Smack-down!

Today, I was attempting to teach Josiah the song "Father Abraham." (Thanks, E. Barricklow for the inspiration!) He laughed at the goofy motions. After I finished, I asked him if he wanted to try. He simply replied, "No, let's be quiet now, Mom."

Can I pray for you?

A while ago, I wrote about teaching Josiah how to pray for healing fo others--mainly when they are hurt, sick, or sad. He has now taken it a step further and has started initiating his own prayers.

He thought I had a boo-boo tonight, so he laid his little hand on my leg and said, "Mommy, what happened? Can I kiss it? Can I pray for you?" Then afterwards, "Does it feel better?" Adorable child-like faith. His prayers in this situtation continue to be, "Thank you Jesus for the food. Please help ____ to feel better. Thank you Jesus for the food. Amen."

We fail in a lot of ways when it comes to teaching the boys Truth. Opportunities are missed. Time isn't set aside consistently. We hope to change this, but we're thankful his little mind is beginning to wrap around prayer and he can talk with Jesus anywhere, any time.

Week 1

It's been a busy week here! Here are a few things we've been doing...

- Orientation 4 hours a day for me (read: brain is maxed out by noon)
- Our stuff (finally) arriving and starting to unpack and organize
- Exploring our neighborhood shops and restaurants
- Over jet lag, but still not adjusted to the 4am sunrise. More black-out curtains to be ordered soon!!!
- Adjusting to our new roles...me gone most of the day, Michael at home with the boys. He's doing an awesome job!!!
- Registering at the local police station. Always a process. :)
- Getting a "physical." That was interesting.
- Our bodies re-adjusting to lots of physical activity! Before our bikes arrived, we were walking 25mins to and from school, 15-20mins to close restaurants, and 45mins to explore the center of town. Our feet were tired! Now that our bikes are here, we feel so free...and fast!! We'll see how long we can use them, since we hear the roads pretty much stay frozen during the 4-5 months of winter.
- Going to bed 8-9pm! 4 comes fast!

We have a little bit of free time this weekend, so we're hoping to get some things we need, unpack more, perhaps buy some groceries so we can cook!!, and relax...maybe?

A few pics..

I think they're adding insulation. Interesting process!

Sooo excited to see our stuff arrive...only 5 days later than expected! :)

Jet-lagging during our stop-over in Beijing.

Life is rough in the stroller.

Honestly

I'm gonna be vulnerable here. Show my flesh. We all know it's there.

We got to Changchun (our new city) 9 days ago. The trip here wasn't bad. A short flight and a fairly short drive. Our friends/neighbors/teammates picked us up and showed us to our new home. When they opened the door, I could see wooden floors. I was so excited! The past 2 years, we've dealt with tile floors that have caused many bruises and tears. Then we got a tour of the apartment. I was a little shocked. But not in a good way.

I could go into a list of the things that shocked me, but I won't. It's not needed. You know why? Because that just feeds my fleshly desires even more. Complaining. Whining. Thinking I deserve better. Expecting to deserve better. That's not a pretty place to be. There's a great Book that talks a lot about pride. I think I need a serious review.

Michael and I got some complaints off our chest that first night. How would we make things work? Why did it have to be this way for us? Why couldn't we have gotten so-and-so's apartment?

Because that's not what He wanted. HE has a plan. And right now, this is it. Be content with it. Trust Him. It's all He asks me to do. Trust that He knows what He's doing.

We started each day of orientation with a devo this week. It was good for my soul. Each day, He whispered something to me about our housing situation. Am I completely over it? No. Have I stopped complaining? No. But I am more content than I was 9 days ago.

He's working in my heart to show me it's more than just the space I live in. It's so much more. Like souls to be freed. Like neighbors to befriend. Like a language to learn.

I'm being humbled daily. May it continue.

The Trip Back

I always feel the need to document our journey back; so many things happen during it!

The night before our flight, as Michael checked us in online, he noticed our flight got moved up 2 hours. This meant we had to finish packing even sooner! Somehow, we got it all done, through the line at the counter, and to our gate with a mere 15 minutes to spare.

