因为在神没有一件事是不可能的

I heard this phrase the other day and it struck quite a chord with me.

Before I went to Korea I was in the market looking for a small bag to pack my things in. I'm no idiot, everyone at the market will try to cheat everybody else. Myself being white, I will have people try to cheat me even more.

I find a bag I like. It's cheaply made, an obvious knockoff of a real bag, but it'd do the job. I ask how much it is.

Shop Girl: "I usually sell that bag for 300RMB but for you 250RMB (about 36US)."
(Ok, the bag's not that nice.)
Me: "I'll give you 100 (around 15US), no more."
SG: "No, that's impossible. I buy the bag for more than that."
(I lose my patience really easily when people lie to me.)
Me: "No you don't, I know you're trying to charge me more because I'm a foreigner. I've lived here long enough to know better."
SG: "Alright, but 150 is as low as I can go."
(Then this really sweet Chinese girl came into the shop looking at purses and listening to us argue. She wondered over and started taking my side.)
Chinese Girl: "He knows what he's talking about, that bag is only worth about 100."
(Then the shop girl got really angry that another Chinese called her on it. In my experience Chinese will cheat anyone, but when they're caught by other Chinese they lose face and have to back pedal pretty fast.)
SG: "OK, OK, 100."

After I bought the bag I talked to the Chinese girl for a while. Really sweet University student studying business or something. She said she hates it when people cheat each other. She said that everyone is the same and there is no need to cheat someone else just for an extra buck.

I haven't heard one person say that out here. For someone to admit to a foreigner that we're all the same is huge to me. Now it may be because Yantai is a fairly new city and was completely uneducated and just a farming community until fifteen or so years ago. No matter the reason, it's huge for someone in Yantai to say that to me.

She pointed out that most of the people who will cheat others are the ones who are selling things in little stalls on the street, not the people running big businesses. She had a vary karmic approach to the situation. Essentially she was saying that if you cheat people out of small money, you will cheat yourself out of big money.

Later that night I heard this phrase: Penny wise, nickel dumb.

Picture yourself in an airport. You're not there to travel. You're not there to pick anyone up. You're only there to watch. Everything is very busy. The lines to check-in wind around like a maze. There are whole families with their bags packed, no doubt on their way to Hawaii or some other exotic vacation spot. There are single business men, backpackers headed to Europe, and college students.

Their faces tell you little pieces of their life. You can tell that the college student second in line at the United counter doesn't want to go home. She feels like she has to because her parents are paying for her schooling. She would much rather go on a road trip with her friends or something. The business man behind her probably had a fight with his wife right before he went to the airport. He's tapping his foot impatiently. He's not late for his flight because he doesn't look at his watch. However he's still in a rush to leave.

You decide to move on to the security checkpoint. This is where people are separated and reunited. You watch a young man in a gray suit with a dozen roses waiting for his lover. He is on his tiptoes trying to look over the crowd in his way. You see a mother squatting down talking to her daughter. You can tell her daughter is excited to see her father. She holds up a folded piece of paper and asks if daddy will like it. Her mom picks her up and reassures her that daddy will love it. She taps her daughter playfully her on the nose. Then someone else catches your eye. It's a middle aged woman sitting down out of the way. She's wringing her skirt with her hands. She face shows you a certain nervous terror. She moves to pick up her cup of water with her shaky hands but it spills over when she touches it. Dripping all over her clothes she brings the cup to her mouth and takes a sip not even noticing that half the liquid in the cup is now all over her clothes.

What could she be waiting for that would make her act this way. You can't put your finger on it as easily as with the other people in the airport. You take a seat and decide to wait and watch. How will all of this turn out?

Ten minutes pass by and the four people continue to wait. The little girl is getting impatient, pulling on her mothers skirt. The man with the flowers is beginning to look discouraged. He has given up looking over people's heads and he has lowered the roses down to his side. The middle aged woman seems to have calmed down a bit. Just then another crowd of people rush out through security and she looks scared again.

Suddenly you see the man's posture change. He lifts the roses back up to his chest and pulls himself up on his toes. He starts waving at someone on the other side of security. You turn your head to look over and see a hand waving above people's heads, but you can't see who's hand it is. Then you see a man in a business suit running past people. You assume that he is running to the mother and daughter but he is intercepted by the man in the grey suit. They hug for a long time and walk out hand in hand. You can't help but laugh and shake your head.

Then the daughter starts pointing to someone telling her mom to look. You see another man's hand waving. A clean cut man with gray hair wearing a t-shirt and jeans meets his daughter half way, falls to his knees, and holds her tightly. She backs up a couple steps and holds out her piece of paper. When he opens it up you wish you had a camera to capture the look on his face. You see him tell her "it's beautiful." Then he picks her up and walks over to his wife. As he kisses her you see him say "I'm home." They walk out hand in hand.

You catch someone walking by quickly. When they look it you it feels like looking in a mirror. Before you see anything more they are gone.

Then you see the middle aged woman stand up. There is a girl, maybe fifteen or sixteen years old, standing still looking at the woman. Neither of them move for a long time. Finally the girl begins to walk to the woman. You get up and move closer out of curiosity. The woman's face goes through a range of emotions. First she seems happy, but then she looks ashamed which quickly changes into embarrassment. The girl however seems steady. She looks curious. The girl stops a couple meters away from the woman.

"Mom?"

