Time Flies

Wow, has it really been almost 2 months since I have written anything on here. Time sure flies.....

Well, here are some pics to update on what has been going on in the Crane household.

Grammie and Bapa visiting...

Vacation to Egypt...

Birthday parties...

Christmas party for our neighbors....

and Christmas.....

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year!!!

(sorry, these pictures are all out of order and for the sake of time I am just going to leave them that way...)

Christmas party with our neighbors, and Mason sitting in the middle of the table.

One of my classmates, Victoria and I with some of my neighbors.

The Christmas party with our neighbors....

Mason's 1 Year birthday party!

Mason's Birthday!

On the beach in Egypt....

Wow, those white legs have not seen the sun in literally years.....yikes!

Me and my parents during their visit. We had a wonderful time!!

New News

Funny, as I just wrote that headline, I thought about someone who was new at learning English would read that and may have a hard time with the two words being so similar, but so different. Funny how you can see things through different eyes when you are learning a new language yourself.
Lots of new things happening around here. Probably the biggest thing that we have to announce is that we are going to have another baby! Yippee! My first thought was a little bit of shock, but then excitement to welcome another Crane baby to this world. Maybe a girl????? Who knows....All we can hope for is a healthy baby. Caleb is requesting a girl because his closest friend's mommy just had a baby girl, so he wants to follow suit. Really, we would be happy either way. I have to go see a Dr. to find out how far along I am, so I don't know a due date, I am thinking sometime in June....so we will see.
Language is going well. I have been a little encouraged as we have been doing a Sunday School class with one of our teachers and so I have realized that I can tell the story of the Good Samaritan, Paul and Silas in prison, David and Goliath, and Noah and the Ark in Arabic. So that has been encouraging. I have also been able to visit with my neighbor a couple of times, which has been good. She has four boys, and she is only 28 years old. Oh my goodness.....she was married when she was 14. I cannot imagine. Today the boys and I went to their house and she taught me how to make an Arabic dish called Maqluuba, which is rice and chicken, with vegetables in it. It was very good! Her mom was there today as well, so I got lots of practice speaking and stumbling through my Arabic. Amazing thing too, her mom is only 44 and has 10 kids, and who knows how many grandchildren. She started counting them all, but after about 14 or so we got interrupted and were on to another topic. It was a very interesting evening.

One thing that was strange to me while we were there, and this is very random. But at one point after we finished eating dinner, the grandma was holding Mason and she asked me something about biting. I thought she was asking me if he bites me, because he has some teeth now, and so I replied and told her he has a few times. But then her and her daughter continued to talk and I realized that they were asking me if I ever bite him. Strange! Ya know, because he is so cute and you just want to eat him? So a few minutes later the grandma grabs her grandson who is 2 years old and bites the heck out of his cheek. I mean, she grabbed him. Held him. Took his cheek between her teeth and bit down hard and for a good 10 seconds or so while he screamed. It was one of the stranger things I have observed. Afterward Caleb looked at me with the most puzzled look on his face and said, "why did she just bite him like that?" To which I replied, "uh, I don't really know.....he's cute?"

A lot has been happening the past few days around here, so that has been good and I feel like some of my "blahs" have gone away. Mike did have Friday and Saturday off so he was home as well, so that helped. But Friday we went to the zoo with some friends here and had a great time. It was so funny. They are renting a car, so they have this tiny little four door car that we we fit all 9 of in, plus she is pregnant, so practically 10 of us. I know some of you may be appalled knowing that we were in a car with kids without car seats. Such is life here. Although car seats do exist, not many people use them, and Friday I was thankful because we were able to cram so many of in the car and able to get out of the house.
The zoo....
...well, it was very interesting. Pretty run down and made you feel a bit sorry for the animals, but our kids had a great time! The first few cages just as you walk in are the Lions and tigers, which are pretty impressive, and you are only separated by them by two chain link fences, so it was kind of cool to be that close up and see how big and impressive these animals really are. Two guys that worked at the zoo decided to get in the cages with them and rile them up for our show. I was pretty nervous, that one of those lions was going to decide he had enough of these punks and have them for lunch. But nothing like that happened and we just got to see them growl and get bothered by these two.
Across from the lions there were some cages with pigeons, yes pigeons, and there were the ferocious house cats, a dalmatian and some mutt looking dog. Pretty funny, but entertaining at the same time. The boys had a great time!
The next day our friend had her baby, so we kept their two little boys for the day, who are good buddies with Caleb and Judah. So they had lots of fun playing and riding scooters and keeping themselves busy.
Today is back to the grind. Mike is off to work. The boys are taking naps and I am making cinnamon rolls to take up to our neighbors. I still have one of their plates that I have had since September, so I figured it was about time to take it to them. So, wish me luck!
I will post some pics of our adventures to the zoo soon. I need to do it on the other computer that Mike has with him to teach. So, until then....blessings!

