If you're thinking, "You know, strangely, I've never thought about that," I'm right there with you. Or, at least, I was... until the Father used all three of these things to minister to my teammates and I yesterday.
Wednesday began with a good chunk of much-needed time away with the Father before I was supposed to meet Dan for a one-on-one. I was a little early to our meeting place--the large stone statue that stands in the middle of a courtyard on campus--so I decided to stop and smell the roses, literally. (Well, not quite literally because they weren't roses, but you get the picture.)
As I was standing there, a butterfly landed on the flower directly in front of me. I watched its tissue wings bend open and close, moving as if on a tiny hinge. The proboscis unfurled and dipped, in search of nectar. Light caught the minutest of hairs that carpeted its body. I don't know how long I watched that one butterfly, following it around as it flitted from flower to flower. All I know is that the Father put that butterfly in front of me, as if to say, Look. Look at my glory that is reflected in every creature on earth. What good that did for my soul!
I was so absorbed in this one little butterfly that I didn't notice Dan standing behind me until I heard him cough. I whirled around, and he laughed and asked what I was doing, so I invited him to come and see. We watched the butterflies for a few more minutes before beginning our walk-and-talk around campus--both of us feeling very much relaxed after drinking in a bit of reflected-glory.
But the nature-nurture didn't end there. About halfway through our walk, we encountered a praying mantis on the ground, and Dan spent a good ten minutes playing with him and carrying him around on his sleeve. I know the Chinese students walking past us probably thought, "What are these weird foreigners doing?" It was totally worth it though. Afterwards, Dan said, "You know, I was really stressed out before, but that oddly enough calmed me down." (They don't say the Father works in mysterious ways for nothing.)
We didn't know at the time that our day would not stay so stress-free. Our noontime plans to make a "quick trip" to the bank turned into a four hour trek across the city and back in search of bank cards. (Note: Things in China just take longer than they do in America... which isn't bad, just something you have to accept and get used to.) Needless to say, by the end of our journey, we were exhausted. Laura, Kayla, and I decided to go to our office in the Teaching Building one last time when we returned to campus in order to gather our things to go home for the evening. All of us were a bit drained from the long day, our souls and our bodies weary. I should have known by the pattern from earlier that morning what would happen next. (But where would be the fun in that?)
We opened the door to our office in time to see a black streak of feathers whiz past us. Then we heard the chirping. Then... the open window. Things clicked into place in our worn-out brains. While we were running around town, a bird had flown into (and gotten himself trapped in ) our office.
A glimpse of our friend.
What ensued was a twenty minute attempt to encourage our flustered, feathered friend out of the open window, resulting in some of us chasing it around with a mop, some of us trying to "speak its language," and some of us just trying to avoid the bombs it was dropping all over our office.
My poor student, Alicia's, paper was a victim of the droppings. Don't think she's going to want this paper back.
Kayla and Laura strategizing a plan...
...which may or may not have included me chasing the bird with a mop...
...which may or may not have been a fail.
By the end, we were all laughing hysterically (at both ourselves and the bird, who kept opting to fly into the glass window instead of the open window that was two feet below it.) As silly as it may sound, I think that bird ministered to us in our weariness, bringing laughter and a light heart when it was most needed. It was the perfect ending to yesterday--a day full of proof of the Creator's unmatched ingenuity and humor and His provision for those who open their eyes to see the wonders (and hilarity) around them.
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