"...forget not all his benefits."

I had another western friend share something with me this week that has really gotten me to reflect on some of His many benefits (as Ps. 103 points out). My friend told me about someone from the States coming to visit them. After living with them for a week and walking a few miles in their shoes, the gentleman shared with them some notes he had taken during his visit--notes compiled of things he noticed that our friends had given up as sacrifices in order to live in China. The second list he had was of the blessings and benefits that they had from doing so--and believe it or not, this list was much longer than the first! As my friend told me of this experience, I reflected on how true that is for our family as well. Having just come back from the States, we still have the taste of things we miss on the tips of our tongues. The ease of transportation, the joy of spending hours with friends and family we deeply miss, chips and salsa.... And yet the benefits are literally innumerable!

One of the biggest is the time we have together as a family. While most wives in our age and stage of life are doing well to have their husbands get home from work before they put the kids to bed, at least for now, Kevin is an incredibly active participant in our whole family's daily routine--even watching the kids regularly (three times a week) while I am in class. While this was an enormous challenge for him in the beginning, we laugh at how his "tolerance" for chaos has increased, so that he can now handle all 4 of our rambunctious little ones with a grace that leaves everyone around us in awe!

The photo is of their latest adventure. Kevin is taking the kids through a series he's putting together from Proverbs, complete with rescue stories and the super hero costumes that are some of their favorite Christmas presents. With three boys in the house, you can count on swords, shields, and other weapons being interwoven throughout their adventure that moves them around our apartment. It is such a joy to see them learning--and loving doing so!

Our week has been one of getting back into the routine again--at least for a few short weeks before the huge Chinese New Year celebration begins. The beginning of February marks the start of the Chinese New Year (according to the lunar calendar)--and the partying is unlike anything you've ever seen! The closest comparison is Christmas in the US--but I'm not sure that that is even on the same scale. Already the lines in the supermarkets are UNBELIEVABLY long (I waited for over half an hour today) and the gift and specialty items they sell this time of year are all over the place. I've started stocking our freezer already, as I discovered last year that pretty much everything shuts down for a few weeks around the New Year, making it impossible to find some of your basic cooking supplies (like chicken, believe it or not!). Being the veteran ex-pat that I now am (ha! ha!), I'm learning from our bare kitchen shelves and fridge last year and trying to plan ahead as much as I can so we'll be ready as much as possible!

One of the most challenging things for us here in China is how rapidly things change. I would not call myself a particularly adaptable person, but was definitely well-prepared during a lot of our training for cross-cultural living that our typical Western long-term planning just doesn't work when living in another country. I'm amazed at how true this is! We've been here a year and a half, and already our language school, the Tianjin baseball team, our church, and possibly the kids' international school are all changing locations--as of this fall! Oh, and our lease is up this summer and our landlord is wanting to sell the apartment, so there's a good chance we'll be moving as well! In Dallas, this would be an inconvenience. In China--this means a HUGE life change! Because of the monumental challenge of transportation, where you live and the places you have to go to regularly truly define how you spend your time, who you spend time with, and how much you can do in a day. I must admit, while I feel like I'm learning to depend on Him more and more each day, the thought of such dramatic change can kind of make my stomach hurt if I dwell on it too much.... Back to Ps.. 103 and forgetting not all his benefits... and super thankful that we have One who is unchanging on whom we can depend!

This week has been largely uneventful. Karis had a blast this weekend getting to Skype with her dear friend Adah in Houston, even playing games like Hang Man and TicTacToe for over an hour. We are so thankful for the technological advances that allow us to stay so closely to loved ones so far away! Hudson went on a lunch date today with Kevin and me to Subway restaurant and was just happy as a clam getting to have a double chocolate chip cookie for dessert! It's amazing how little things can delight a child's heart! Eli got to ride the bullet train with his kindergarten class into Beijing and then eat at McDonald's--a highlight of his week for sure! Oh, and the tooth fairy visited Karis again, as she lost her third tooth. Noah is still being Noah, with his newest word being an English one--"shoot"! (He loves to use the Nerf guns with his brothers to play good guy rescue games.)

Kevin is going out of town for the weekend to the place that is farthest on the globe from any body of water! He has gone out to this city in western China once before to bring baseball equipment to a young man who has organized a youth league that focuses on a minority people group and allowing them the privilege of learning the game. This same guy has asked Kevin to go again and help train him in how to coach some of his teams and some of the other coaches. Kevin has agreed to go, in spite of the fact that we learned that the temp is supposedly a high of 32 degrees BELOW zero! Thinking Kevin's long underwear might not be quite thick enough....

