How do you know when you've been in China for a while?
- you find your 6 year old designing "passports" rather than normal artwork with her friends who are over
- you find yourself asking more frequently where someone found their Christmas wrapping materials than where they bought the actual gift from
- your idea of what is in style is based on what doesn't have holes in it and what is clean (and dry!)
- you have a large display of very-fake looking flowers displayed in your living room, courtesy of a national friend convinced that the purple and yellow matched perfectly with your existing colors (none of which are close to purple or yellow!)
On Wednesday evening we all went to the international school to watch Eli's class perform. They had put together a little scene of Bethlehem, complete with his class playing a real Israelite kids' game (as seen in the picture) and singing.
Saturday morning I came in from washing dishes to find Karis seated on the couch with all her brothers around her, reading them library books she had just gotten! It was a sweet moment, but also made me realize how much she (and all the kids) are growing up!! On Saturday at lunch time, I went to join a group of western ladies that I meet with every other week for a time of study and encouragement. We had a great time doing a cookie and soup exchange (including recipes), and then swapped gifts. It was fun and refreshing to celebrate with such dear friends! Saturday afternoon I spent preparing fruit, tea, appetizers, salad, apple cider, and dessert platters filled with cookies that I'd been baking all week. We had about 12 Chinese friends come over for a Christmas party, complete with Christmas pictionary, a movie and discussion time, pizza for dinner, and a candle light service. It was quite possibly our most fun monthly gathering we've had yet--and everyone seemed to have a great time! Karis even added a special moment by reading a passage from Isaiah and singing a song she learned at school that corresponds to the verses.
On Sunday, we rested! At our international fellowship, Karis performed with her class, leading the congregation in some Christmas carols. While the younger kids took naps, I got our suitcases packed. Believe it or not, I have all of our stuff in 4 bags--and only two of them have clothes for us (one is full of gifts and things we're bringing back and the other is stuffed with duffle bags that will no doubt be filled upon our return to China, as my list is SUPER long of stuff to buy while in the States!). So if you happen to see us more than once while we're in Dallas, you can count on us being in the same clothes... So while we're packed relatively lightly, we are bringing back a bunch of luggage for our friends who are in Houston while their daughter undergoes Leukemia treatment. So the mystery of the week is how we are going to fit 11 full-size suitcases and 7 people (6 Josephs and one driver) into a 7-passenger van! I think we're going to have to get creative... and definitely have the kids and us piled a few people high in each seat!!
So I'm signing off for now. If I don't make it back on to update this week, then the next post will be from Stateside (only 4 days and counting....)!!!!
