You can find just about anything you could possibly imagine there.

We also got to take a ferry ride to Cheung Chau island.  This was super cool because this is where my husband and his family spent 5 years of their lives.
He has spoken fondly of Cheung Chau many times and his childhood memories there so it was really cool that he got to visit again and that I got to see a glimpse into his childhood.
His family has always said what a wonderful place this island was to raise children and I totally understand that now.
The photo above is one of the apartments they lived in on the island.

Lots of walking, bike riding and exploring. :)

A group of older ladies chatting outside the market one morning. I believe this is actually a photo my brother took. I love this one.
And, oh yes, my brother got to take this trip with us too which made it even more special for me!

Amazing. These photos just don't do it justice.
I love this shot because he is so small standing next to the vast ocean and on top of the large rock. Such a picture of our humanity. We are so small in comparison to God and His plan; that's a good thing to remember. The more He increases in my life, the more "I" should decrease.

I LOVE this shot so much. In the midst of the crazy busy street and the signs displayed in Chinese, there appeared this message, "JOY AND PEACE."
This one speaks for itself.

Our team before heading to minister with a local church body for the evening. WOW, we look so young in this photo....which makes me feel old now!

A shot taken out of the window of the building we were meeting in one evening.

And this lovely little package of goodness. I am not sure how I spent 2 weeks in China and never tasted this....oh wait, I do. I drank iced coffee like it was going out of style!
Daspri just recently introduced me to this little favorite of hers and I am so thankful! It is so delicious!
Remember, Daspri is my sister-n-law, so this was a glimpse into her childhood too!

While I am not big at all on new year's resolutions, I am super excited to see what the Lord has in store for this new year.
Do I hope that He has China in store for us this year?  Well, yes, of course I do.
But ultimately, I want what He wants and has for us and if that does not include China at all this year, then I am good with that.
It is hard at times to feel something so certain in your heart and so passionately and then have to wait. I am not good at waiting nor am I good with the whole "not knowing." But I know that this is something that the Lord has placed inside my heart and I trust Him, with whatever He chooses to do with it.  It's exciting!
I am ready to leave it all behind and go wherever He takes us. The thought of doing that does not worry me at all, which is totally ALL God!
Why am I sharing this with you?
Because I trust that God will do this, someday, and I want to share that day with you when it comes too. How cool will that be!
Any chance I have to share what God is doing....I want to do that. :)

What are you hoping for in this new year?

-Jenny