getting out of my beijing funk...

Running today felt amazing. I turned right at the end of the little hutong I live in, as I usually do. There was a cool breeze in the air; the sky was a glorious blue; and I had a huge smile on my face that I just could not get rid of! This was the first time in over two months I've felt totally invigorated like this.

This summer, I felt like I couldn't shake this "beijing funk" I've found myself in...and by funk, I mean, the bad kind. The kind that steals your bicycle, loses your ATM card, laughs at you, makes you wait in line and then asks you what you were doing there in the first place. THAT kind of funk. I couldn't seem to shake this feeling of "I give up." And that is not me...I don't give up easily. Why does this country make me want to give up sometimes?

In hopes of combating my funk, I changed my usual route, starting at the north end of the Forbidden City. As I was dodging tourists and feeling like I was going against the grain (as I usually do in this country) I suddenly felt a whisper in my ear..."more than a conqueror...MORE than a conqueror..." I suddenly remembered who I am...a child of God! His daughter. Who he loves! This is what first defines me! Of course the world will reject me, because the kind of love my Savior lavishes on me is not from this world. There are so many ways I am blessed in my life. How could I forget these things...my job, my family, my friends, my body, my mind, my health,... Perhaps it was just the cool breeze or knowing that it was the beginning of September, but I felt like I finally I shook of my "Beijing funk." Or, come to think of it this song did have something to do with it...

Just as the first line of the song says, "I'm back." This blonde is ready to take on Beijing once again...