My Family! Today was a day full of family. It's such a blessing to have it and such a blessing to spend time together. Here, we are a bit short of family compared to what we have in the U.S. Our extended family is big and close. Besides that, we've had church families or organization families that have adopted us into their lives. So, it's taking a while for us to find our family here. We have friends who are doing the same type of work as us in our city. They are part of our family. We also have our language helpers who have become part of our family. One of those helpers is probably moving away from our city, and we're feeling the loss of a good brother. Our other main family member is our 'house helper.' I wish there was a better word for her. Maybe some would call her a servant -- YUCK! -- or a maid -- a bit better. Really, she is our little sister and we tell her so. So, I'm going to share with you a bit about family life here.
First of all, there is Chris. He's my right hand! I am reminded again and again of how much God loves me by letting me marry him. The other day, one of my friends here commented, "In all the other marriages I see the man telling his wife. Chris asks you." That is a difference, huh? He helped me so much lately in encouraging me to let Lucy 'cry it out' in bed at night. I have been getting sleep! The first night was VERY hard. The second night was hard. But by the 3rd night, she's been sleeping through and I've been getting solid rest. Over 5-6 hours in a row! Do you know how much of a difference that makes? It's been over 4 years since I've slept this much!
Second, there's my kids. They're pretty super. Everyone thinks their kids are super. And if they don't, there's probably something wrong with the parents. Still, my kids are super! The boys have been making me laugh a lot lately. Just yesterday, I'd made some cake -- in my fluky oven and the power went out half-way through baking, so it turned into mush. Anyway, I'd made some cake and put some in bowls for Jed and Abe. Abe sat down and dug right in. Jed had to go to the bathroom, so his cake was sitting on the table. I heard Chris comment on how fast Abe finished his cake. Then I hear this dialogue:
Chris: Abe, where'd you get that cake?
Abe: I vas djust puttin it in bruders bowl. (he scoops up the cake he'd just stolen and puts it back)
Chris: Jed, you'd better stop dilly-dallying or Brother is going to eat your cake.
Jed: I'm not dilly-dallying. Dilly-dallying is for losers.
How do they come up with this stuff? Lucy is her own miracle. Not only was she born in such a crazy way, but now she's not yet 7 months old and crawling and pulling up on all the furniture and climbing up and down things -- she'd go up stairs if we had any. It's great to watch her explore and smile and give it back to her brothers once in a while.
Today, we got out of the house early and headed to the park. Last time we were there, it happened to be a holiday and we came in the afternoon. We got swamped by about 50 kids just swarming us and treating us like movie stars. It was a really rough day. Today, we went in the morning before people had eaten their breakfast. The boys got to play on playground equipment by themselves. They got to play cricket with Daddy. They met a little boy who they ran around with for a while. It was such a change. After that, they had a bath in the kiddie pool on our balcony. Not many kids get to do that! I was feeling blessed to watch that happen.
The word for 'sister' around here is Behen. So, that's what we'll call the young girl that comes to our house every day to help with the dishes and floors. She also loves to eat -- bread, fruit, eggs, meat of any kind, peanut butter, nutella, whatever we have around the house. She also loves to play with the kids. The boys are usually napping when she comes, but she plays with Lucy a lot. She also loves to chat. I talk with her about anything that I can talk about. Yesterday, she was cleaning our balcony (so the boys could have their bath party today) and I was out there with her, working beside her. She kept telling me to go inside because it was 'her work'. I stopped her and told her, "No, this is our house, you are our family, so this is our work. Everything is OUR work." Her face beamed. Today we had a talk about how God made everyone the same. That no one is above anyone else in His eyes. She smiled and kept saying, "This is good. This is good." We pray for her often. That God would bless her family -- they have very little materially. That God would protect her honor. That God would show her how much He loves her. So my time with my Behen fills me with joy, too.
One last thing that was great about today was I got to talk on Skype with my Mom . . . twice! I can grump all I want about how people rely too much on technology (as I write this blog). I can complain about how it takes up to much of our time (as I write this blog). I can share my frustration about it not working the way I want (as I write this blog). But, I'd better knock it off. I can see my sweet Mother's face from the other side of the world. I can show her how Lucy is crawling. My boys can show her their toys or goofy faces or tell her stories. Chris and I can tell her about our joys and stresses and she can tell us about hers. So, thank you, Mr. Skype Creator. May you be forever blessed!