Blah.....

I have just been feeling a bit blah lately. Not physically, but mentally. I am not sure what it is exactly...maybe it is that Mike is working evenings now and so once the kids and I get home from school we are in the house all evening with just us. I am struggling to get out and meet my neighbors. I find myself just wanting to hide in the house where it is safe and comfortable....Ugh! Finding a time to do it, knowing that it will most likely be an awkward encounter. The one neighbor boys have come a few times and since they are older, I tend to worry the whole time they are here that they are not going to play nice with Caleb and Judah, or they will just be naughty. The oldest two are 9 and 11, and the younger two are 6 and 2. So besides the 2 year old, who wasn't here last time they visited, they are all older then my boys. They came in last time they were here to play with Caleb and Judah's toys, took a bunch of them outside and put them in the plants and then just left. I don't really have a good enough command of the language yet to feel like I can say whatever I need to, so it just feels uneasy when they are here. Oh Lord give me grace and patience!
It is in times like this when I long for the comforts of home. I long to be around people that I know, and know us. Around people that are familiar. I know this will pass, but in the meantime if you think about it please pray for me. Pray that I will be able to connect with some locals here. Pray that this place wouldn't seem so foreign. And pray that I will embrace this season of my life, being a mother of 3 small boys and feeling stuck in the house. :-)

New Friends

Caleb and Judah have made some friends with the boys who live in our apartment building.  There is another family that have 4 boys, the oldest is 11 and the youngest is 2.  Their favorite of the four is the 9 year old, named Ka'is.  Not sure how you spell it, but that is about how you would say it.  They are from the same family that I brought the apple pie to.

Today they were calling up to Ka'is and his brothers to their balcony for them to come and play.  The cute part about it is that they were calling to him in Arabic.  Caleb is constantly coming to us now and asking how to say this or that in Arabic.  I wonder how long it will take he and Judah to catch on and start talking more and more?

Overall not a very eventful day in the Crane household.  I went to the dreaded grocery store, which I am glad I did, and glad it is over.  It is funny, when we lived in India and I was pregnant I would have reoccurring dreams that I was wandering the isles of grocery stores, and now it seems like such a chore to have to go.  Anyway, I did that....Mike took the boys to the park, and then we were home and the boys played with the neighbors.

Oh, I was actually supposed to go to school today, but Amman was having it's first ever International Marathon, so most of the streets that we would take to get to school were closed.  So we stayed home instead.  

oh, and I worked on getting our newsletter out, which most of you may have gotten.  Hopefully not too many times.....I am having the darnedest time getting all my contacts in order.  It is just one of those things that takes forever to do, and well.....time is not always on my side these days.  So, I apologize if that is the case.  And if you would like to get a copy, just let me know.

For now I will get going.

Blessings!

Shukran Habibi

One of the things that our boys have learned how to say in Arabic and to say it well is this phrase, "shukran habibi" (ha-bee-bee)  It means, thank you, my love.  Habibi is a word that people use ALL the time here and they say it to everyone, especially to kids.  Usually people will see kids and say "oooohhhh habibi"  or "hayaati", which means my life.  It is very cute, and people are very kid friendly in this part of the world.

So our boys have learned to say it whenever they get a chance and they know they will get a good response.  Most often it is when we are in a taxi to the taxi drivers.  Like tonight, we went to a friend's house for dinner and on the way there they said it a couple of times to the taxi driver, who laughed and tried to get them to repeat it a number of times.  He thought it was the cutest thing, which I have to admit is pretty cute to hear these little 4 and 2 year olds speaking in another language.  It is funny too because every once in awhile Caleb will throw a Thai word in there.  The boy has such an amazing memory.

Anyway, just wanted to share that small bit of info for a glimpse into our world.

Our New Apartment

Having tea outside in our new yard.

All the before work.  Having to scrape the paint down to the cement.

Mike scraping the walls or cleaning the floor.  We pulled the carpet up in this room because it was so bad.  It is unusual to have carpet in houses here, but this one does.

Our messy kitchen.

This is all of our stuff at our old house, packed and ready to be moved.

Our new kitchen in order.

Our yard.

The sitting room, or salon as they call it here.  Not quite finished, but getting there.

The boys in their new room, that needs to be repainted again. 

 

The sitting room.  Same room that Mike was sitting in in the first pic.  What a difference some paint, furniture and a rug makes.  I didnt take a picture of our room, just because that would require me to clean it, or to take the pic at a time when Mason is not sleeping in there.  Someday....

