Beach-y thoughts

I have been meaning to get on and tell you all about my latest adventures. . .
--getting a cell phone
--ordering at a restaurant with no pictures or numbers or english words to help
--finally getting to eat at Lennon, a place that everyone else has loved and has the closest thing to American Chinese food I've seen yet (only it's a lot better here;))
--finally getting a fan in hopes of getting a really solid night's sleep
--taking a walk on the beach

But as I took my walk on the beach, I realized that each of these adventures had a "remembrance moment" that is important for me to catalogue for future reference in those times when I need a reminder of His faithfulness.
--as I was trying to buy a cell phone without someone to translate, this guy came out of nowhere and helped me understand that the store clerk was trying to tell me that I would have to pay for my phone in cash. I don't think I ever would have gotten it without that little push.
--similarly, as the four of us were standing in the restaurant, poring over my phrase book trying to figure out how to tell them what we wanted, a girl who worked there came out and helped us out. She spoke very good English and continued to talk with us as we waited for our food and then ate our food. She is studying English here in QD and we have her cell number, so who knows if we have new Chinese friend?
--Dinner was a great time to just relax and catch up with some of the people that I came with. They had already been to Lennon, so they knew what to order. . .and the food was delicious. We walked through the pouring rain to get there, but that simply added to the adventure.
--the process of getting the fan was quite an interesting one. I had seen fans for a decent price the first time I went to Carrefour, which is a French department store here. I didn't get one because I wanted to see if Jusco, which is closer to my apartment, had them any cheaper. . .well turns out Carrefour had the best deal, so today, I went back to Carrefour with Karen and Amy to pick up a fan (and I think I have officially gotten everything that I need to live in my apartment. PTL. . I feel like I've been doing nothing but shopping since I got here)
Karen and Amy had never been to Carrefour, so it was nice to be able to show someone something that I knew.
--Tonight I finally got out to walk on the beach. I was sitting my balcony when I realized it was the clearest it has been since I've gotten here, so why was I sitting in my apartment? I took a leisurely walk through the park by my house and as soon as I publish this post, I'm going to work on posting pictures on Picasa. But as I was standing on the beach, with the waves washing over my feet, I noticed that the water was pulling the sand from under my feet back out to the sea. Each time this happened, my shoes sank a little bit more and I felt a little less stable where I was standing. . and then the words of a song came to my head
"On C, the solid rock I stand. . .all other ground is sinking sand. . ."
And that took me to another verse from the Word that talks about being rooted in Him, which I found while I was at training in NY and I realized that if my roots are in Him and He is with me where ever I go, then I always will be able to put my roots down and "bloom where I'm planted." This was especially sweet to think of as school approaches and I start getting pre-teaching jitters and pushing away the thoughts that I won't be able to do the job that I'm here to do. But I am not standing on sinking sand, I am standing on the Solid Rock. . .and that is where my strength comes from.
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So thank you for allowing me to share and cement my stones of remembrance. Know that your encouraging words are also helping me beyond words. I miss you all, but know I'm in the right place!