Eat. Pray. China.

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.

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China Recap of last few months.....

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[lazyyogi]

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

Epicurus (via resolutewoman)

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Huai'an, China English Summer Camp!! 

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HOPE

'Be the kind of person who never gives up hope, regardless of how hopeless things seem, because your hope is in The Lord.' My prayers have been on hope lately. The last few years without me knowing I began to lose hope that God answered my prayers. I continued to worship and love Him but I tried to do things in my own strength. That exhausted me. It broke me. Especially with the taunts of social media always reminding me of things I lacked. A gold medal, a husband, etc etc... But If I never get what I want, I have committed my life to you Lord. There's a point in your relationship where you gotta find comfort with only you, God and his word."

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My company Opportunity International China took a trip to Huangshan Mountain, considered to be the most beautiful mountain in China. We explored, we hiked, we laughed, we adventured. Here is a snapshot of the amazing trip!

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Long live the heart long live the soul that knows what it wants that piece you can find that part is the whole it never lets go

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New Beginnings

A week ago I was informed that I would be moving to a new city in a week. I was speechless, startled, you name it. But then again, nothing really surprises me in China anymore because anything can happen. Take last week for instance, I was told the night before that I was going to be working through the weekend (over 14 days straight!) and then going on an exhausting mountain trip with my entire company. But that’s a whole other story.

  You see lately, life has been a blur. Actually, quite numb altogether. You know, that feeling of numbness when you go through the daily routine but then at the end of the day you don’t even remember what you did? That kind of numb. I’ve been tired, exhausted, and no motivation to even reflect on this past year or what’s to come next. So I started praying. Praying that God would give me a renewed energy, strength, direction. And right when I started praying this, I was told I was moving for the summer. WHAT?

  The questions started rolling through my head, one after another. Why God why? Moving is definitely not relaxing. God, the only reason I agreed to stay longer at my company was so I would be able to continue to love my friends in this town and devote my time to them. So why are you taking me out of this city?! God, my life is here-my friends, my gym, my favorite coffee shop.

  God didn’t leave me hanging. He began to speak to me. “Rachel, I want to restore you. I want to be alone with you. I want you to fall more in love with me. I want to romance you. I want this to be your getaway, your escape, your mini vacation, your place of refuge free from distractions.”

  And so as I packed my bags and headed to this new city filled with so many unknowns, I began to trust God’s provision. As hard as it was to move away from people and places that I hold so dear to my heart, I am realizing that everything is temporary. And this summer ‘get-away’ is just a preview of how it will be when I do officially move away from my little town in China eventually.

  Sometimes God needs to take us out of our daily routines and everyday life to speak to us, to guide us, to restore us. I believe whole heartily my Father will use this new city, this new adventure, this new getaway to bring me to life and to renew my soul.

Jesus continues to remind me that when I am weak, He is strong. When I am burdened, He takes my yoke upon Himself.  So if you are stuck in a blur and numb and everything seems hazy, don’t forget that God knows exactly where you are at, what you need and when you need it. In fact, He is praying upon your behalf, every step of the way.

[keplyq-deactivated20170925]

How many bikini season posts have I seen on the internet so far this Spring? How many sopping guides; rules to determine which fruit I resemble the most? How many lists are there of swimsuits and sundresses that are “appropriate” for my body...

[backonpointe]

tw: mention of calorie restriction

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UM. YES. YES. YES.!

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Hilarious Yoga Mat Ad on Craigslist

Yoga mat for sale. Used once. - $1 (Bellevue)