Heads Up

Some of you have asked in the past to be notified if anyone is coming to visit us so that you can send something along.  Well, I am SO excited to say that my parents are going to be visiting us here at the beginning of November.  I realize that only leaves a month, but if anyone is interested in sending something along with them let me know and I can get you their address to send to them.  Thanks!!!

They will be arriving here November 6th, so anything would need to get to them around the 1st of November.

Friends

I love friends and surrounding myself with people that I love to be with.  That is something that I have always loved and I can remember growing up throwing parties whenever I would get the chance, just to have people over.  Some days when it is just me and my family in the house I feel like I am going to burst if I don't invite people over.  So, the last few days has been filled with friends and it has been nice.  I think my boys are the same as me because they are constantly asking me, "where are we going today?" "I want to go to some one's house!"  It is funny too because sometimes they could really care less where we are going or to who's house we are going, they are just excited about getting out.  (me too!)  Some days I dread the monotony of the same 'ol, same 'ol.....

So, I had some friends over and made cheesecake brownies for dessert, and there were so many of them left I had to invite some more people over the next night to eat them all up.  (although we still have a bunch left.)  What fun!

The thing I am finding hard is crossing the cultural barrier.  Ugh....It is SO easy and SO comfortable to invite other westerners over.  We speak the same language, we know that when we ask if you want tea or coffee and you say no, that it really means no, and you don't have to ask a certain amount of times and then serve the coffee anyway, it is just comfortable....ya know?

Comfortable....

That is a word or a state that can keep you in the same rut, and you never get out and you never grow.  So, I need to meet some of my neighbors and step outside of my comfort zone and not care if I make mistakes in the language, or I don't serve the tea just right, or I don't know all the right etiquette.  I need to just make some friends that we can laugh with and learn with.  Oh Lord, help me to do it.  Since we have moved to the other side of town I have really been feeling like I am in a different country.  The signs in the grocery store are all in Arabic now, so it takes me forever to figure out the price of the lunchmeat, or the price for the olives, because I am sitting there reading like a first grader......  The part of town that we have moved to is much more traditional and not as western as before, so the women are covered more then on the west side of town.  One of my neighbors came down today to check her water meter that is inside our gate and she is fully covered with just the slit for her eyes to see.  How can I relate with these women?  Our lives are worlds apart....but yet we live with just a few walls in between us.  I so want to bridge that huge chasm in between us and find some common ground.

An Empty Plate

At the end of Ramadan there is a holiday here called Eid ul Fitr, which roughly translated means "holiday to break the fast".  But it is a joyous occasion and people are celebrating all over the place and it lasts for three days. ( I don't know why we don't catch on to some of these other holidays in other countries that go for a couple days?)  Anyhow, one of the things that they do here is give sweets to each other.  (In some ways there are similarities to Christmas for us, the giving of sweets, people buy new clothes and wear them to visit family and friends).  

The first day of the Eid, we went for a walk and almost every car that passed us you could see the people dressed in their best.  Men in nice new suits and women in nice new clothes, colorful head scarves and so on.  We really felt like strangers in a foreign land looking into a bubble, especially since we have moved to a new area and don't know anyone yet.  Although two of our neighbors did come and bring us a plate of sweets.  That was very nice!  The one man, Mike has spoken with on a couple of occasions and he has come and sat with him on our porch and talked and the other man, I think Mike met for the first time then.  

So, the tradition or culture here when you have received a plate of something here is to return the plate with something on it.  It would be considered rude to just give the clean plate back.  So what a perfect occasion to make some chocolate chip cookies.  We brought the one plate back with some cookies on it, but we don't know where the other man lives.  So, two days have gone by now and we are not really sure how to find the man, other then to knock on every door in the building, but then when it's the wrong door how do we explain, "oh sorry, these cookies are not for you"(in our broken arabic...)  In the meantime, my sweet tooth has gotten the best of me and so I have started to eat the cookies.  Oops....I guess I will just have to make some more.  Those are starting to get stale anyway.  :-)  Hopefully we will find him soon, before I make another batch and have to eat those too.

Settling

Ahh.....the whirlwind seems to be dying down now a bit and I feel like I can breathe.  This past month has been crazy to say the least.  I am not sure why I wasn't really expecting it to be this way, but maybe it was due to the fact that the new apartment we moved in to was an absolute disaster.  I cannot even begin to describe how bad it was.  On September 1st, we took all of our earthly belongings, loaded them up in 3 trucks and made our trek across the city of Amman, to our new house.  (Sidenote: moving in the middle of Ramadan is not the best idea, as you are dealing with hungry grumpy people a lot.  The truck drivers were ready to get shovels and push our stuff out onto the sidewalks so they could get everything out in time to get home to eat, when the time came to break the fast)

Ok, so anyway, back to our moving.  The landlord told us not to come to the new house until around 2 because they were CLEANING!  

