Tropical Blessing in China

My family and I had the pleasure of visiting Hainan Island earlier this month for the first time in our 6+ years in China. We weren’t sure what we were going to do there, only that we wanted to meet some “e-friends” of ours (Jym Cotton & family) who we’d become connected with via e-mail in the past year or so.

As the time for our trip approached, Jym wrote offering us a place to stay at his house. We readily accepted, knowing that we’d surely have a better time as a family staying with another family with young kids, as opposed to a cheap hotel somewhere in the city.

We really didn’t know what to expect. All I really knew of Jym had come through his “Grace and Greetings” e-mail updates in the past year or so. What I did know was that he had the heart of an evangelist and would definitely be an encouragement and example to me of someone who would preach the Gospel “in season and out of season”. I also knew that we’d probably hit the beach at sometime, due to some of the stories I’d read from Jym about his own family outings.

Well, we definitely got much more than we bargained for! Jym not only encouraged me by his passion for evangelism (preaching to a crowd of students loitering on the dock from his fishing boat was probably the highlight!), I was probably even more challenged and encouraged by the daily devotion times that I saw Jym prioritize for his boys. I’ve been having “Bible time” with my kids fairly regularly for sometime, but I think I’ve been underestimating how much (especially my 5 year old son) my kids can really understand and learn from the scriptures. Bible time at Jym’s house might last 2 or more hours and the scriptures are read, talked about, and explained. Its only been a week or two since we returned home to northwest China from our visit to Hainan, but I can honestly say that my devotional times with my kids (especially my son) have changed for the better!

Not only were we encouraged spiritually, but we had amazing fun as well. We didn’t just visit the beach once, but nearly every day for 4-5 days in a row. The days we didn’t go to the beach we went out fishing on the boat and stayed back at the “farm” to eat coconuts and swim in the backyard pool. My kids had a blast and no hotel could have compared to the fun and food that we enjoyed at the Cotton house.

Speaking of food, did I mention we ate very well during our short stay? Pizza, tacos, home-made Chinese food, a wedding banquet, and juicy hamburgers. It would have been difficult to create a better menu myself if I’d been given the opportunity to try.

So in closing, I just want to thank God for the testimony and impact that Jym and his family made on our lives in such a short time. We expected to make some new friends and enjoy fellowship, but God went over and above our expectations and brought us closer to Himself through this servant family serving the Kingdom of God on Hainan Island!

We hope to see Jym and family up in our (non-tropical) neck-of-the-woods sometime in the warmer summer months, but if not we definitely hope to see them again sometime next winter down south for some more encouraging fellowship!

Thank you God! And thank you Jym for serving the Lord whole-heartedly in China.

For those who are interested (mom and dad!), here are a few more fun pics from our trip:

This is our 5 yr old son Gabriel sitting on the boat next to Jym’s 5 yr old son Benjamin.

This was the view from the boat, and one of the little fish we caught in the net that day.

Ariel (3.5) is sharing a coconut with her 7 yr old “friend” Joshua. They are both smiling. 🙂

Baby Abby (2 yrs, 3 months) has quite the personality.
I think here she’s being told no more wading in the chilly ocean waters on a chilly day.

Speaking of personalities, this is Gabriel’s (pretty good!) attempt at making an angry face.

Isn’t Ariel beautiful? (Maybe I’m just partial because of the 3 she looks most like me?!)