fellow workers~

你好! (Ni hao. You should remember this now. ;))

I'm sorry for my lack of posts recently. I have been SO busy. And I'm not joking. Last week, I didn't have a single free day (which this is weird for a homeschooler...). It was really tiring but I got to go on a retreat with my new youth group for the weekend, and it was amazing!!! But, all of that is for another post. Or no post. Whatever I feel like doing.

Anyway. This morning, I was provoked by this verse in 1 Corinthians 3.

"We are God's fellow workers. 

You are God's field, God's building."

We are His fellow workers. How cool is that?? Working alongside the Creator of the universe. What are we doing? We are planting seeds of the Gospel in people's hearts, and He grows those seeds and makes them flourish. So if you have an opportunity to plant a seed, don't shy away from it. Don't be afraid. God says in Isaiah 55:10-11,  "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." So touch a heart and plant a seed this week. Just recently, God has given me the opportunity to help someone in need, someone who is lonely. It is not the kind of situation where I can simply plop a Bible verse in a message to them; sometimes, this seed can only be planted through actions in reaching out a hand and helping someone by being there for them, and being a friend. When the Spirit is within you, those people will see that you are different, and they will start asking questions. So, whatever kind of seed you plant for the Lord, alongside the Lord, He will grow it. Don't be afraid that you will not be able to grow the seed, because that isn't your job. Your job is to plant it, and God will take it from there. 

2 Corinthians 9:10

"He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food 

will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and 

increase the harvest of your righteousness."

Imagine how much faster the kingdom of God would grow if we could just get out of our comfort zones and plant the seeds.

I hope you all have a great rest of the week! 再见！

To infinity and beyond!

~贝萨妮 

chinese class~

Soo, I didn't tell you guys. (I don't think, anyways.)

Shortly after my first post about China, after much praying, a homeschooling friend sent me a Facebook message, telling me that there was a Mandarin Chinese class that was going to be taught in the area, at a very reasonable price. I mean, like, "HIP HIP HURRAY", everybody!! This was such an answer to prayer!!! God always provides, and I'm so excited to see what more He has in store in the future. He is so good. :D

Anyways, yesterday was the first class! I already knew some of the phrases, like:

"Nǐ hǎo." Of course, everyone knows this one. :) "你好.”
"Zài jiàn." (Good-bye.) “再见.”
"Nǐ jiào shén me míng zi?" (What is your name?) “你叫什么名字？”
"Wǒ jiào..." (I am/My name is...) "我叫..."
"Xìexie." (Thank you.) “谢谢。”
"Bú yòng xìe." (You're welcome.) 不用谢。”
"Duì bù qǐ." (I'm sorry.) “对不起。”
"Méi guān xi." (That's ok.)“没关系。”

 See those little lines over some of the vowels? Those are called "tones" - basically, your voice does as they look. Like for "Nǐ hǎo", on the "Nǐ", your voice starts midway, then drops down, and comes back up. Then with, say, "Zài", (you say "ai" like "i"), your voice starts high and then drops low. Yeah. Chinese is definitely a tonal language. A word's meaning can change by the way you say it. Yeah...that's kinda scary...:P

Then we went over the numbers.
 yī 一，èr 二，sān 三，sì 四，wǔ 五，lìu 六，qī 七，bā 八，jǐu 九，shí 十。
I have yet to say all of them under 10 seconds, with all the correct tones. He he he. The tones are hard to get used to, but practice makes perfect!! At the classes, lao shi (teacher :)) says that anything we know how to say in Chinese, say it. NO ENGLISH ALLOWED. Ok, not quite. ;D But, she is encouraging us to use it as much as possible.

All of the phrases yesterday were the only ones I know, so next week, I'm excited to see the new stuff. I absolutely can't wait!! :)

So yeah. OH. Happy new year!! ("What, what? New year was like a month ago.") Noo, I mean, CHINESE new year. ;) Wanna learn a Chinese phrase?

Xīn nián kuài lè!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! :)

新年快乐!

February 10th marks the beginning of the Year of the Snake (shé nían 蛇年). I so wish that I could go to a Chinese new year festival, like that would be the coolest thing ever, but that's not happening this year...hopefully next year!! And hopefully I'll know a little bit more Chinese than...now. :P

So, xin nian kuai le, everybody!! May your year be prosperous. ;)

To infinity and beyond!~

Bethany~

贝萨妮

Gong xi fa cai = Congratulations, get rich. ;) Be happy and prosperous.