The other night John sat down and actually read my blog. Yes, I know, this may not be surprising to you, but in reality, he NEVER reads my blog. He says that he already knows what happened, experienced it and even saw the pictures, so why should he spend very limited time on reading something he already knows?
But he read it the other night. As he often does when he knows I am looking for his opinion, he offered a sweet compliment as well as some constructive criticism. The compliment I will keep to myself, but the criticism? Simply this: maybe if you weren't here and didn't see our life from day to day, only read the blog, you might get the idea that our life is one big party and fun event after another, and we all always get along, and nothing is ever difficult, challenging, or stressful.
Well, I hope I am a bit more transparent than that in my writing. You all have heard plenty, especially if you've been reading my musings over time, about the challenges and difficulties of life over here, parenthood, etc. However, I do have to keep my thoughts here about our work rather general, and sometimes don't talk about it at all, but that's not because I wouldn't like to share.
Anyway, in the interest of "keepin' it real," and following my husband's advice, tonight I thought I'd share with you some things that have been challenging lately and ask for your prayers on the matter.
One challenge that is somewhat all-encompassing is that these last six months have been more busy than I ever could have imagined. We have moved to a level of busyness that we've never known in our 12 years of marriage. John has taken on some new responsibilities and though he has been cheerfully serving with a humble heart (from my perspective), I have sometimes had a hard time with his increased workload which has meant long, long days for him and oftentimes, late nights as well.
As a wife, there is a temptation to want John's help when he gets home--can you take the kids for a moment? Can you do this thing or that thing?--rather than always seeing myself as HIS helper, looking to meet his needs when he walks in the door. There's also a temptation for me to be dissatisfied with the amount of time he is able to give to me and the kids. Even when we plan special family times, or take time to go out together, I can tend to think "it's not enough," rather than being grateful for what we have! I am learning, slowly learning, to be content with our family times and not make family time into an idol, but it is hard sometimes! Do any of you wives with busy husbands out there relate to this struggle?
Also, there's just the fatigue factor. It is tiring to be busy all of the time, to always feel like "I MUST keep doing work tonight or I won't get things done by the time they need to be done!" The tyranny of the urgent has been the rule, rather than the exception, lately. And that gets tiring. It's a challenge when you don't see any light at the end of the tunnel! Or, the tunnel seems so impossibly long that you're not sure you'll ever make it out!
But, the good news is, we do see a bit of a break coming. The bad news is, it won't be for another four weeks. The next four weeks are packed solid. Packed with good things, to be sure, but packed nonetheless.
So, thanks for your prayers! Father is always so gracious and provides all we need. And I feel better already having "confessed" to all of you! Ahhh . . . thanks for letting me be real!
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Monday, July 06, 2009
Ta-Da!
June 26, Chloe's birthday, encompassed several rather significant "firsts" for us here in the W household. Consider this: we have never had a birthday party for any of our kids that involved inviting others outside our family. This year, we blew that out of the water and invited 10 little Asian friends and their parents to our (relatively) small apartment! It was fun to throw such a big, fun event!
Then, another important "first": I made a cake! Not just a "baked-in-the-bundt-pan-with-some-candles-stuck-in-the-top" cake! I was inspired by my friend Amy, who loves cake decorating and does a beautiful job with it. Last Christmas, at Clara Anne's birthday, Amy and her family hosted my girls for a meal and Amy had made Clara Anne a cake that had her favorite color (blue) icing and had butterflies on it. Clara Anne frankly remarked lately, "Mommy, that cake that Aunt Amy made for my birthday is my favorite one ever. I liked it better than the one you made me." The one I had made her was a breakfast cake, the blueberry upside down cake that Chloe also had recently, so I'm not surprised that she liked Amy's cake better!
So, after seeing pictures of a cake that Amy had made before she even knew anything about cake decorating, I thought, "I could do that!" So in the midst of a crazy week, I undertook this cake. Amy loaned me her decorating book and provided moral support. I bought all the candy and made the frosting ahead of time. I was ready!
I decided to tease you with pictures of the cake before posting the rest of the party pictures. In case you aren't sure what it is (remember this was my first attempt at a decorated cake), take your clues from the princesses out front. The cake was a family project--John helped with the construction and did some of the icing, and the girls put most of the candy on for decoration. We had fun making it together, despite the cake decorator's curse: crumbs in the icing.
