Don’t judge a book by its cover and other good advice

This has been a big week of thinking.

Thinking about life.  Thinking about work.  Thinking about stress.  Lots of thinking.

It’s been quite the year.  New job, new responsibilities, new challenges…all of them have combined to be a wonderful chaotic picture of my new reality. Joy has been a common thread, but it’s still been quite difficult.  And it’s not over yet.

But now, on to what I was referring to in the title…

I’m in the Chengdu airport, all checked in and ready to start the journey to the US for grandma’s funeral.  As I got in a taxi and headed towards the airport, the rain was impressive.  I haven’t seen that kind of downpour in quite some time.  The puddles on the roads were impossible to avoid, and I think my taxi driver was a bit frustrated and yet having a blast hitting them at full speed.  It was fun…made me want to wear rainboots and jump in them.  Don’t worry, I didn’t :)

But, because of all of the rain, the plane is delayed.  Shocker.  #thisishowweDuit

As I tried to understand the announcement that they made (apparently telling us to sit down and not line up, which is an unlikely outcome in a Chinese airport…come and visit and you’ll know what I’m talking about) I realized that I was not in a mental state to put together Chinese phrases that aren’t about getting to a certain location or a cup of coffee, so I went up to talk to the lady at the counter, who saw me and immediately got out her phone to use the translate app.  An older gentleman was standing at the counter, looking at me and smiling…and then he started translating for me.

So often here, I assume that people can’t understand.  I assume that I’ll be alone in my struggle for understanding. And so often, I’m pleasantly surprised.

The gentleman and I had a nice little conversation in English (his English was perfect…I should have asked him some questions), with him expressing his surprise that I’ve been in China for this long and that I’m a principal. He was surprised that I was traveling in the middle of the school year, and so sad when I told him why I was travelling.

I should have asked him how old he is…where he’s going…where he’s lived…I should have asked him so many things.

But I think God put him in my path (favorite quote from the Four Feathers…you should watch it) to be the help and encouragement that I needed this morning.

God’s been putting a lot of people in my path this week to be a shoulder to cry on, a voice of reason, and a reason to hope.

I don’t generally like season where I feel like I can’t do it on my own, but I have to admit that in this one I’m thankful for the village that surrounds me.

Update: When we landed in Beijing, my translator friend and his wife came and stood by me while we waited for baggage.  They were visiting Chengdu for the first time since he was 2…he was born there.  We talked about the tourist sides that they visited (the Pandas, JiuZhaiGou, JinLi Street, Leshan Giant Buddha, etc.), I learned that their daughter lives in Beijing and has for 8 years, but is moving home to New Jersey this summer to have their first grandchild, and that he is 73. I love the little opportunities that we get to follow up on conversations and fill in the details that we didn’t even think about learning before. A good end to phase 1 of my journey today.