Check it off the bucket list...

It's interesting when you're getting ready to leave somewhere that you seem to be able to come up with a list of a million things you need to do before you go. Even if you've been in a place for years (or just three months like me) and had plenty of time to see it all, you can always come up with that one last thing that needs to be seen or explored. So as I was nearing the end of my time in Beijing/Qingyundian, my friends and I decided that it was necessary to create a bucket list with the things that we felt must be done before we left for the holidays. So after much thought and planning we determined our Beijing bucket list...

Item #1: Beijing Acrobat Show

So yes, I know there are Chinese acrobat shows in the States, but surprisingly enough, I've never actually been to one even in the States so why not see my first in China? This seemed like the perfect idea to me so it just had to go on the list. Over and over again before we went, Chinese and foreign friends alike kept saying, "It's one of the scariest and most nerve-racking experiences of your life. You better get ready..." In response I would just laugh, but I can see now that what they meant. In all honesty, they were kind of right...it was absolutely amazing and pretty crazy! The acrobats did things I would have never imagined and I was so impressed...

Item #2: KTV

KTV is something that the Chinese LOVE and I must confess that I'm pretty fond of it myself...what is KTV you ask? Well its karaoke. Not too fond of karaoke? Well don't you worry. This isn't your normal, American karaoke. It's so much better. You basically rent a private room with all your friends complete with your own sound system, TV screen with music videos and lyrics, and the freedom to sing your heart out without judgment from strangers...so we got a group of foreigners and Chinese staff members together for a night of fun, laughter and reminders of why we aren't all professional singers as we sang our hearts out to some classics like Michael Jackson, Backstreet Boys, Elton John, Christina Aguilera, Usher, and some Chinese songs that I could not sing a word of...

Item #3: Olympic Park

Confession: I love the Olympics. And until the day I can attend them myself, I have to resort to being glued to my TV every two years with the rest of the world, waiting for the day when I can be there in person. I don't know what it is about these games, but I think they're so great. The events, the traditions, the athletes, the world's countries coming together to compete, and especially the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. And who can forget the amazing display that China put on during their ceremonies for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Incredible. Such beauty and national pride all wrapped into an amazing performance. I loved it.

So being the Olympics and China fan that I am, I just had to visit the site of such a wonderful event. So one afternoon, my friends and I made the trip to the Olympic park to see the Beijing Bird's Nest, the Water Cube, and the National Indoor Stadium...

Item #4: Visit Shepherd's Field Children's Village

The Beijing area has several foster homes that take in special needs orphans similar to ND. One of these very well-known foster homes is the Philip Hayden Shepherd's Field Children's Village. So one Saturday we made the trip to see how a sister foster home is run and to see the kids that are being blessed through their work. As you can imagine, we met so many precious smiling faces while we were there that just melted our hearts...

Item #5: Beijing Christmas Tree Lighting

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go. There's a tree in the Grand Hotel, and one in the park as well. The sturdy kind that doesn't mind the snow..." So who doesn't love a good Christmas song? And a beautiful tree? And the lights? Although these things don't make it Christmas time, they're wonderful to see as simple joys of the holiday season. Fortunately, one Beijing "grand hotel" decided to make it "look a lot like Christmas" in the city one weekend by having a Christmas tree lighting in their lobby complete with carols sung by a choir of cute little Chinese angels and Christmas cookies. It was a treat and made it feel just a little more like Christmas in the air...

 

Looking back over this bucket list and reflecting upon my time in Beijing, I realize that while these things seemed important, it was the people that I did them with and the kids that I got to love in Beijing that meant the most. Going into this journey, if there was any #1 thing on my "Beijing Bucket List," it was to let Christ teach me how to love and then to pour out as much love as possible into the lives of those around me. ND's "catchphrase" is "Love can make a difference," and I will attest that they live out that phrase in word and deed, and encourage their staff and volunteers to do so as well. Love comes in so many shapes and sizes. It might mean laughing with friends; it might mean holding a child; it might mean teaching a student English; it might mean talking to someone so they know they're important; and it might mean just a smile in the direction of a lonely face. All-in-all, it really does make a difference though. Love requires time and to truly love someone, you have to take a chance on forming a relationship. Relationships are never easy- they push us and pull on our hearts, and they cause us to have to really examine ourselves and what's in our hearts. But in the end, when a genuine relationship based on love is formed, everything- the smiles, the tears, the laughs, the inconveniences- were worth it all.

It's funny that usually when you've lost something, only then do you begin to recognize the value in it. We all know what this looks like. This principle applies to the smallest things in our lives...like the one shoe that's missing from the pair that you haven't worn in five years, but because you can't find it, that's the pair you want to wear today. And it applies to the biggest things as well...I knew it wouldn't be easy saying goodbye to the ND staff, my new friends, and most of the all, the kids, but I thought I was prepared for it a little more. Graciously, I could feel our Father preparing my heart as my time in Beijing drew to a close, but there's just something about relationships built upon love that never quite allow you to be ready to say goodbye. It was when I had to say goodbye that I began to realize just how much I had poured out my heart and life into these people over such a short amount of time...

Whether it was some of the older kids...

Our foster home nannies...

Some of our preschoolers and toddlers...

New friends...

Or my precious CCU babies...

It wasn't easy saying goodbye...

And especially  those kids...their smiles, screams, giggles and cries...they can steal your heart with just one look without you even knowing it. They just know how to love with this pure, innocent, unconditional love that will melt your heart and still put a smile on your face and tears in your eyes three weeks after you're gone. They don't hold anything back, and they simply let you love them. It's almost addicting to know the love of a child. To see their face light up when you walk in the room. To sit with them to read a book. To laugh with them as you play a game.

And I think that's how our Father feels about us. He wants that pure, innocent, unconditional love from us as well. I think I've seen just a glimpse of why He wants all of my heart and why He deserves all of it. He is willing to take the time to form a relationship with me and to pour out all of Himself and His love into my life. And for these reasons, He so desires for me to accept that love and to love Him in return.

So may today be a day that you learn about love. May you know that your Heavenly Father loves you more than you could ever imagine and seeks to be your first love. May you recognize that He desires to sing over you a song of love and He deserves for your life to sing it back to Him. May you not live life based on a bucket list of things to do when you're running out of time. But may you take the time to invest in relationships with those around you and see the value in their lives.

Love isn't easy. But it does make a difference. It takes time and patience and energy that sometimes we just don't have to spare. But when you truly know love, you know why it's all worth it in the end. So though my learning of love will never be checked off my life bucket list, I couldn't be more thankful than to have learned what it means to truly love and be loved from the lives of people and children that I hold so dearly to my heart...

I. Love. You. (in sign language)