Wednesday Here

Hey, Wednesday here again for Jesse. Between his two fullest days it gets a little hectic, and you may have noticed that he didn't post anything yesterday.

Well, he cruised through yesterday. Classes went fairly well. As has not been uncommon he was the only student in his HSK class. HSK is the Chinese language exam. They actually have a class for it, because all the students who want to study a major at a Chinese university must pass the test before graduating. It's much like the TOEFL for kids coming to the U.S. However, most of the students in his class are not going to be studying a major so they don't come. That means Jesse gets an hour and a half with just the teacher. Pretty cool private tutoring time.

His comprehensive class wasn't so hot. They got their tests from last week back and his score was not as high as he wanted it to be. Although he was bummed he felt like he knew the material better than the test reflected, so he wasn't too discouraged.

In the afternoon he had Reading. This class is always a killer. It's basically another HSK prep class, were you read through texts that are far higher than your ability, with lots of new words. And then you try to answer questions based on your best guess as to a) what the question is asking, and b) what the answer is. But, the teacher is really really great. He and Em actually asked if she would privately tutor them this summer, but she'll be out of town. They were bummed.

Last night Jesse finished leading the last night of a study through the cross-cultural servanthood book. I recommend you pick it up. He'll be doing more pieces on that later, chapter summaries, quotes, and commentary, so be looking for them.

Today he has four periods of class, home for a slightly late lunch and cleaning up the apartment. A former student of his, a Brother, and his wife, will be visiting for the night on their way through Wuhan to Tianjin. What a joy! He had the privilege of going to their wedding last spring, and now they get to hang out together as two old married couples. And his Chinese has improved enough that they'll have a good time with that too.

There's a few things you can be praying for him for, if you think of it during the day.
1 -He hasn't been exercising as much as he'd like, and he's developing what he calls a "jelly roll" around his mid-section. *don't tell him I told you* He and Emily bought bikes recently, and he's hoping that will help some, but he also wants to be more disciplined about getting in the gym and using up that extra 'stored energy.'

2 -He's also waiting on pins and needles for an exciting development. I won't let the cat out of the bag entirely, but he's waiting to hear back about a scholarship. More than just the money, it would be an encouraging confirmation that he's following the Lord in the direction he and Emily have taken. He'll share more on that when the result comes out.

3 -Encouragement through the 'mystery'. The second to last chapter of the cross-cultural servanthood book talks about mystery (I recommend you check it out!), and how it works in our lives and what we're to do with it. As he and Emily explore the mystery that God has placed around them, ask that they would be given faith to walk through it and grow in it. Jesse told me he was going to create a separate page devoted to the ideas of mystery, faith, and something else I can't remember. Keep your eyes peeled for it.

4 - Lastly, a busy next seven days or so. This weekend Jesse and Emily are going to Changsha to see some friends and to celebrate a wedding shower with a Russian sister that is very dear to Emily. They return, and have more appointments with people early in the week. With Emily's teaching schedule in particular it starts to wear on them. Ask Dad for rest and peace through it.

That's all for now. Wednesday out.