So, without further ado, here is the cake! Ta-Da!
I have to say, it wasn't a professional cake by any stretch of the imagination, but it was fun. And, it was tasty! The recipe involved doctoring a boxed mix with dry pudding mix, sour cream, and chocolate chips. It was moist and lovely! And happily, after the party, most of it was gone so I wasn't tempted to eat cake all week. So, my first attempt at making and decorating a fancy cake was a success. It was fun! I may even be persuaded to do it again!
Then, another important "first": I made a cake! Not just a "baked-in-the-bundt-pan-with-some-candles-stuck-in-the-top" cake! I was inspired by my friend Amy, who loves cake decorating and does a beautiful job with it. Last Christmas, at Clara Anne's birthday, Amy and her family hosted my girls for a meal and Amy had made Clara Anne a cake that had her favorite color (blue) icing and had butterflies on it. Clara Anne frankly remarked lately, "Mommy, that cake that Aunt Amy made for my birthday is my favorite one ever. I liked it better than the one you made me." The one I had made her was a breakfast cake, the blueberry upside down cake that Chloe also had recently, so I'm not surprised that she liked Amy's cake better!
So, after seeing pictures of a cake that Amy had made before she even knew anything about cake decorating, I thought, "I could do that!" So in the midst of a crazy week, I undertook this cake. Amy loaned me her decorating book and provided moral support. I bought all the candy and made the frosting ahead of time. I was ready!
I decided to tease you with pictures of the cake before posting the rest of the party pictures. In case you aren't sure what it is (remember this was my first attempt at a decorated cake), take your clues from the princesses out front. The cake was a family project--John helped with the construction and did some of the icing, and the girls put most of the candy on for decoration. We had fun making it together, despite the cake decorator's curse: crumbs in the icing.
So, without further ado, here is the cake! Ta-Da!
I have to say, it wasn't a professional cake by any stretch of the imagination, but it was fun. And, it was tasty! The recipe involved doctoring a boxed mix with dry pudding mix, sour cream, and chocolate chips. It was moist and lovely! And happily, after the party, most of it was gone so I wasn't tempted to eat cake all week. So, my first attempt at making and decorating a fancy cake was a success. It was fun! I may even be persuaded to do it again!
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Party Time!
[Warning: the post below has the most pictures I have ever put in a single post! Sorry about that! I just had so many great pictures to share from Chloe's party and couldn't NOT post them. Proceed at risk of boredom!]
I mentioned previously that John really helped with icing the cake. Here's proof! I was ready to call it quits and he insisted that we could use more cake and make the cake more impressive. I let him take over!
Working carefully . . . the cake was so soft and moist that there was almost NO way to keep the crumbs out of the icing. We did the best we could to cover it!
Admiring the finished product.
Chloe was already excited!
The next day. . . here's the table, set for 12! 10 friends plus my two big girls. We just pulled out the coffee table so that parents could sit behind their kids and help out if necessary. It worked great!
At the swimming pool--everyone had fun! It was too humid inside to take many pictures, though.
Clara Anne played some with her friends and some by herself.
This little girl is named (I kid you not) Ping Ping. In fact, the whole doubled name usage is quite common among small children in this country. It's more of a nickname which they usually drop as they grow older. Our party included Ling Ling, Jia Jia, Zhan Zhan, Tian Tian, Tong Tong, Cong Cong, the list goes on. Other than my children, whose Asian names are not doubled, there was only one other little girl who didn't have a doubled name!
Chloe and her cake with the gift bags for the kids in the background. We found some stickers, notepads, and erasers all with verses on them in the local language, and added some candy to make the bags extra fun. Glad for the opportunity to share a bit!
I mentioned previously that John really helped with icing the cake. Here's proof! I was ready to call it quits and he insisted that we could use more cake and make the cake more impressive. I let him take over!
Working carefully . . . the cake was so soft and moist that there was almost NO way to keep the crumbs out of the icing. We did the best we could to cover it!
Admiring the finished product.
Chloe was already excited!
The next day. . . here's the table, set for 12! 10 friends plus my two big girls. We just pulled out the coffee table so that parents could sit behind their kids and help out if necessary. It worked great!
