Christ-like Laoshi

John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Last week Elaine and I jumped on a call with our eldest son’s Chinese teacher. Kyan has a learning disability called Dyspraxia, which impairs his coordination, ability to process auditory information, and general sequencing capabilities. Needless to say, learning a multi-tonal, intricate sequential stroke character language proves difficult for him. We had already been quite overwhelmed by Kyan’s school in our last check-in with his teachers. We scheduled a Zoom call and literally 17 people (teachers, counselors, program directors) were on the call to weigh in with their thoughts and reassure us that they were supporting Kyan in his learning journey. But last week his mandarin teacher took it to a whole new level. After giving us an update she offered to give Kyan private lessons every day before school started. I couldn’t believe it. For the last few days I’ve been meditating about this offer and I just feel so overwhelmed. This teacher, like most teachers, is really, really busy. She has so many students to attend to, yet just like Jesus she’s willing to sacrifice everything to reach the one lost sheep. I’ve never talked to her about her faith, but it’s a Christian school and likely those values permeate the atmosphere. And all this gets me thinking, in my busyness, how am I reaching out? How am I letting others know that I am Jesus’ disciple? How am I demonstrating God’s love? Lord, thank you for amazing examples of your love in my life. Thank you for the ultimate example of your son. May I be more like him each and every day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.