My two lists

(The following lists come from the mundane part of my life. I am, of course, thankful for my salvation, family, friends, etc. and miss family, friends, Pville, etc.)

I've been working on being content. Some of you know how challenging it was preparing and packing to move this far. Well, as we've settled in I've discovered how we really have everything we need here--and so much more! So my struggle to be content is certainly not because of my situation. It is because of my restless heart. God has given me eternal life, an awesome family... so many wonderful blessings! The following list is just a reminder to myself of how much God has blessed me even in "little" ways.

Things I’m Thankful For:

• That I like our furniture
• Our western toilet
• Our friendly, helpful doorman
• A dishwasher (used, but in good condition)
• The mountains on the horizon (“I will lift up my eyes to the hills…”)
• Enough clothes that it doesn’t matter when it takes them 48 hours to dry hanging in my bedroom on a cold, rainy day
• The vehicle that is available to us part-time (haven’t had to take the kids on the bus yet)
• Internet in our home
• Contact with friends and family (email, skype, etc)
• Coke is available here
• We were able to have a Christmas tree for Christmas, with lights and everything
• Our microwave (seems basic, but remember, not everyone in the world has one!)
• Our excellent, friendly, patient, language tutor who the kids love too
• Our English-speaking pharmacist and pediatrician
• Our hot-water heater (a few cold showers when we first arrived made me really thankful!)
• Salmon – when Mike broils it it’s the most wonderful thing… visit and he’ll make you some!
• Rug no-slip liner (for those of us who don’t like the floor to move beneath our feet)
• Our house church—Christian fellowship and encouraging friends
• The doner shop on the corner (think of doner as the local version of a sub)
• Electric blankets
• Awesome, cheap tomatoes and oranges available all winter
  

Things I miss:

• Listerine
• Canned pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce
• Cheap parmesan cheese
• The library
• The smell of clothes fresh out of the dryer
• Forests
• Panera Bread, Ruby T’s, Pizza Hut, Olive Garden
• Wednesday night choir
• Piano
• My Kitchen Aid mixer (although I don’t miss this as much as I thought I would)
• Red Box
• Congregational singing

Anna (aka NaNa)

My little baby is one! Ok, I know that’s old news since her birthday was Christmas Eve. But it continues to amaze me how fast she is growing, and I thought some readers may be interested in an update on life at Anna’s level. She is almost walking. She’ll stand on her own for a few seconds, and her favorite place to be is cruising the cabinets or furniture on standing on the sofa next to mommy. She also likes to find mommy, wrap her arms around mommy’s knees, and look up and say “bup, bup,” lifting one leg as if to climb up. She has been working overtime on getting teeth, I think she about to go from four to eight. The by-product is enough drool to soak several layers of clothing daily.

Her favorite foods are… just about anything. She doesn’t like potatoes or green beans. She eats anything by grabbing a handful and stuffing it in her face. She likes juice, milk and water—she’s weaned now too. Most of her words are food words, juice, cookie, more, some. She also says a sound that means “down” and “da da,” “shoes,” and “night night.” She points to things she wants, and I think she knows who “Matthew” is.

Anna prefers not to hold still. She goes everywhere, in spite of cold tile floors. Although she won’t crawl off the carpet if she’s not dressed, you better get that diaper on quick, cause she’s on her way! She loves people, strangers too. She doesn’t mind her carseat, but only likes her stroller if it’s moving and there are interesting things to watch. She likes to stand on things and “dance,” bouncing up and down. She’s something like 25^th percentile height and weight. She chases Matthew around, and makes him laugh, and he makes her laugh. She especially likes to open drawers and cupboards and find new things to play with. She likes to open the cabinet, find the cookie container, and bring it to me saying “cookie, cookie.” (Of course, her pronunciation is terrible, but you get the idea.)

