I haven’t posted in a while, but this is a post that I have been wanting to do for some time. This summer has been extremely busy, I have worked a summer camp teaching English with my company and we recently started school again. I am also taking some special classes that I will mention in another post.
So Noah is almost seven months old and he is doing so good. Currently, at the moment, he has three teeth starting to come in. He is learning how to stand and he can sit up straight without any help. I am so proud of him. A few weeks ago, we bought him a new little cup with a straw. The bottle said seven months, but we have decided maybe he is too young for a straw (plus the doctor recommended against it, she suggested eight months at the earliest). Anyway, before we stop using the cup, I was able to teach my son how to use a straw. I used it a couple of times in front of him and made some sucking noises to give him a better idea of what to do. After about twenty minutes of him fighting with me for the bottle, he was able to figure out what I was telling him. It made me so proud that it even brought tears to my eyes.
While I was teaching my boy how to use a straw, I finally understood something that only someone with a child would understand. I sincerely believe that God feels the same way about us when we learn something, especially about Him or when we grow as an individual. I know our dear Father in heaven delights in us and He has a strong desire to draw us closer to a relationship with Him. There are some things that we can only learn when we are single (and we should spend that time learning about the Lord and ourselves), but there are some things that can only be learned in marriage (or with children). I have only been a father for a few months, but I have already learned more about God’s nature through my son, that I have ever learned before in such a short time. God is a good God and He desires a relationship with His creation (you).
I thought I would do this blog post to help those thinking that they want to buy an Apple iPhone or other Apple device here in China. Let’s learn from my mistake. Most of you know that not only does the Great Wall exist here in China, but also the “Great Firewall of China”. There is a big misunderstanding of the Great Firewall, most Americans or Western news outlets report on the side of China not allowing social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. These are not the only things that are blocked in China, the real truth is that a large majority of websites or content is blocked that originates outside China. This would include academic websites, news outlets, certain games or apps, and even some banking websites. Some of these sites or content may not be blocked, but the traffic to those websites are slowed down to a crawl.