At the swimming pool--everyone had fun! It was too humid inside to take many pictures, though.
Clara Anne played some with her friends and some by herself.
This little girl is named (I kid you not) Ping Ping. In fact, the whole doubled name usage is quite common among small children in this country. It's more of a nickname which they usually drop as they grow older. Our party included Ling Ling, Jia Jia, Zhan Zhan, Tian Tian, Tong Tong, Cong Cong, the list goes on. Other than my children, whose Asian names are not doubled, there was only one other little girl who didn't have a doubled name!
Chloe and her cake with the gift bags for the kids in the background. We found some stickers, notepads, and erasers all with verses on them in the local language, and added some candy to make the bags extra fun. Glad for the opportunity to share a bit!
The ladies congregated in the kitchen, as usual. Though my kitchen is small, it always seems that when we have a group here there are lots of people hanging out in the kitchen!
This is a sweet friend, with her son--the only boy who attended. He didn't seem to mind at all that he was with a bunch of girls! He and John had lots of fun playing games in the pool together.
Getting the kids seated. Can you see my blonde-headed girls?
Even Christin got to wear a princess crown! I talked a bit before we cut the cake how those who believe in Him are TRUE princesses--daughters of the King!
This is my great friend and former house helper, Mimi, with her husband. PingPing is their daughter. Putting it all together yet?
Here they are together, enjoying the pizza!
This is a sweet friend, with her son--the only boy who attended. He didn't seem to mind at all that he was with a bunch of girls! He and John had lots of fun playing games in the pool together.
Getting the kids seated. Can you see my blonde-headed girls?
Even Christin got to wear a princess crown! I talked a bit before we cut the cake how those who believe in Him are TRUE princesses--daughters of the King!
This is my great friend and former house helper, Mimi, with her husband. PingPing is their daughter. Putting it all together yet?
Here they are together, enjoying the pizza! 
My helper, Lou, (wearing my old Starbucks apron, of course), and another good friend of ours.
Singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out the candles!
Two of Clara Anne's good friends from kindergarten.
More gifts! This is the part of the party I wish we could have skipped. I wanted to tell the parents NOT to bring a gift, but Lou felt if I were to say that it would be seen as a subtle reminder TO bring a gift. But we didn't have the party in order to get a bunch of gifts. Know what I mean? She already got several gifts for her birthday, truly didn't need anything else, but . . . . oh well, she got a bunch more! Of course she thought it was great!
Singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out the candles!
Two of Clara Anne's good friends from kindergarten.
More gifts! This is the part of the party I wish we could have skipped. I wanted to tell the parents NOT to bring a gift, but Lou felt if I were to say that it would be seen as a subtle reminder TO bring a gift. But we didn't have the party in order to get a bunch of gifts. Know what I mean? She already got several gifts for her birthday, truly didn't need anything else, but . . . . oh well, she got a bunch more! Of course she thought it was great!
Excitement over a new dress-up doll! This picture was too funny not to post!
Ling Ling with his gift bag. (the bags came from America, by the way.)
Chloe and Mommy, three years later. I'll never forget your birth, Chloe Rachelle! I had two weeks of prelabor contraction, one false alarm at the hospital, and finally, right as all of Thailand was watching the World Cup, you decided it was time to be born. Then it went fast and we were only at the hospital about 3 hours before you were born! As soon as you were out, the Thai doctor exclaimed, "Wah! Big Baby!" And you were--9 pounds 13 oz, much bigger than those tiny Thai babies he was used to seeing. You were pink all over and healthy, and since things went so well we went home that afternoon, less than 12 hours after you were born. We were so glad to have you join our family, and Clara Anne called you "Ko-Ko" since she couldn't pronounce your name. We love you, Chloe!
Partying Prince and Princesses, minus Christin who already went down for her nap. Happy Birthday Chloe!
I promise, this has been the last post about Chloe's birthday! But thanks for joining us vicariously as we celebrated!
Ling Ling with his gift bag. (the bags came from America, by the way.)