She’s almost down to one nap… occasionally sleep catches up with her before naptime…

Silly and Stupid things we did in our first two months here

Sometimes being here in a whole new environment is a wonderful adventure. Sometimes is challenges us to trust God more. And sometimes it just drives us to realize how…human…we are. I wrote this list one night as I was in a good mood, laughing at the stuff we’ve done. These are mostly just things that we should have known better...but for some reason when everything around you is new and different, basic stuff can be complicated. (Names have been omitted to protect Mike's reputation).

• Told the door man “I cooked my wife”
• Told the furniture store clerk “My house is not a sofa”
• Boiled our toothbrushes until they warped and the bristles fell out
• Regularly shorted out our apts, electric and taking too long to realize that we shouldn’t be running that many things (not really that many by our standards)
• Ended up with a very high electric bill (twice what it ever was in the States, three times what we expected here) because we heated multiple rooms and left the door open (door between rooms, not door to outside
• Ordered the same wrong thing at Burger King—twice in a row
• Fried our water purifier by plugging it in to 220 outlet (in Mike’s defense, the directions said you could)
• Chewed non-chewable ibuprofen
• Ate lahmacun (a local food) with a fork and knife instead of rolling it up and eating with hands
• Washed our clothes in cold water, no spin cycle, so that after hanging out to dry forever, they were as stiff as boards (couldn’t read the washing machine labels)
• Shorted out our electricy, and then sat in the cold and dark assuming the electric in general was out (one later walked down the lit hallway, used the elevator, and made it to the street before realizing one should come back and flip the breaker)
• Failed to drain the washmachine into the bathtub, and therefore soaking the whole bathroom (we’ve done this several times)
• Left a DVD in the player we returned to the store
• Burnt tea, filled kitchen with funky smelling smoke
• Let the carrots boil over, thereby extinguishing the gas burner (catching it before the kitchen was too full of gas…)
• Poured hot grease down the sink, immediately realizing it would solidify the instant it hit the cold pipes
• Rigged a humidifier for the kids by dipping towels in almost boiling water and hanging them in front of the electric heater fan.
• Thrown away ground beef—twice—before adjusting to the reality that shelf-life here is a lot shorter

Leave a silly/stupid thing you’ve done in the comments!

For Those Hard to Reach Places

For the sacrifice holiday we just couldn't bring ourselves to sacrifice a lamb, so we decided to sacrifice our toothbrushes instead. Well, not exactly. Fearing another bout with amoebas (which thankfully never materialized), Becky thought it wise to boil our toothbrushes.

10 Steps from O.C.

12/15/2007
So here I am, sitting on my comfy sofa, watching the Christmas tree lights slowly fade in and out, and thinking about what all this is about. I have a beautiful house. It is coming together beautifully, with some planning and a lot of providence. God has blessed us here so much. This is the first time I’ve had brand-new furniture. It almost seems too nice.

But then, what’s the point? Why did I come a gazillion miles to make a cozy home here? I know the answer to that question. But what is the reality?

I worked most of the day today. I did laundry, cleaned, changed diapers, fixed meals, cooked a chicken and veggies and made them into pot-pie… I taught Matthew the nativity story, and I gave the kids baths. I checked my email and planned Mike’s Christmas present. All that is maintenance—maintaining my life, my family. I devote so much energy to these things. Do these curtains match? Find that recipe… Fold the clothes and pile them in neat little piles—again.

Finally at the end of the day I sit down to work on my real goal—the first step in the greater goal—language. I looked at the sentence, used the dictionary, conjugated the verb. “Your bag is by the bed.” Wow. I sit there and do another sentence. A page later I’m still not fluent. Really, sitting down to work on language is like standing on the Ocean City boardwalk and deciding to walk to California. Ten steps later you stop and wonder, have I gotten anywhere? Well, yes…and no. But there’s no other option than to take another step. I may never need to say, “your bag is by the bed,” but right now that sentence is my task.

Feature Presentation...

Now Showing...

Our Christmas

We thought our friends and family may wonder what we've been up to the last 48 hours for our first Christmas ever away from home....