Travel back in time with me to February 18th. Mark has just picked up a box of delicious treats that some friends in America sent him. He is taking a bicycle-type rickshaw contraption back from his old school where the box was delivered. While sitting in the rickshaw something happened that he was unaware of. His cell phone slowly slipped out of his left pocket. He should have known better as these particular pants have pockets that like to empty themselves while he is sat down. The rickshaw arrived at his apartment and he hopped out excited to open up the box and indulge in some American delicacies.

He did not notice that he had lost his mobile until halfway through cooking dinner when he remembered his friend was supposed to call him. Having cleaned up his house the previous day it did not take him long to realize his mobile was gone. He couldn't help but laugh at his foolishness. This would be the second phone he lost in the last five weeks. He enjoyed his dinner and went to bed only slightly annoyed at himself knowing it would be easy enough to get a new mobile in the morning.

Things wouldn't be as easy as Mark thought. G-d had a certain appointment that He needed Mark to be at. Mark, of course, knew nothing of this appointment.

Mark woke up a in decent mood. He made some eggs and coffee for breakfast, read a bit, and then decided to go pick up a new phone. First, he would talk to the driver of the rickshaw to see if he had it. Mark walked out of his apartment and down to where the rickshaw drivers were gathered around a chess board.

Mark found the driver of the rickshaw he used the day before and said, “昨天我的手机丢拉。” (Yesterday I lost my mobile.)

He looked up from the chess game, "真的吗？" (Really)

Mark hoped that he would have found it and given it back, "真的。你有没有我的手机。" (Really. Do you have it?)

"没有。" (Nope.)

Mark didn't really expect him to have it, or give it back even if he did have. So he headed down to the big China Mobile store where he could buy a replacement SIM card.

He explained that he had lost his cell phone and just needed to buy a replacement SIM card. After giving the women behind the counter his passport and phone number she looked at the computer screen, looked down at the passport, looked a bit confused, looked back at the computer, and down again at the passport a few more times before calling the manager over for some help. The manager spoke English.

He said, "Is this your passport?"

"Umm, yes. Why?"

"The number on your passport and the number on the account don't match. We can't give you a replacement card."

Now Mark was also a bit confused, "Wait a minute. This is the second time I've lost my phone. I came here and got a replacement card once before. Why didn't I have this problem then?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I got a replacement once before. Just do it again."

"Wait a moment, please."

The manager called over a higher manager and spoke in Chinese for several minutes. Mark didn't understand most of it, but he understood that they were not going to help him. The manager came back and apologized.

"I'm sorry, we can't give you a card with this number."

Mark moved a bit closer and lowered his voice, "Tell you what. I'll give you a hundred yuan to just give me a card with that number. I know it's possible because I have done it before. I think the girl before didn't speak any english so she just gave me one. I know it's possible. Just do it. A hundred yuan, I need this number."

"Sir, I'm really sorry but I can't. We can give you a new number for a hundred yuan."

Mark sat back frustrated, "So there's nothing I can do. Right?"

Nodding his head in agreement he said, "Right."

"Alright, I'll buy a new card. I had better get a discount, this problem isn't my fault."

He got out the contract and papers to sign. "We can give it to you for a hundred yuan, usually it's two hundred. And all of the money will be put into your account."

After Mark had signed all the papers and whatnot he was given a big bag with the most random selection of gifts a cell phone store would hand out. It included, soap, a tooth brush, shampoo, laundry soap, and toothpaste. He had to laugh because he was only buying a phone, not planning a vacation.

He still didn't have a phone though. Stopping by every phone shop on the way to his old school he finally found a decent cheap phone for three hundred yuan. After buying that he met his friend, Craig, at his old school so he could take a bunch of numbers off of Craig's phone. Mark was still ticked off that he couldn't have his old number. He wondered what would happen if his new employer tried to call him. Resigning not to worry about it too much, Mark began walking home.

Fifteen minutes into his twenty five minute walk someone tried to hand him a flyer. The man with the flyers said "Hello!" in the standard Chinese-trying-to-get-the-foreigner-to-look-at-them-so-they-can-have-a-good-laugh way.

Mark was not interested. He avoided eye-contact and said, "看不懂。" (I can't read.)

But the man was persistent. Mark looked up to see a tract in his hand. He was completely shocked. He couldn't read it and the man's English was the same level as Mark's Chinese, but he found out that at this Chinese place of worship they had an English service. The man really wanted Mark to come. Saying, "Please come help." Mark didn't know what that meant, but he told the man he would be there. The time of this service did not conflict with the Korean service he was involved in. Mark spoke to the man a little longer trying to understand exactly where this place was. Eventually he decided he would just hop in a taxi on Sunday morning and point to the address on the tract.

So after 8 months of looking for a Chinese place of worship with no success, G-d only had to make Mark's mobile disappear on the 18th of February to guide him straight there.


There are so many things that we don't see. Often something annoying will happen to us, or something that just plain sucks, and we will completely miss the deeper meaning. You lose your cell phone so that you can meet some guy on the street that shows you what you have been looking for for eight months. You get a flat tire that keeps you out of the huge pile up that happens only 30 seconds later. You fail a final exam making you re-take the class so you can meet the person G-d wants you to marry. You get terminally ill so you can go to the hospital and witness to another dying patient. You lose your job just so you can share Love with a broken single mother in line at the unemployment office. Your child is murdered so that you can forgive the murderer and be a huge part in him coming to believe in Love.

G-d sent His Son to earth to die, but that wasn't the end of the story.