Chloe and Mommy, three years later. I'll never forget your birth, Chloe Rachelle! I had two weeks of prelabor contraction, one false alarm at the hospital, and finally, right as all of Thailand was watching the World Cup, you decided it was time to be born. Then it went fast and we were only at the hospital about 3 hours before you were born! As soon as you were out, the Thai doctor exclaimed, "Wah! Big Baby!" And you were--9 pounds 13 oz, much bigger than those tiny Thai babies he was used to seeing. You were pink all over and healthy, and since things went so well we went home that afternoon, less than 12 hours after you were born. We were so glad to have you join our family, and Clara Anne called you "Ko-Ko" since she couldn't pronounce your name. We love you, Chloe!
Partying Prince and Princesses, minus Christin who already went down for her nap. Happy Birthday Chloe!
I promise, this has been the last post about Chloe's birthday! But thanks for joining us vicariously as we celebrated!Candles and Gifts Galore
Chloe's birthday celebration continues! We ate noodles for her birthday lunch, since that is traditional in this culture. The length of the noodles is to express wishes for a long life. In the summer we eat fresh noodles cold, with sesame paste and soy sauce, water and vinegar mixed as a dressing, minced salted vegetables added for flavor, and topped with shoestring-cut cucumbers. The creamy dressing with salty veggies and crunchy cucumbers make a perfectly delicious combination, wonderfully refreshing in the summertime!
Here's the birthday girl! We saved the special birthday cake for the day of the party, so she just got some candles stuck in a brownie for her birthday lunch. She didn't seem to mind--after the breakfast practice, she blew out these candles in record time, so we let her do it again! Why not? It's fun, after all!
Then it was time to open gifts, thanks a bunch to Grandpa and Grandma! (all of these things had been stashed away in my closet after my trip to America!) Fun times!
A magnetic dress-up doll! Hours of fun ahead!
I read Chloe the card from Grandpa and Grandma while Chloe opened another dress-up doll, one for her and one for Clara Anne.
Lou gave a gift too and some birthday love...
And a new game from Mommy and Daddy! Everyone was interested in Bop-It!
Then it was time to open gifts, thanks a bunch to Grandpa and Grandma! (all of these things had been stashed away in my closet after my trip to America!) Fun times!
A magnetic dress-up doll! Hours of fun ahead!
I read Chloe the card from Grandpa and Grandma while Chloe opened another dress-up doll, one for her and one for Clara Anne.
Lou gave a gift too and some birthday love...
And a new game from Mommy and Daddy! Everyone was interested in Bop-It!
All of the girls were thrilled to get new dresses from Grandpa and Grandma! Christin looked so sweet toddling around in her full skirt!
The three princesses took a few practice twirls to try out their pretty dresses!
Just lovely!
Chloe didn't waste any time playing with her new doll--she chose the boy doll and gave the girl doll to Clara Anne.
The whole family--Happy 3rd birthday Chloe!
Next: Party pictures!
Just lovely!
Chloe didn't waste any time playing with her new doll--she chose the boy doll and gave the girl doll to Clara Anne.
The whole family--Happy 3rd birthday Chloe!
Next: Party pictures! Saturday, July 04, 2009
Birthday Blowin'
Chloe's birthday began with a special birthday breakfast. Here is our traditional (ok, I've only made it twice now) birthday breakfast cake--a blueberry pineapple upside down cake. Isn't it lovely?
Oooh, and there's nothing better than getting to blow out candles right away at breakfast time! What a delightful thing!
Except...except...there were some technical difficulties.
Take a deep breath, Chloe! Like this, see?
Hmm, not working. Ok, get a little closer!
Yeah, like THIS close!
Right here, Chloe! Aim for right here!
Yay! She finally did it! Whoopee!
Let's eat! Birthday breakfast fun after all that hard work!
Oooh, and there's nothing better than getting to blow out candles right away at breakfast time! What a delightful thing!
Except...except...there were some technical difficulties.
Take a deep breath, Chloe! Like this, see?
Hmm, not working. Ok, get a little closer!
Yeah, like THIS close!
Right here, Chloe! Aim for right here!
Yay! She finally did it! Whoopee!
Let's eat! Birthday breakfast fun after all that hard work!Sunday, June 28, 2009
What happened to this week?
Seriously, where did it go? Aaaaah, it was a busy one! Wowza. Here's the week in brief review:
Monday: Traveled to a nearby city to visit a friend. Had such a nice time that we stayed too late and missed our bus home. Thankfully the city was truly nearby and so we took a taxi all the way home! The girls passed out cold in the car on the way.