Christmas Sunday Evening we had a Christmas celebration--carols, Bible study, Turkey dinner--with the family we worship regularly with. Christmas Eve we had language lessons as usual, and then in the evening we did a Skype video chat with Mike's family. Oh, we got our electric bill too, and our new year's resolutions involve turning appliances off, less heat, and more sweaters :).

Christmas morning the kids slept in the latest they have in awhile, I guess because we stayed up late to do the skype chat. When the kids got up we did the Christmas Story. This was the first time Matthew heard it straight from Luke, although We've been telling it all month using the Nativity or a book. He was very excited to hear Daddy reading the Bible and hear words he recognized: "Mary," "Joseph," "Baby," "No Room," "Shepherds," etc. We did Christmas presents--Matthew gave Daddy a little bottle of real maple syrup, carefully brought from the States in Mommy's suitcase. Matthew and Anna each gave eachother an xylophone, so the "music" you hear is probably coming from our apartment.

We made a big breakfast, and then spent the early afternoon exploring the lake and walking with the kids. The weather here is sunny and in the upper 50's during the day, and even though the lake is shallow and the shores are dry and brown this time of year, it was a beautiful day. The snow-capped mountains in the background are a great reminder that there is Someone bigger than us. We can't wait to see the lake in the summer, when everything is fresh and greener.

Our Christmas was very cozy like Christmas should be. While the kids napped, I made lasagna and Christmas cookies. We had some fellow ex-pats over for dinner, and then in the evening video-chatted with Becky's family. After the kids went to bed there was of course time for hot chocolate and Carpenters' by the lights of the Christmas tree.

Two things that were drastically different--it was just us and it was just us. Usually Christmas is filled with visiting, family, and presents, but this Christmas was much quieter. It was hard being away for the holiday, but there were still alot of good times. I am so thankful for my two kids and for skype!

The other sense in which it was "just us" was that when we went out and about, no one else was celebrating Christmas. A song from a cantata says "all over the world bells are ringing..." Well, this Christmas drove home the fact that in alot of places bells aren't ringing because of the Messiah's birth. But they should be...

So to all our friends and family, Merry Christmas! Rejoice, for the King has come--Immanuel, God with us!

Would it still be Christmas?

Would it still be Christmas? The words of that song have been running through my head all week. I learned it in youth choir, and I only remember parts. (If someone out there knows the song and can give the writer/composer credit, please do!) Its basic point is that all the warmth and joy of Christmas are possible because of the incarnation. But I’ve been seeing the question from a slightly different angle: Would is still be Christmas if all you had was “the baby in the manger”? Really, would it still be Christmas, if no one else had off on Christmas? If most people around you thought Christmas and New Year’s Day were the same holiday? If you went shopping and never heard a Christmas Carol? If none of your neighbors had Christmas lights, or a wreath, or a tree? If you didn’t have a tree? If you didn’t make cookies? If you couldn’t afford a turkey (or just didn’t think it should cost that much)? If there were no cantata, or candlelight service, or Hershey’s kisses? If most of the people around you didn’t have peace and joy or even an extra smile because it’s “that time of year”? If your family was on the other side of the world?

I've been thinking about these things this month, and I think that yes, it is still Christmas. Christmas is about commemorating the incarnation. God became man – Jesus Christ, God with us, fully God and fully man. That is and should be enough to bring that warmth to your heart. “It’s the baby in the manger that makes it truly Christmas.”

Just to be clear, we do have a Christmas tree. I will make cookies (although somehow I forgot to pack cookie cutters, small and light as they are). We’re playing Carpenter’s and old Cantata CD’s in our home. And since New Year is celebrated with trappings much like an American Christmas, the mall’s palm trees are decked out with white lights. I even saw Christmas lights on a tree outside down at the corner last night. I will enjoy every piece of Christmas I find!

