I'm totally amazed. We've been back in China now for about a week and a half, and the transition to life here has gone so smoothly! I've got to admit, Kevin and I both had our doubts as to how the kids (in particular) would make the adjustment back to our "new normal". As I mentioned previously--our two months in the US were amazing. Our time with friends and family and the activities the kids got to participate in were more than we could have hoped for. From ballet camp to VBS, from the Dallas Arboretum and Children's Science Museum to the beaches of Florida; the kids had one incredible experience after another. And the genuinely LOVED every bit of it--and we felt (very gratefully) that they didn't seem to take it all for granted, either. So with two months of every day being the equivalent to Disney World in their little minds, how were they going to make the leap back to Tinajin, where literally the most excitement we have to offer here is the zoo (which is too hot to go to this time of year), McDonalds (which doesn't even have any sort of play area), and the local market that sells popsicles (and is a far cry from Marble Slab, to say the least!)?
Would you believe that everyone of the kids (Karis the least so) have said several times how thankful they are to be back in China?! Every time one of them says it, Kevin and I exchange glances, surprised and thrilled at the same time. I recently read a passage in Habakkak 3 that talks about how even if there are "no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior". I feel like my kids are living this out before our eyes! They have SO little here that the world says they should value and pursue, and yet they are content, even happy.
Now while I wish I could claim that this perspective comes from incredible spiritual maturity for my 7, 5, and 4 year olds, I think there's probably a better explanation. We definitely experience a sense of intense togetherness as a family that is really hard to replicate in the busyness of a typical day's schedule in the US. And maybe this place in which we've lived for two years (almost) just feels like home with their own beds, their own toys. Or it might just be His grace over our family in finding joy where He has us. Whatever the reason (or reasons) might be, we are singing His praises that our kids can remind us daily from Whom our strength comes, Who enables us to go on the heights...
One of my favorite moments this past week was a comment the boys made. Kevin was playing a game with the kids where he shouted out a letter of the alphabet and they had to run around the house and collect three things that all began with that letter. The older 3 kids were super enthusiastic about playing, and even Noah was trying to keep up. So when Kevin called out "w", the challenge was bumped up a notch. After searching wildly for several minutes, Hudson and Eli ran up to Kevin carrying a toy snake. When Kevin asked what the "w" was, the boys responded with, "It's a wubber [rubber!] animal!"
The photos are of the family game of "horse" in the living room, the first day of school for the older three (I took them on the 3 wheeler rather than having them ride the bus), and what I found on Saturday morning upon going in their room to get the kids up--all of them on the top bunk under the covers with Karis reading to her brothers!