Tuesday: Did 6 loads of laundry. Had a friend over for lunch who had been living in central Asia the past year. Such a great conversation! Spent the afternoon shopping for an oven for a newly-arriving friend. Finally found one in a warehouse way on the other end of town, possibly the last oven in this city of 6 million! Took John's office manager out to eat Korean food for supper since she has put in lots of extra time lately.
Wednesday: Concocted a plan to have a big party for Chloe's birthday, all because we had a bunch of punches left on our card at our local swimming pool that were about to expire. Spent the day calling and inviting friends. 10 xiao pengyous (little friends) coming! Air conditioner broken, with temps over 100. Slept badly.
Thursday: Air conditioner drama. Everybody cranky and hot. We're a bunch of wimps! Temps hit 104! A leak in the bathroom meant we turned the water off. Had a good night of fellowship with girlfriends at a foot massage place. Stayed up talking late with John. Short night again.
Friday: More party plans. More air conditioner drama. More calls about fixing the pipe in the bathroom. Chloe's birthday! More coming on this in another post! Evening was spent helping some friends who had a medical emergency. At the hospital until 1 am, thankfully everything turned out well. Another short night.
Saturday: Air conditioner repairman arrived at 6:30 am! Hallelujah! Flying around getting ready for John's end-of-semester programs, the students' graduation. Went well, but no AC so it was HOT! Then, decorating cake! Getting ready for the party! Taking a two hour nap since I was not thinking straight! (9 hours of sleep in two days tends to do that to me!)
Today: FUN times with all the friends! We went swimming, then came back to our house for homemade pizza and birthday cake. It was great! Made some new friends! Visited our friend in the hospital this afternoon and now we're relaxing this evening. Whew, what a week!
This post was probably boring to everybody except my parents, so forgive me for the lack of thematic structure or excellent writing skills! I have hundreds of pictures, literally, from these past few days, so I will be working on getting them downloaded, edited, and posted. Chloe really had such a fun birthday celebration--stay tuned for pictures!
Monday: Traveled to a nearby city to visit a friend. Had such a nice time that we stayed too late and missed our bus home. Thankfully the city was truly nearby and so we took a taxi all the way home! The girls passed out cold in the car on the way.
Tuesday: Did 6 loads of laundry. Had a friend over for lunch who had been living in central Asia the past year. Such a great conversation! Spent the afternoon shopping for an oven for a newly-arriving friend. Finally found one in a warehouse way on the other end of town, possibly the last oven in this city of 6 million! Took John's office manager out to eat Korean food for supper since she has put in lots of extra time lately.
Wednesday: Concocted a plan to have a big party for Chloe's birthday, all because we had a bunch of punches left on our card at our local swimming pool that were about to expire. Spent the day calling and inviting friends. 10 xiao pengyous (little friends) coming! Air conditioner broken, with temps over 100. Slept badly.
Thursday: Air conditioner drama. Everybody cranky and hot. We're a bunch of wimps! Temps hit 104! A leak in the bathroom meant we turned the water off. Had a good night of fellowship with girlfriends at a foot massage place. Stayed up talking late with John. Short night again.
Friday: More party plans. More air conditioner drama. More calls about fixing the pipe in the bathroom. Chloe's birthday! More coming on this in another post! Evening was spent helping some friends who had a medical emergency. At the hospital until 1 am, thankfully everything turned out well. Another short night.
Saturday: Air conditioner repairman arrived at 6:30 am! Hallelujah! Flying around getting ready for John's end-of-semester programs, the students' graduation. Went well, but no AC so it was HOT! Then, decorating cake! Getting ready for the party! Taking a two hour nap since I was not thinking straight! (9 hours of sleep in two days tends to do that to me!)
Today: FUN times with all the friends! We went swimming, then came back to our house for homemade pizza and birthday cake. It was great! Made some new friends! Visited our friend in the hospital this afternoon and now we're relaxing this evening. Whew, what a week!
This post was probably boring to everybody except my parents, so forgive me for the lack of thematic structure or excellent writing skills! I have hundreds of pictures, literally, from these past few days, so I will be working on getting them downloaded, edited, and posted. Chloe really had such a fun birthday celebration--stay tuned for pictures!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Hmm, what was I saying?