Yoga mat for sale. Used once at lunch hour class in December 2009. Usage timeline as follows:  11:45a Register for hot yoga class. Infinite wisdom tells me to commit to 5 class package and purchase a yoga mat. I pay $89.74. Money well spent, I smugly confirm to myself.  11:55a Open door to yoga room. A gush of hot dry air rushes through and past me. It smells of breath, sweat and hot. Take spot on floor in back of room next to cute blonde. We will date.  11:57a I feel the need to be as near to naked as possible. This is a problem because of the hot blonde to my left and our pending courtship. She will not be pleased to learn that I need to lose 30 pounds before I propose to her.  11:58a The shirt and sweats have to come off. I throw caution to the wind and decide to rely on my wit and conditioning to overcome any weight issues my fiancée may take issue with. This will take a lot of wit and conditioning.  11:59a Begin small talk with my bride to be. She pretends to ignore me but I know how she can be. I allow her to concentrate and stare straight ahead and continue to pretend that I don't exist. As we finish sharing our special moment, I am suddenly aware of a sweat moustache that has formed below my nose. This must be from the all the whispering between us.  12:00p Instructor enters the room and ascends her special podium at the front of the room. She is a slight, agitated Chinese woman. She introduces me to the class and everyone turns around to greet me just as I decide to aggressively adjust my penis and testes packed in my Under Armor. My bride is notably unfazed.  12:02p Since I do have experience with Hot Yoga (4 sessions just 5 short years ago) I fully consider that I may be so outstanding and skilled that my instructor may call me out and ask me to guide the class. My wife will look on with a sparkle in her eye. We will make love after class.  12:10p It is now up to 95 degrees in the room. We have been practicing deep breathing exercises for the last 8 minutes. This would not be a problem if we were all breathing actual, you know, oxygen. Instead, we are breathing each other's body odor, expelled carbon dioxide and other unmentionables. (Don't worry, I'll mention them later.)  12:26p It is now 100 degrees and I take notice of the humidity, which is hovering at about 90%. I feel the familiar adorning stare of my bride and decide to look back at her. She appears to be nauseated. I then realize that I forgot to brush my teeth prior to attending this class. We bond.  12:33p It is now 110 degrees and 95% humidity. I am now balancing on one leg with the other leg crossed over the other. My arms are intertwined and I am squatting. The last time I was in this position was 44 years ago in the womb, but I'm in this for the long haul. My wife looks slightly weathered dripping sweat and her eyeliner is streaming down her face. Well, "for better or worse" is what we committed to so we press on.  12:40p The overweight Hispanic man two spots over has sweat running down his legs. At least I think its sweat. He is holding every position and has not had a sip of water since we walked in. He is making me look bad and I hate him.  12:44p I consider that if anyone in this room farted that we would all certainly perish. 12:52p It is now 140 degrees and 100% humidity. I am covered from head to toe in sweat. There is not a square millimeter on my body that is not slippery and sweaty. I am so slimy that I feel like a sea lion or a maybe sea eel. Not even a bear trap could hold me. The sweat is stinging my eyeballs and I can no longer see.  12:55p This room stinks of asparagus, cloves, tuna and tacos. There is no food in the room. I realize that this is an amalgamation of the body odors of 30 people in a 140 degree room for the last 55 minutes. Seriously, enough with the asparagus, ok?  1:01p 140 degrees and 130% humidity. Look, bitch, I need my space here so don't get all pissy with me if I accidentally sprayed you with sweat as I flipped over. Seriously, is that where this relationship is going? Get over yourself. We need counseling and she needs to be medicated. Stat! 1:09p 150 degrees and cloudy. And hot. I can no longer move my limbs on my own. I have given up on attempting any of the commands this Chinese chick is yelling out at us. I will lay sedentary until the aid unit arrives. I will buy this building and then have it destroyed.  I lose consciousness.  1:15p I have a headache and my wife is being a selfish bitch. I can't really breathe. All I can think about is holding a cup worth of hot sand in my mouth. I cannot remember what an ice cube is and cannot remember what snow looks like. I consider that my only escape might be a crab walk across 15 bodies and then out of the room. I am paralyzed, and may never walk again so the whole crab walk thing is pretty much out.  1:17p I cannot move at all and cannot reach my water. Is breathing voluntary or involuntary? If it's voluntary, I am screwed. I stopped participating in the class 20 minutes ago. Hey, lady! I paid for this frickin class, ok?! You work for me! Stop yelling at everyone and just tell us a story or something. It's like juice and cracker time, ok?  1:20p It is now 165 degrees and moisture is dripping from the ceiling. The towel that I am laying on is no longer providing any wicking or drying properties. It is actually placing additional sweat on me as I touch it. My towel reeks. I cannot identify the smell but no way can it be from me. Did someone spray some stank on my towel or something?  1:30p Torture session is over. I wish hateful things upon the instructor. She graciously allows us to stay and 'cool down' in the room. It is 175 degrees. Who cools down in 175 degrees? A Komodo Dragon? My wife has left the room. Probably to throw up.  1:34p My opportunity to escape has arrived. I roll over to my stomach and press up to my knees. It is warmer as I rise up from ground level - probably by 15 degrees. So let's conservatively say it's 190. I muster my final energy and slowly rise. One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other. Towards the door. Towards the door.  1:37p The temperature in the lobby is 72 degrees. Both nipples stiffen to diamond strength and my penis begins to retract into my abdomen from the 100 degree temp swing. I can once again breathe though so I am pleased. I spot my future ex wife in the lobby. We had such a good thing going but I know that no measure of counseling will be able to unravel the day's turmoil and mental scaring.  1:47p Arrive at Emerald City Smoothie and proceed to order a 32 oz beverage. 402 calories, 0 fat and 14 grams of protein -- effectively negating any caloric burn or benefit from the last 90 minutes. I finish it in 3 minutes and spend the next 2 hours writing this memoir.  3:47p Create Craigslist ad while burning final 2 grams of protein from Smoothie and before the "shakes" consume my body.  4:29p Note to self - check car for missing wet yoga towel in am. 

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meanwhile, while everyone is getting engaged.... 

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What you see in the mirror - The Oatmeal

how true is this!

click on title link to read article

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A BEAUTIFUL PRAYER

Dear God, I don’t want to go another day without you in my life, controlling every part of my heart. I offer you my body. I dedicate myself to you. In light of all you’ve done for me, I give myself as a living sacrifice to you as a spiritual act of worship.

I humbly admit that I need help. I want you to help renew my mind. Help me to think the way you want me to think. Please forgive me for my pride. I don’t want to think more highly of myself than I should. My faith needs to grow, and I need your help to set goals that can be measured so I can manage them. Forgive me for trying to change on my own.

I want to fill my life with love. I want to fill my life with you. Help me to get group support. Help me to take delight in honoring other people, to focus on giving my life away so that you can take care of my needs. I want to nurture my enthusiasm by being in you. Help me to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. I give myself to you. In your name I pray. Amen.

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we were all dreamed up in God's heart before even creation began. How beautiful is that? We are loved, adored, and we each have a purpose in this world. If you don't think you have a purpose, come talk to me and I will gladly let you know.