Life is Life is Life

We've been in Qinhuangdao now for almost 3 months. Since we've lived in China before, some of the culture adjustments were not quite as dramatic for us. We've still had lots to get used to, but things were not as shocking as they were before. Now that we call this home, we've realized daily life is daily life no matter where you live. We sometimes get this romanticized idea that living overseas is exotic and there's this beautiful traditional music that always graces the streets and everyone is always welcoming us in these elaborate traditional costumes. But life is life here as much as it was in the states. We sometimes think that if we just had a different job or lived in a different city, that things would be better or our joy would somehow be made more complete. We've often fallen into this trap ourselves. But for as long as our joy and satisfaction are dependent on our daily circumstances, we will wake up every morning desiring more and usually finding more to complain about for that day. A man by the name of jim elliot once said "Wherever you are, be all there."
For this day we are commited to be all there and allow our satisfaction to come from our Father and not our daily activities or interactions. It makes up more balanced people and allows our Father to do things through us because our own ambitions are finally out of the way.