We flew to Chicago without much drama. The kids were ok, just antsy. We landed and were taxing....then they BOTH fell asleep. Really, kids?! They got in a short nap, then were both awake as we got off the plane and made our way to the gate. We had another short wait, then boarded for the marathon flight (13 hours).

Somehow, even buying our tickets 3 months ago, Michael choosing our seats then, we got moved and were sitting 25 rows apart. I wasn't happy. Malachi is just too much to handle alone! About 5 minutes before the plane took off, we finally got someone to agree to switch seats with us so we could sit together. PTL!

U.S. time, it was getting late, so I thought surely the kids would settle down and perhaps take a long nap. Not so much! They served dinner, then soon after turned out the lights. By this time, it was 11pm. Josiah finally crashed and didn't wake up for another 6 hours! A first-ever for that kid to sleep so long on a plane!! Malachi...sweet Malachi...was a different story. He didn't have his own seat, so his bed was my lap. We tried oh-so-many positions. All he did was squirm. I finally put him in the carrier and pulled the hood  over his head to make it even darker. He finally fell asleep. For 20 minutes. He was off-and-on like that for almost 2 hours. I caught sleep whenever he was still, then started rocking when he started to squirm. He was up for a while after that, then semi-slept some more, for a few more hours. It may sound horrible, but he slept WAY more than he did on the flight to the US, so we were thrilled to get a cumulative 3-4 hours ourselves!!

We arrived in Beijing around 9pm (8am US time), had a driver take us 2 hours to our home, and everyone was settled in their beds by midnight. Josiah didn't want to go to bed. Surprise, surprise!

Michael and I woke up at 4.30am, Josiah at 5.30, Malachi at 7.30. This morning, we all added about an hour. Hoping jet lag is beaten soon!

Yesterday, we asked a student help us get all our stuff on the railway to our new city. He called them and told us they'd be here "sometime." In China, that could mean 5 minutes, or next week. Literally. We were worried it would be the latter. So we piddled around, ran a few errands, etc. About an hour later, the student called back saying they were on their way! What?! Good news, but we had a LOT to do still! We needed to re-pack several suitcases and label the 25 boxes with our new address. I worked on re-packing while Michael handled the rest. It all got done, somehow! They said our stuff would be there in 3 days. Hope so! We leave tomorrow to fly to our new city; it'd be nice if our stuff arrived soon afterwards so we could get settled!

The adventures continue.......

Summer is a Flyin!

It's hard to keep up with the blog when there are so many other fun things to do and people to see! We're loving being in KC. We can't believe how time is flying. This summer is almost over..how?!

A few updates on the boys:

- Malachi started rejecting pureed foods a few weeks ago. I moved to fruits and baby puffs. He was happy until he realized the real food tastes way better than the puffs. He was stuffing blueberries and cherries by the handfuls. (I have some great pics, but can't figure out how to upload them!)
- Tonight, I think I felt a tooth in little M's mouth...finally!!
- Josiah is still Mr. Shy. We've met lots of people and seen lots of kiddos, and he usually ends up playing silently by his new friends. Ah well, I guess that's better than a bully, huh?
- Since we've been in the car quite a bit, Josiah has been soo sweet to help entertain Malachi. He'll make him laugh, and Malachi will squeal in delight. He'll share his toys. He'll sing him songs. Love those boys!!

Still here!

Blogging is just not a priority these days. Too many other fun things to do!

The past few days, we've had extra fun with my aunt and uncle here. That makes 8 adults and 2 kids in the house. Talk about fun...and a LOT of food!! A few highlights:

- Lambert's-home of the throwed rolls. YUM
- throwback to 4-square..so fun!
- lots of cooking out
- another birthday party for Josiah...number 3 for the 3-year-old!
- shopping. Lots of shopping.
- hopefully a family slip-n-slide day tomorrow!

Riding the "tractor"

Haha..there are better ones; this one is just funny.

Fun basketball cake!