Eric's Beijing Diary

At our "Purpose Driven Life" Study last Saturday night, the leader asked what someone close to us would identify as the driving force in our lives. Well, the way he put that question provoked me a bit, 'cause I always thought you weren't supposed to live your life by what others think. But as I started thinking about it, I thought I better check it out. I asked Melissa to comment on the question. She wasn't sure what I was referring to, but she put in her two cents worth anyway. Here's Melissa:

The one thing that defines him? God. Through Him all other things that my dad loves are able to breathe and grow. He loves China and green tea, he thinks that knowing more than one language is a necessity. He believes in coffee shops and stacks of thick books. Money spent on educating oneself is money well spent.

He knows that people become mobile by the strength God provides, and the people He puts in our lives to encourage us.

My dad is fascinated by electricity and how things work. He has taken apart cars and vacuum cleaners and computers to further examine each individual part. Which, perhaps, is what makes him a teacher. He knows that he has a class of students in front of him, but he also has the curiosity to investigate each one and see precisely how all the pieces fit together.

Technology is his work but the advancement of evangelism is his forte. He wants to expand the knowledge of his students and provide a basis for the expansive study of a true and loving God.

He appreciates ethnic cuisine, but also has a soft spot for hometown American cookin'.

He has a beard. I'll leave that one alone.

He is somewhat clueless as to the art of keeping a house clean, preventing the "bachelors ring" in a toilet and the seemingly complex emotions of females. But he tries. AND, for what he lacks in comprehension, he makes up for in his understanding approach.

He loves music. He thinks that if one takes a liking to an instrument, one should practice and master it. He can play the harmonica and has embodied a feeling of worship so strong that beating his hand upon the dashboard of an old torino while singing at the tippy top of his lungs was the only way to express it. He reads the bible daily.

He appreciates the art of rhetoric and the healing power of humor. He is witty, comical, and interesting. Strong and obvious values, unwavering beliefs in certain things, and a pro at an eighteen wheeler. He is stubborn, lighthearted, and forthright.

But he knows, with absolute assurance, that he is none of these things without God.

And THAT, is my father, Eric Langager.

Labels: Melissa