Whew, I was so relieved to hear that they were cleaning for us.  One less thing to have to do.   

...Um, did he say cleaning?  

...What exactly did he mean by cleaning?  

...What is this man's definition of cleaning?

We pulled up to the house and there was a huge pile of garbage and junk on the sidewalk in front.  Then when I entered the apartment there was just junk everywhere.  It was like the landlord had someone come in the apartment with a rake that was missing like 5 teeth and rake all the stuff out of the apartment into the front on the sidewalk.  I mean there were hats, brushes, bobby pins, food in the kitchen cabinets, about 15 bars of soap in the bathroom, and on and on. You get the idea, right?  

Then in one of the bedrooms, there is this big poster on one of the walls with a white board posted up crookedly over it, and we take it off and there is all this mold on the walls and the paint just falls off.  Lovely!  What have we gotten ourselves into.  Ugh!

So, that night we all slept in one bedroom and our house is a disaster, and I feel like I can't unpack yet, because have to majorly clean first, and I can't put Mason down on the floor because there is SO much crud....what a stressful time.  And the day after we move in I have to go back to school.  My friend Victoria said that when I would get into class it was just like I was spinning.  It was all I could do to make myself go to class and then pay attention.  

But anyway, it is now almost the end of the month and we have cleaned, scraped, repainted, carpeted, sewed curtains, and it is starting to feel like home.  We still have some issue of moisture in our walls, so the same day we had painted, the paint started bubbling and looks horrible, but it is better then it was.  

Anyone know anything about getting the moisture out of cement walls?  We could use some help or advice.

But we are really enjoying our place and have met a few of the neighbors so far and we are not too far from a park, so we have been going there in the evenings to try and meet people and so far that has been good. 

I will try and get some pictures up soon.  It seems that the story of my life lately is that I go to get my camera to take some pics and the batteries are dead.  I think I need to buy some new rechargeable batteries, who knows how old mine are.  That has got to be why I fly through them.  So anyway, I will get some pics up as soon as I can remember to charge my  batteries and take some pics.    It is coming together quite nicely and I cannot wait to share.

Overwhelmed

I would have to say that this is the one word that describes how I have been feeling this last month.  Ugh.....so many things have been happening since we have moved into a new place and our new place needed SO much work to make it livable that it has felt like I am trying to constantly keep my head above water.  So, along with taking care of three kids, trying to study arabic and go to school, we have been painting, cleaning, sewing, and getting things done for our new place.  I am happy to say that I can see light at the end of the tunnel and my life is starting to feel a little more normal.  So hopefully I will be back here with some pictures to post and some new stories to tell.  In the meantime, stay posted......

Jumbles

Ahsalam-alaykum! Kifak? Cho-gi ming gaci mo? slieineing ligie moeputeme oiwenytóa to. Si!

Arabic
Dzongkha
Jumble
Spanish...

Oh dear, my mind has been feeling a little jumbled lately. The other day in class I almost lost it with the giggles, and I am really not even sure why. Do you ever have those moments where something seems funny to you, and it is in a situation where you know you are not supposed to be laughing, so that makes it even funnier, and you find yourself cracking up at nothing. That is what happened to me on Thursday in class. Oh my, I was laughing so hard that I could hardly catch my breath. I don't really know what was so funny, other then the fact that my brain was not cooperating with me and at times I felt like I was just staring at my teacher and she was sounding like one of the adults from "The Peanuts". Remember how all the adults on the Charlie Brown cartoons sounded like "wah wah wah wah, waa wah"
Then I went to the nursery to check on Mason and the girl in there was asking me a simple question and all that would come to mind was dzongkha. So I just sat there staring at her like a deer caught in the headlights. I am sure she wondered if something was wrong with me or what. Funny!
Hopefully tomorrow in class will be a better day!

Another World

My friend Tasha said it so well when she commented that I "live in another world".  It is so true.  It is funny how you can live in a place for awhile and soon things just become normal to you and your forget to look at things from a different perspective any longer.  You just accept things as they are.

