29 Things I Learned In 29 Days ... China Style.

As a lot of you know, Cathy & I just spent 29 days in China! I can go into detail about the trip later (I really fell in love with that country!) but I just want to share something I learned each day I was there.

1. Public restrooms in western countries are a gift straight from heaven.
2. God knows who you need in your life and when. And though you may hurt someone, or get hurt yourself, you have to trust that He's using you for something bigger than how you feel.
3. Fear is a liar. God's call for you and will for your life is the truth. They cannot live together.
4. God doesn't see you the way other people do, or even the way you see yourself. His standards are way better.
5. To survive in another country, you only need to know a few phrases: hello, toilet, hot water, and how much?
6. God doesn't teach just one person at a time.
7. God may be using your specific situation to reach a specific person. Your attitude, faith, and hope in Him while you're in that storm or situation is equally proportioned to what that person will learn. Chin up. 
8. Discard of your doubts. Put on your fairy tale hat from pre school. God's dreams for you are wild. They need wild hearts to live them out.
9. God's heart, care and love will never be fully understood, so don't try to understand or relate it to something. But if you want to take up that challenge of trying, I will personally get you the migraine medicine.
10. Somethings are better left unsaid... and walked away from.
11. Going to ministry completely blind, relying on nothing but God's eyes, is not the end of the world. BUT... not accepting the call that God has placed on you can be the end of someone else's world. Ministry isn't about you. It's about someone who needs you.
12. Sometimes, loving people to death is the only way to nurse them back to health.
13. Share the gospel everywhere you go; use the Bible if you have to. That's right people. ACTIONS are better than words on paper. The best version of the gospel is the one you're living.
14. Don't put a period where God put a comma. Don't put a comma where God put a period. Question marks are okay sometimes. Exclamation points are a must.
15. Sometimes, God waits for you to be totally isolated to teach you the hardest lessons, so we have no one to depend on but Him. When I was teaching and my students didn't understand something, they would look around at their friends and peers for help. I said, "I'm your teacher, I'm here to help. You can ask me to help you if you need it. I'm RIGHT here." You can thank Him when you get over it.
16. Sometimes the best, most hands-on, action oriented help you can give someone is praying for them in private and trusting that God will do the rest.
17. In life, you really need 2 things to survive: God, and a really good friend. If you're needy like me, birthday cake Oreos are okay.
18. If you don't allow God to pick and choose your friends, the devil will.
19. You can't reach everyone... and trust me... that's okay.
20. Doing God's will for you life isn't always easy or fun... but man, the fruits taste great.
21. Allowing God to build your future does not exempt you from having a plan and making and reaching goals.
22. Don't pray for something if you can't keep an open mind about how God may answer.
23. Your motivation for what you do can be, and usually is, more important than what you're actually doing.
24. There is an unexplained joy in believing in something other than the work your hands can do. 
25. "When you forgive someone, that's for you. When you ask God to forgive them, that's for them." - Cathy
26. If you don't understand, take a shot. Ask God, "Why?" You'd be surprised how often we feel like we''re sucked into things, or we think things are wasted or in vain when we never bothered to ask.
27. It's okay to take time off to allow God to work in you and allow yourself to grow. It's actually necessary for you and the people you're going to reach. Despite what people believes, it's worse to not take a break.
28. It is for someone else's freedom that you are set free. Don't sit on your freedom because you're afraid to lose it.
29. Innocent bystanders don't stay innocent for long. Stay alert. The devil is prowling around like a HUNGRY lion seeking someone to DEVOUR.