First Words & Milestones

I've decided that Anna's first word is "juice." Actually, this new is a little old, since she's been saying it for almost a week. But we were debating whether "juice" was her first word, or "tractor." See, she says this thing that sounds just like tractor when she is playing with her cup (which has tractors on it--life of a little sister). But then she says that sound for other things too, things that don't remotely resemble tractors. So I think it's just a sound. Juice, however, means juice. Today I discovered that she says shoes too, and knows what her shoes are. "Shoes" and "juice," by the way, sound very similar. I also noticed her imitating some other sounds of words I was saying to her, so I'm guessing more words aren't far behind. She understands cookie, no, kiss, down, come, and who knows what else. She gives kisses on demand if she's in an attentive mood. Sometimes she gets a good pucker, other times it's a sloppy blaaahh.

Matthew's phrases are getting longer. He is really hard to understand, since he doesn't use many consonants. But he likes to talk about things like "Cars Movie watch, blue car crash, red car help him, bapple oosh, grandmom's house watch, anna no, no anna no, anna push, big boom, big hug, plane, ammy and bumbpy, icky medicine, cake, bread, pray with daddy, daddy's Bible, can't see God, God's big ..." You get the idea. This week we're working on understanding the Christmas story.

Borek

The food here is great, and I like it when we eat out. Of course, not having been here very long I don't know how to cook any authentic dishes. But here is my variation of a local classic.









I used yufka (kinda like a huge really thin soft flour tortilla) and taco meat to make a version of borek. Roll up some taco meat, chopped tomatoes, and cheese; fry it in a little olive oil--Turkey meets Tex-Mex! The best part was that Matthew ate it without protest and even asked for more.

A view of the mountains a short walk from ourhouse

I Asked the Lord...

“I Asked The Lord…”

We finally got a CD player, which means that we can play any of our CDs with ease. Before that, we had to load the songs onto the MP3 player. It ended up that we listened to the same albums over and over again, one of which was a hymns remix called Beams of Heaven. On that album there’s a song that I’ve listened to several times, but only recently paid close attention to the words. It gave me a perspective that I’ve thought about a lot recently. It’s a hymn called “I asked the Lord,” by John Newton. Here are the words.

I asked the Lord that I might grow in faith and love and every grace, might more of His salvation know, and seek more earnestly his face.

Twas He who taught me thus to pray, and He I trust answered prayer, but it has been in such a way as almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour, at once He’d answer my request, and by his love’s constraining power, subdue my sins and give me rest.

Instead of this he made me feel the hidden evils of my heart, and let the angry powers of Hell assault my soul in every part.

Yea more with His own hand he seemed intent to aggravate my woe, crossed all the fair designs I schemed, cast out my feelings, laid me low.

Lord why is this, I trembling cried, wilt Thou pursue thy worm to death? Tis in this way,” the Lord replied, “I answered prayer for grace and faith.”

“These inward trials I employ from self and pride to set thee free, and break thy schemes of earthly joy, that thou mayest seek thy all in me.”

Our furniture is happening to us.

Well, our furniture is happening to us. Yes, I said it is happening to us. I say it like that because it seems like every step of the way something turns out different than we planned or expected, and it’s totally out of our control. For example, we found a table and chairs from a place downtown, but when they were delivered (about 3 days after they were supposed to come) the chairs had gold tassels (see our blog for a picture). Mike thinks that when he tried to tell the man that we didn’t want the ones with tassels, the man insisted not to worry about it, the tassels were a bonus! Finding a sofa was challenging, since sofas tend to be very firm and the preferred styles are ultra-modern or formal ottoman. We did finally find one we liked for an acceptable price. Most sofas around here have sofa beds, and ours is no exception, except that when it was delivered it was sliding apart too easily—whenever Mike sat on it. We tried to explain the problem to the dealer, and now he’s taken part of it back to fix it. I’m not sure how, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. And our refrigerator gargles. After opening and closing the freezer it makes a loud burbly sound for several seconds, and while it’s making the sound it takes the strength of ten men to open the refrigerator. I’m thinking about giving it a name…any suggestions?

Let me off. I want to crawl.

Becky's kitchen

Just got new furnature