After yesterday's post about our great neighborhood and the neighborly news, I thought you'd find it funny to hear this recent conversation that took place in the neighborhood.
Time & Place: a week ago on Saturday, when I took all of the girls with me to buy vegetables in our alley.
The girls and I had finished shopping and were slowly, very very slowly, headed home. Suddenly a nai nai (neighborhood grandmother) accosted me:
She: "Oh, you went by yourself to buy vegetables! Are those potatoes? Are they fresh?"
Me: "Yes, I bought potatoes. They seemed very fresh."
She: (imperiously) "How much did you pay for those potatoes?"
Me: (with some surprise) "One local dollar per pound." (about 16 cents).
She: (with great indignation) "They cheated you! Look how small those potatoes are!"
Me: "Umm....no problem!"
She: (even more indignant) "No one pays this much for potatoes! They should only have been 70 local cents per pound, or 80 cents per pound at the most! They knew you were a foreigner and cheated you!"
Me: "It's ok. I don't mind. This is still a good price." (thinking, good grief! In the US I could never buy beautiful new baby potatoes for this cheap!)
She: (with incredulous anger that I am not upset) "You should take them back! Look, these are small, bad potatoes. They just wanted to cheat the foreigner!"
Me: (somewhat hurridly) "Ok. No problem. I will ask them to make it cheaper next time. I must get my children home now. Good-bye!"
HA! I know she had good motives, but my goodness! Not even my husband questions my purchases like that! I guess when it comes to neighbors, you take the good, you take the bad . . . and you never know what you might run into in the alley! At least she didn't start telling me how it was too hot to take the kids outside, etc, etc. Our conversation was limited solely to produce, let us all be thankful for that!
P.S. The potatoes were, as I suspected, absolutely delicious. They were beautiful new potatoes, small, with very thin skin that I didn't need to peel, simply scrubbed well before quartering and boiling for a potato salad. I'm still loving the summer produce!
Time & Place: a week ago on Saturday, when I took all of the girls with me to buy vegetables in our alley.
The girls and I had finished shopping and were slowly, very very slowly, headed home. Suddenly a nai nai (neighborhood grandmother) accosted me:
She: "Oh, you went by yourself to buy vegetables! Are those potatoes? Are they fresh?"
Me: "Yes, I bought potatoes. They seemed very fresh."
She: (imperiously) "How much did you pay for those potatoes?"
Me: (with some surprise) "One local dollar per pound." (about 16 cents).
She: (with great indignation) "They cheated you! Look how small those potatoes are!"
Me: "Umm....no problem!"
She: (even more indignant) "No one pays this much for potatoes! They should only have been 70 local cents per pound, or 80 cents per pound at the most! They knew you were a foreigner and cheated you!"
Me: "It's ok. I don't mind. This is still a good price." (thinking, good grief! In the US I could never buy beautiful new baby potatoes for this cheap!)
She: (with incredulous anger that I am not upset) "You should take them back! Look, these are small, bad potatoes. They just wanted to cheat the foreigner!"
Me: (somewhat hurridly) "Ok. No problem. I will ask them to make it cheaper next time. I must get my children home now. Good-bye!"
HA! I know she had good motives, but my goodness! Not even my husband questions my purchases like that! I guess when it comes to neighbors, you take the good, you take the bad . . . and you never know what you might run into in the alley! At least she didn't start telling me how it was too hot to take the kids outside, etc, etc. Our conversation was limited solely to produce, let us all be thankful for that!
P.S. The potatoes were, as I suspected, absolutely delicious. They were beautiful new potatoes, small, with very thin skin that I didn't need to peel, simply scrubbed well before quartering and boiling for a potato salad. I'm still loving the summer produce!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
News from the Neighborhood
Ever since John and I moved to this country almost five and a half years ago, it has always been a burden on our hearts to get to know our neighbors and share with them. After all, if you live close together, then that should be easy, right?
But it wasn't as easy as we thought. First, as we shared this with a national friend (not a neighbor) during our first year, his immediate response was, "What?! You don't want to get to know your neighbors! They live close to you! They know all of your personal business! They hear your family fights and when you yell at your kids and things like that! It would be embarassing to become friends with them!"
