Neighbors :)

We are so blessed with great neighbors! Above is a picture with the woman and her 17-month-old son. They live just across from us on our floor, with her husband and her mother. In China it is most common for the grandma to live with the family to care for the child, since both parents work.

They have been so kind to us from day one. When we were waiting to look at the apartment in our search, and had to wait for a while because there was a key mix-up, they invited us in to sit down and have Hadassah play with their toys. They've also given her toys and we've traded toys to borrow so that the little ones can have some new things to play with, which they both love. :) They brought over a sweater for Hadassah that the Grandma knitted soon after we moved in. Last night they also gave us some unopened baby cereal from America (evidently they trust it more than what you can get here) saying their son no longer ate it, so would I want it for Hadassah. We were almost out of what we'd brought, so it was perfect timing. And, yet another instance of God providing at just the right time.  Also, we had mentioned how far we have to travel for church (over an hour!) and they connected us with someone who attends a church even closer.

They have also been so hospitable to us. They invited us over on Friday evening, and then had us eat lunch with them on Saturday, and we've been over there or they've come over almost every day since! The parents both speak very good English, so they've been a help to us in many ways and provided friendship.

Last night, they asked us, "Why did you all move to China?"  And while there are many answers that we could give (and do/did give), the ironic answer to have given would have been to have said, "We moved here so that we could be having this very conversation!"  Paul, in Romans 1:11-12, says he was longing to see the Romans and wants to come to them.  And the only reasons he gives for it are spiritual reasons: to impart a spiritual gift (v 11), to be mutually encouraged by them (v 12) and to reap a harvest among them (v 13).  Paul made his geographic location completely dependent on spiritual realities.

We'd prayed before coming that we'd be able to connect with neighbors, and are amazed and blessed to see God answering our prayer so quickly!  Please pray for our relationship with them.  They are such a blessing to us and we are praying that we can be a blessing to them.  And of course, even more so, that they can know personally the Source of all blessings.