Words of a friend

I’m talking on the phone with my Chinese friend the other night when all the sudden she says something that just blows me away. First, some back story… how do I describe my friend, exactly? She’s a year younger than me—which makes her 22—teaches English in the Kindergarten with me, and is a real interesting gal. She likes to laugh, learn new English phrases she hears on her favorite show Friends, and she loves to make fun of me whenever possible. She’s my Chinese tutor this semester (though granted we haven’t had an official lesson together yet) and, for a good example of our relationship, she bought me this baby’s Chinese book so I can learn to speak better—picture me with this round, cardboard book with big colorful animal pictures on a plastic ring, saying “ba ba ba” over and over. See why we hit it off?

Anyway, we’re talking on the phone when all of the sudden she starts saying some familiar words: the passage from John’s book, chapter 3, line 16 that we all know so well. On Monday, she’d been asked to memorize this particular verse as she continues her study of John’s book. She had, she said it to me and then she says that she wants to memorize more, that she feels it is good to do and wants to know if I have more words to share with her. I tell her I do and set up a time to study Chinese and read some more from this book she's so interested in.

This friend doesn’t believe, but she has a real desire to learn more of His words and even to commit them to memory. I’ve been so, so humbled by being a part of a study she and some other girls have been attending (one of whom has already made a commitment!), to see their devotion and seriousness and their earnestness and willingness to learn. How many times do I find myself caught up in doctrine or theology, taking sides and uninterested in spending time with the Author of our faith, remembering His words and listening for more? Each week, as we’re now through John’s third chapter, the girls learn something brand new, and I find myself thinking, for all the things I know and have learned over the years about His Word and about what it means to live the life He calls us to, when it comes down to it, it’s still the simple things that mean everything: faith as big as a mustard seed, listening for the still small voice, a glass of water, a piece of bread, the love of a father, the birth of a child, and remembering the words of dear friend:

“For the Father so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.”