It's hard to believe that another week has already come and gone! This week was a fairly "normal" one for the Joseph household, still getting back into the routine of things with a new semester (I know it's March--can you tell we're on China's calendar rather than a typical US one!). The older two kids started back with their home school co-op group today, ringing in the spring semester with Geography Day in which they presented a (very!) short report on Australia. It was one of their first official group presentations, done in front of mainly older kids, and they managed to survive! I think next time they will be more motivated to prepare some in advance as both Karis and Eli were a little bit freaked out by the whole thing.
On our walk to taxi corner to get to the home school group meeting, we made a new friend--or should I say that Eli made a new friend? A Korean neighbor that we hadn't met before came alongside us and was evidently enamored with Eli! She insisted on holding his hand and walking with us the whole way (which was about a 5 or 10 minute walk!). When we got close to the taxi corner, she had him cross the street with her and wait outside a store while she ran in and got a favorite Chinese snack to hand off to him (these pieces of bread-like stuff with red bean paste inside). Eli handled it really well, got two "kind points" in the process (our reward system with the kids for when they are especially kind to Chinese people when we are out and about!), and shared the snack with Karis in the taxi (which wasn't too big a sacrifice considering neither of them really care for the snack!). I asked him if it scared him at all, and he said no. But then he continued to explain that it really only scares him when the Chinese people talk to him a lot when their teeth are "funny shaped"! I realized what he was saying--that when the Chinese people who talk to him get right in his face and they don't have good dental health (which is not abnormal here, as you only drink bottled water which doesn't have fluoride), that is when he gets more intimidated. I thought his comment about teeth was really cute, but also insightful to letting me know how to encourage him and help him feel more secure in dealing with our sweet Chinese friends and neighbors!
I've had a day of dealing with some seriously conflicting emotions. We've been rejoicing in the birth of a new cousin! My brother and his wife just had their first baby--little Luke. Everything went great and Jeff, Allison, and Luke all are doing fantastic. But I tell you what--nothing makes the miles more apparent and felt than having significant family events going on and being so many time zones apart. It's hard not to feel so far removed from our "former life" when we just want to be there and hold the newest family addition, rejoicing with those we love! I've just finished reading Linda Dillow's book Calm My Anxious Heart (a total winner, for anyone looking for a good book recommendation!) and she has a paraphrase in there of Psalm 23 from a friend that I think is worth typing out:
"The Lord is my peace. I shall not live in anxiety. He puts me under His wing of comfort and calms my spirit within me. He takes all my anxieties on Himself and helps me to focus on Him. Yes, though I walk thorough a time of grave uncertainties and fierce anxieties, I will not fret--for you are my peace. Your Word and Your presence calm me now. You hold my uncertainties in the palm of Your hand. You soothe my anxious mind--You smooth my wrinkled brow. Surely serenity and trust in You shall fill me all the days of my life. And I shall keep my mind stayed on You forever."
Tomorrow is a big day for both Karis and Eli. Karis starts swimming and Eli starts Kung Fu--both at a Chinese kindergarten. The kids are excited, in spite of the fact that they will be the only ones in their classes (including the teachers!) who speak English. Eli has informed us that once he figures out what the teacher is saying, he's going to teach mommy and daddy so that we too can learn some new words! Should be interesting. . . :)
