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Monday was a very long day; long because you get to live part of it twice. On the plane coming out of Shanghai we flew toward the rising sun and before we knew it, it was night so we try to get some sleep. You just get settled in and it is morning again on the same day as the night before. We stretch and groan and get ready to try the day once more. Finally we get to Chicago and on the plane to DFW only to experience the same night we experienced coming out of Shanghai. By now the body doesn’t know what day it is or why it is so dark when it is supposed to be daytime. 

Because of dense smoke across China from the farmers burning their fields, air traffic was really messed up. In Shanghai we had to rebook the flights from Chicago to DFW because the flight out of Shanghai was going to be delayed almost two hours. When we finally got to Chicago, through customs and to our gate they were just starting to load the plane. It was close.

We arrived at DFW around eleven, just 25 hours after we left Wuhan, picked up our bags and headed home. I said our bags because Zuhua came to the states with me to visit Jiajing for the summer. She will return to China with me in the fall.

Connie is currently in Phoenix watching our two grandchildren for the summer. I need to pick up some lose ends here in Texas this week and then I will drive to western New York for another summer work project with family. I really enjoy being with family there and living on the farm where I grew up. 

As I close this blog entry I wish to comment on the Monday entry. I was told that I should not have mentioned a relationship problem with Joy because too much was left to speculation. My work in China requires that I spend much time with attractive young women. As relationships deepen we establish family relations. That culture demands that where the western culture seems to reject that idea. It is important to me to have those family relations because they define what are appropriate feelings, thoughts, and behavior. Any time those boundaries are encroached upon, corrections are needed and made. 

Joy1 and I had not made that family connection yet because of her position as pastor. As a result I realized one day that my feelings and thoughts were a little off track and I needed to confront Joy and discuss what was happening and make necessary corrections. That is what I was referencing in Monday’s blog entry. On Wednesday a blog will post that could be misunderstood. It reveals what Joy and I did in making our adjustment. Some will say that I should not post it, but I believe for some it might be meaningful.

Too many people in leadership are getting into sensual trouble. God has allowed me to see just enough to understand this and the importance of proper safeguards. Through some relationship struggles on this trip, God has been teaching me some valuable lessons. The main one is that in any relationship are you enhancing the holiness of the other even in your own mind? If you are not then you have a problem that needs attention. It was that attention that I had to invest in on this trip.