Mom and I went to the white horse pagoda – another Buddhist temple. Nothing too exciting, but the fat, smiling Buddha statue welcoming us was quite cute. After lunch at KFC – yes we are truly an American family – we headed to one of the many peony gardens. The peonies in Luoyang are internationally renowned. Apparently they open in beginning of April, so we’re a little bit late in the season so some were already dying, but they were still beautiful and impressive.
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| field of baby buds... |
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| birth of a new life... |
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baby bud looking up to its
mature beautiful sista |
It was neat to see the flowers in different stages of life – some just a bud, some starting to bud, others as full bloomed flowers, and many others starting to wilt. It was the tiny buds that caught my eye the most… which I guess you might say is kind of strange since they’re not that beautiful compared to the bloomed flowers around them. But as I stared at the buds, I was so reminded of His work in our lives, in the lives of those around us. Physically, they may not be that pretty, actually quite ugly, but He perfects even the flowers, in their time, to slowly bloom into a beautiful creation in His perfect timing...His creation. It is His doing. Similarly in our own lives, we too were ugly, but it is He who makes us a new creation and blooms us into His precious, beautiful, and perfect child. Starting from seed that grows with strong roots into a bud that finally blooms into a beautiful creation. Even as the flower ages and wilts, it is still beautiful with its wrinkled petals. How beautiful is His creation, and to know that I am one of them brings a smile to my face... i'll back post some photos after i have a better connection!
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| hiding in the flowers |
As I write this, mom and I are on the bus headed back to Zhengzhou. We’ll stay there overnight and then my dad’s driver will pick us up tomorrow to head to Heze where my parents live. First priority – find the gym and work my heart out. I had to run (a few yards) to get something yesterday and it felt so good to jog, even if ever so slightly and slowly. I purposefully didn’t bring my running shoes because I knew if I did, I’d be tempted to go running or do something I shouldn’t on my bum ankle. In Beijing, I actually was tempted and bought a pair of fake nikes, thinking that I could maybe run in them and play soccer with the locals in them (there was a soccer field next to the place we were staying so I was ever so tempted), but after I got back to the apartment, I found that the sneakers won’t fit over my ankle brace. Bummer – He knows me too well… obviously… so we’ll see… it’s been resting for awhile now so I may give it a shot and go for a slow jog… I’m sure it won’t last long… not because of the ankle but because my lungs will probably hurt so bad from the pollution and just plain being out of shape! Dying to run around… or go for a nice spin…
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