The Familiar Unfamiliar

Things had been going really well here at Hua Qiao.  I was finally able to run after 8 months, i had been building relationships with some Chinese students, and i was finally going to see my freshmen right before i had a week of vacation.  But there were some difficult things that began to occur.  My foot began to become increasingly painful, and i began identifying that i was easily angered, a sign of culture shock (thank you Abram for making that known to me).  I also had a difficult schedule crammed into two days before the big sports meet for our school.

There was a lot of stress going into this past week, but one of the things i was most worried about was this sports meet.  This event is a school wide competition where students and teachers are encouraged to participate and represent their departments.  It begins with a parade at 7:30 in the morning and ends around 4 in the afternoon.  The stadium surrounding the track is packed with 5,000 students and faculty watching the day's events.  Many of these events are the same as in track and field, but there are some that are relays like the 12 legged race.  All foreigners are expected to play a big part in these events and bring face to their department.  Since i love competition, i jumped at the opportunity to compete.  However, i began to experience more and more pain in my foot as the competition neared and i wrestled with other issues.  Would i be doing this for His glory, or would i quickly revert back to my own self-seeking desires?  These questions compounded the stress of the week, but i continued on and hoped that He would be magnified in my efforts.


The day of the competition finally came and we paraded around the track with students cheering and yelling for their teachers' attention.  The events soon followed and i found a seat next to some fellow office mates and students.  My first event was the long jump and i left the stands with ample time to warm up and relive those glory days of high school track.  After a decent warm up i headed to the long jump pit and began taking practice jumps, some of which i was quite pleased with.  It was finally time to start and i was the first competitor.  I began accelerating down the runway hoping to get a good mark.  Right before i planted with my right foot (my jumping foot) i planted my left (my bad foot).  As i was pushing off i felt a snap in my left foot and plowed into the sand.  I checked my Achilles and it seemed that the other major structures were accounted for, but my foot began to quickly swell.  A teammate and Chinese friend helped carry me off the field in an overly dramatic situation and into the nurse's station. 

Though painful, slightly discouraging, and frustrating, i was at peace knowing that He was in control of this situation.  I began to see that He could still be glorified, if not more, in this circumstance.  My Chinese friend who i had been cultivating a relationship with and even attended his birthday the night before was right by my side the whole time.  Since seeing my foot at the gym, he always asked how i was and kept saying how he was worried for me.  He was there to carry me out of the pit, wait by my side in the nurse's station, apply ice and medicine to my foot, and even hold up my leg so that i could elevate it.  It opened up opportunities to share.  I told him about the history of my foot and how i shouldn't even be doing what i'm doing.  "You're a miracle then."  "Yes, God has been gracious to me.  But even if i can't run or walk again, i'm ok with that because i'm only on this earth for 70 more years.  I won't be taking this injury with me." "You're very positive."  "Well Tim, He never gives us more than we can't handle.  I know i can walk through this with Him by my side."  From a past conversation he told me that his dad taught him money was his god because it provides security.  He later texted me and told me "God be with you," and even told one of my teammates that he was praying for me.  I do not say this in arrogance or to exaggerate a conversation, but rather to show how He works.  Since then he has texted me multiple times a day checking on me, bringing me food, movies to watch, and even coming across campus to walk me to the dining hall and hold his umbrella for me in the rain.  He has been a huge blessing and i am so excited to see where God takes this relationship.


On my way to the hospital scriptures began filling my head.  "His ways are not our ways..." Isaiah 55:8.  How could i put God in a box and expect Him to be magnified according to my own expectations? "Naked I came from the womb, naked I will return.  The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.  May the name of the Lord be praised!"  Job 1:21.  Who am i to call athleticism or health my own?  It should not and cannot be my identity because none of it even belongs to me.  And finally 2 Timothy 2:9, "And because I preach this Good News, I am suffering and have been chained like a criminal. But the Word of God cannot be chained."  Even though i am a broken vessel, His word is not broken yet can still be used through me.

These were all things going through my head and were of great comfort to me knowing that this is how i am to glorify Him during this time.  We made a frustrating trip to a Dr. at a hospital of which i will not elaborate on except for the fact that i miss western medicine.  Days passed and the swelling increased.  After a long and arduous process of flipping back and forth between locations, both my organization and insurance agree that it is best that i fly to Hong Kong to see an expert.  I leave Monday morning at 8 AM, exactly 6.5 hours from now.  I have been prayed for and seen Him improve my condition before my eyes.  Please continue to keep me in your prayers and believe that He will complete the work He started in me.  Also, please lift up my attitude so that my focus may remain on Him as well as for the hearts of those who are searching and that opportunities would be presented.


I am sorry for the incredibly long post, but i feel it is necessary to update those who have sacrificed so greatly to send me here.  I am so appreciative of your prayers and support and look forward to keeping you updated throughout this amazing trip here.  I plan on taking my camera with me to Hong Kong and will take pictures of the halls of the hospital if nothing else.  Not the way i had imagined i'd spend my holiday, but this reoccurring, unfamiliar setting is becoming more and more familiar.  I'm getting the hint that God likes to take us out of our comfort zones...




"But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."       -2 Corinthians 12:9-10




-jo