Hmmm. Unfortunately, we discovered that his reaction was shared by lots of people. We made a few efforts, (Christmas parties and such) but at our old apartment complex, mostly filled with retired people, it was pretty tough going. So, we made friends in other places and didn't worry about it too much. We were always friendly, but didn't work too hard to pursue relationships within our small apartment complex.
Things changed when we moved, exactly one year ago today, to our new apartment. This apartment complex has lots and lots of young families, and we were eager to take the girls out to play and make friends. And we have been able to meet several families, but there's almost been the opposite problem--there are so MANY families here that we see different people every time we go out. Add in a new baby and an extremely busy schedule for John in the past year, and we haven't made as many new friends in the neighborhood as we probably could have.
[By the way, just for some context: more people live in our "neighborhood" than live in the town I grew up in! My hometown is about 2800 people, and more than 3000 people live in this apartment complex. That's crazy for an Iowa girl like me!]
However, Father has been at work. I won't go into details, but we have been extremely encouraged by events in the lives of our neighbor who lives directly across the hall, and the neighbor who lives directly above us. The above neighbor and her young daughter came over for lunch this past week and we had a wonderful time. She began to share some difficult events from her life and actually sat and cried on my couch while the girls played together after lunch. I was so amazed--this is unheard of in this culture, especially on a first visit!
We are also seeing how John's business is opening up relationships in the community. On Wednesday evening we were outside, ostensibly to play badminton, but instead got stopped to talk several times--once by a mom who knew me from Clara Anne's previous kindergarten, once by a couple whom we've met several times and are moving here this weekend, and also by a mom who was very interested in having her son study English at John's school. It was actually really exciting to go out after supper to relax for a bit and get to talk to so many friends!
So, moral of the story: Father is so faithful. A desire that He put on our hearts years ago is finally happening! I look forward to the summer (schools here are just getting out in the next week or two) when some of my neighbors will have more time to get together. Great possibilities ahead!
But it wasn't as easy as we thought. First, as we shared this with a national friend (not a neighbor) during our first year, his immediate response was, "What?! You don't want to get to know your neighbors! They live close to you! They know all of your personal business! They hear your family fights and when you yell at your kids and things like that! It would be embarassing to become friends with them!"
Hmmm. Unfortunately, we discovered that his reaction was shared by lots of people. We made a few efforts, (Christmas parties and such) but at our old apartment complex, mostly filled with retired people, it was pretty tough going. So, we made friends in other places and didn't worry about it too much. We were always friendly, but didn't work too hard to pursue relationships within our small apartment complex.
Things changed when we moved, exactly one year ago today, to our new apartment. This apartment complex has lots and lots of young families, and we were eager to take the girls out to play and make friends. And we have been able to meet several families, but there's almost been the opposite problem--there are so MANY families here that we see different people every time we go out. Add in a new baby and an extremely busy schedule for John in the past year, and we haven't made as many new friends in the neighborhood as we probably could have.
[By the way, just for some context: more people live in our "neighborhood" than live in the town I grew up in! My hometown is about 2800 people, and more than 3000 people live in this apartment complex. That's crazy for an Iowa girl like me!]
However, Father has been at work. I won't go into details, but we have been extremely encouraged by events in the lives of our neighbor who lives directly across the hall, and the neighbor who lives directly above us. The above neighbor and her young daughter came over for lunch this past week and we had a wonderful time. She began to share some difficult events from her life and actually sat and cried on my couch while the girls played together after lunch. I was so amazed--this is unheard of in this culture, especially on a first visit!
We are also seeing how John's business is opening up relationships in the community. On Wednesday evening we were outside, ostensibly to play badminton, but instead got stopped to talk several times--once by a mom who knew me from Clara Anne's previous kindergarten, once by a couple whom we've met several times and are moving here this weekend, and also by a mom who was very interested in having her son study English at John's school. It was actually really exciting to go out after supper to relax for a bit and get to talk to so many friends!
So, moral of the story: Father is so faithful. A desire that He put on our hearts years ago is finally happening! I look forward to the summer (schools here are just getting out in the next week or two) when some of my neighbors will have more time to get together. Great possibilities ahead!
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