After a conversation or two with this guy, Kevin felt a pressing desire to go and try to help out. Would you believe that because of the cold, the teams are practicing indoors in a facility that this guy has secured, but they are unable to use regular baseball equipment (not sure if it would hurt the facility or the little equipment they have?). So this guy and the other baseball players have been making PAPER BASEBALLS for them to use during their practice! Can you even imagine?! Great reminder of all that we have and are accustomed to getting in the way of material things... And Kevin is really glad that we happen to have whiffle balls and a few other pieces of equipment that will hopefully aid in them being able to play some "real" baseball while he is there. I'm sure I will have some stories to tell after his return (both from his trip and the adventure of me and the kids surviving the weekend without him!)

Phenomenal Pep Rally

We've made it back across the ocean, and even with the jet lag and being exhausted from the travel, I can still honestly say that our time in the States was great. As Kevin and I have reflected at night before our heads hit the pillow around 8pm, we've decided that our time with friends and family was an incredible blessing, and felt much like what I would describe as a pep rally. It was a time where we were able to share what we've seen happen over the last year and a half of being here in China, and we felt tremendously encouraged by everyone to continue running the race. Kind of a slap you on the rear and "go get after 'em" again sort of feel to it!

So here we are, once again far from the ones we dearly love, and yet totally at peace and re-energized in spite of the fatigue that comes from jet lag and trying to see too many precious people in too short a period of time. As I sat on the bus on my way to class today (as the high today was right at 30 and Kevin strongly advised I NOT ride my bike in the cold!), I reflected on how incredibly blessed I feel to have the peace that I do right now. I've thought for some time that I had to cut so many ties with who I used to be back in my "Dallas" life if I truly wanted to plant my heart and my family here in China. But I'm thinking maybe that's not the case now. And not that my previous thinking really had that much you could externally observe as far as my actions were concerned, but it was more of an internal battle; a heart struggle to identify my "new identity" as Ailian (that's my Chinese name!). So while the tension does still exist somewhat, and no doubt will as long as I live in another culture besides my native one, I'm optimistic that rather than having to die to who I was and develop a whole new me, I can actually have two cultures in which I exist, and even thrive, different as they may be. As I rode the bus and watched the interactions of those around me, I was struck again by the incredible darkness around me; the dire need for hope of so many in this huge city (and country). What a blessing I have been given in this invitation to come and live abroad, in spite of the sacrifices that some days feel like they are really heavy to bear!

Now if you talked with me on Saturday, our day of travel from Dallas to Beijing, I might have been singing a different tune. After only an hour of sleep during our 24 hours of travel, I was definitely hitting my physical and emotional limits. At the airport in Seattle (our stop over city on the way to Beijing), I thought about pulling my hair out at the gate clerk's response to our request for an extra seat in which to put Noah's car seat (we hadn't purchased a ticket, but hoped that there would be an open seat available on the plane for us to claim). In spite of the fact that there were plenty of empty seats in our uncrowded flight, the attendant insisted that when she flew with her child she never used a car seat, and therefore we should not use one, which meant that we did not need an extra seat (so we would only have 5 seats for our family of 6). Kevin FINALLY convinced her that we did not need to wait for her supervisor to come and make the decision, and was able to sweet talk her into not only ONE extra seat for Noah, but also an extra seat near us, so we had a total of 8 seats for the 6 of us! PTL! But I must say, I certainly looked at Kevin a time or two in the process and told him I wasn't sure I was ready to return to the cultural differences of China and the "cookie cutter" thinking that is the norm.

On a lighter note, here are some of our highlights from our trip to the States that showed us how long we've been gone:

• the kids couldn't figure out how to use a paper towel dispenser with a pump in a public restroom, as you don't find paper towels (in public) of any sort in China
• the kids see any sort of green growing stuff as something they can trample through--even if that means our friends' bushes! (here they so rarely see green, that when we do, we usually try to play in it some before we're told by someone not to do so!)
• Hudson couldn't figure out a drive through when we went to Sonic to get a corny dog
• Karis had forgotten what a corny dog was!
• NO personal space rules that our kids knew to follow
• whenever we entered a house, the kids immediately looked for where to take off their shoes
• we all had more stomach issues adjusting back to the rich US cuisine than we've ever had while here in China eating typical Chinese food!

The photos I've included are of Eli and Hud with their buddy Will at the playground, Karis in Houston with Kevin in me with a group of our friend's kids there at dinner one night (where it was warm enough to eat dinner outside--amazing!), Karis with her friend Adah who is battling leukemia when we went to feed the ducks, Noah listening to my iPod on the flight back to China, and Karis in the Seattle area play area (which was surprisingly great for the kids!).

Our time back to Texas could not have been better, and expectations couldn't have been more surpassed. We're only excited now to see what this summer will hold for our second return trip to the States!!