So, it's been a good day. Now, I'm topping it off watching my girl sleep in her crib (where I put her and let her cry it out for less than 5 minutes). Blessings to all of you -- especially the ones that pray for us! We are feeling it!
First of all, there is Chris. He's my right hand! I am reminded again and again of how much God loves me by letting me marry him. The other day, one of my friends here commented, "In all the other marriages I see the man telling his wife. Chris asks you." That is a difference, huh? He helped me so much lately in encouraging me to let Lucy 'cry it out' in bed at night. I have been getting sleep! The first night was VERY hard. The second night was hard. But by the 3rd night, she's been sleeping through and I've been getting solid rest. Over 5-6 hours in a row! Do you know how much of a difference that makes? It's been over 4 years since I've slept this much!
Second, there's my kids. They're pretty super. Everyone thinks their kids are super. And if they don't, there's probably something wrong with the parents. Still, my kids are super! The boys have been making me laugh a lot lately. Just yesterday, I'd made some cake -- in my fluky oven and the power went out half-way through baking, so it turned into mush. Anyway, I'd made some cake and put some in bowls for Jed and Abe. Abe sat down and dug right in. Jed had to go to the bathroom, so his cake was sitting on the table. I heard Chris comment on how fast Abe finished his cake. Then I hear this dialogue:
Chris: Abe, where'd you get that cake?
Abe: I vas djust puttin it in bruders bowl. (he scoops up the cake he'd just stolen and puts it back)
Chris: Jed, you'd better stop dilly-dallying or Brother is going to eat your cake.
Jed: I'm not dilly-dallying. Dilly-dallying is for losers.
How do they come up with this stuff? Lucy is her own miracle. Not only was she born in such a crazy way, but now she's not yet 7 months old and crawling and pulling up on all the furniture and climbing up and down things -- she'd go up stairs if we had any. It's great to watch her explore and smile and give it back to her brothers once in a while.
Today, we got out of the house early and headed to the park. Last time we were there, it happened to be a holiday and we came in the afternoon. We got swamped by about 50 kids just swarming us and treating us like movie stars. It was a really rough day. Today, we went in the morning before people had eaten their breakfast. The boys got to play on playground equipment by themselves. They got to play cricket with Daddy. They met a little boy who they ran around with for a while. It was such a change. After that, they had a bath in the kiddie pool on our balcony. Not many kids get to do that! I was feeling blessed to watch that happen.
The word for 'sister' around here is Behen. So, that's what we'll call the young girl that comes to our house every day to help with the dishes and floors. She also loves to eat -- bread, fruit, eggs, meat of any kind, peanut butter, nutella, whatever we have around the house. She also loves to play with the kids. The boys are usually napping when she comes, but she plays with Lucy a lot. She also loves to chat. I talk with her about anything that I can talk about. Yesterday, she was cleaning our balcony (so the boys could have their bath party today) and I was out there with her, working beside her. She kept telling me to go inside because it was 'her work'. I stopped her and told her, "No, this is our house, you are our family, so this is our work. Everything is OUR work." Her face beamed. Today we had a talk about how God made everyone the same. That no one is above anyone else in His eyes. She smiled and kept saying, "This is good. This is good." We pray for her often. That God would bless her family -- they have very little materially. That God would protect her honor. That God would show her how much He loves her. So my time with my Behen fills me with joy, too.
One last thing that was great about today was I got to talk on Skype with my Mom . . . twice! I can grump all I want about how people rely too much on technology (as I write this blog). I can complain about how it takes up to much of our time (as I write this blog). I can share my frustration about it not working the way I want (as I write this blog). But, I'd better knock it off. I can see my sweet Mother's face from the other side of the world. I can show her how Lucy is crawling. My boys can show her their toys or goofy faces or tell her stories. Chris and I can tell her about our joys and stresses and she can tell us about hers. So, thank you, Mr. Skype Creator. May you be forever blessed!
So, it's been a good day. Now, I'm topping it off watching my girl sleep in her crib (where I put her and let her cry it out for less than 5 minutes). Blessings to all of you -- especially the ones that pray for us! We are feeling it!
Just some pics of the good times!
i love this! thanks for the reminders :) letting hudson cry it out was a life-saver & now he sleeps 10 hrs straight every night! so excited for lucy sleeping & crawling. hudson just started crawling too & it's so fun to watch. miss you guys! keep up the good work behen!
ReplyDeleteThanks! You too :)
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