This time of the year does remind me that I am definitely in a different land.  It is such a strange phenomenon to observe, this whole Ramadan thing.  Tonight Mike and I were able to go out on a date, thanks to some friends who volunteered to watch our kids for us.  What a blessing!  So, we went out to a popular restaurant here that has great Arabic food.  Well, going to a restaurant at Ramadan is always interesting because you have to wait for the call to prayer to start eating.  I imagine that being foreigners, we don't really have to wait, if we don't care about being sensitive to everyone around you, but then you may have people staring rather unfriendly at you.  So anyways, we got to the restaurant a little early, because we had to make sure to get a taxi before the streets cleared out of any cars in sight.  Really, it turns into a ghost town for a good half hour at least.  I will have to get some video footage of it.  It is wild!  We went to the grocery store the other day too during that time and it was the best time to walk with the kids, because there is not a car in sight.

Anyway, back to the restaurant.  Every table has a plate of dates on it, and some fried pita bread with half a lemon on top.  When the call to prayer sounds, everyone breaks their fast by first eating a date.  We both were so hungry, but we sat and waited for about 20 minutes until the call to prayer sounded and we could eat.  I did sneak a fried pita chip, but had to try and hide and eat it, because I saw a man watching me.  Oops!  But once that call sounds everyone digs in.  

We had a great evening and always enjoy getting out and watching people. 

The Sound of Forks

Well, Ramadan is in full swing now, and although it has not been too bad for us yet, it is mostly because we haven't had to be out and about during the day yet.  It started just yesterday on Saturday and I went to the grocery store at about 9 in the morning and I was amused by how much more food there is in the store during this time of year.  For those of you who don't know what Ramadan is, it is a month where the Muslims fast from sun up to sunset.  They are not allowed to eat anything, drink anything, smoke anything, and I have even been told that they are not supposed to swallow their own spit.  How many people follow it that close, I am not really sure.  But one thing I have observed is that there is a lot more food in the stores and it seems to me much more like a month of feasting, then fasting.  

Last year when we were here we had heard people saying that during the iftar, (the evening meal when they break their fast), they could hear forks and knives clanging in the houses, but I had thought it was an exaggeration.  Well it was no exaggeration.  Tonight we went outside after we had eaten dinner and it was almost eerie how quiet the street was during the call to prayer, and......we heard it!  We heard people's silverware clanging against plates as they began to eat.  It was so funny!  I guess because everyone is eating at the same time, there are no cars driving in the street, so it is quiet enough to hear the sound of forks and knives on the plates.  Funny!

WE FOUND AN APARTMENT!!! YiPPEE!!!!

After what seemed like an eternity of looking and getting nowhere, we have found a new place to move to in the area we were hoping to move. We won't move until the beginning of Sept., so I will have pictures later.

Modern Marvels

I sometimes take for granted the wonderful inventions of computers and email and how easy it is to keep in touch with family back home. The other day we were able to talk to our friends back in India through Skype. What a wonderful thing to be able to talk and see friends and family! I remember when I was in High School someone sharing the idea about being able to talk and see the person you were talking to on the other end, but it just seemed like something from a movie and that it would never come to pass.....and now, here we are.

Anup and Saroja, our dear friends in India, are the ones who have been caring for Kelden, Pema and Dawa. They all went over to another friends house in India the other day and we were able to see them and talk with each other. It was such a joy! I can't imagine what it must have been like on their end. Especially for the boys coming from a village where they are just recently getting some solar lights in their houses. Now they are talking to their friends in a foreign country and getting to see them on the computer.
They are all doing well. Life there in Kalimpong is not easy at this time of the year due to the monsoon, and they have been having lots of strikes where the whole town shuts down for days at a time and you are not even allowed to drive anywhere in your car. Ugh....although I don't miss that at all, we do miss our friends, and had a great time chatting and catching up with them. The boys are all doing well and continuing in their studies. As they come to mind, please continue to pray for them and their families, that they would be set free by the Truth!

Looking for an Apartment

For the last few weeks we have been on the search for a new apartment.  We new the time was getting closer and closer for our lease to be finished where we are right now, but didn't have the time to look while Mike was teaching English.  Since he has finished though, we have been looking like crazy.  It has seemed like a never ending hunt, with very little results.  One thing we have been encouraged in, is that we are able to speak to people in Arabic and understand a lot of what they reply, and Mike was even able to read the Arabic want ads and look for some apartments.  So our Arabic is slowly improving.  But we continue to search and hope that we can find just the apartment that our growing family needs.

It has been kind of a bitter sweet thing as well, because during the summer most of the ladies in our apartment building sit outside in the evenings and visit, and I have been able to join them and actually participate in the conversations some.  One night as I was either coming home or going out somewhere I sat down with them and they told me how much they liked me and were sad that we were thinking of moving.  I have also been able to get together with one of the ladies who is teaching me how to make some Arabic dishes, and that has been good because her english is very little, so it forces me to have to speak Arabic.  So then I think about moving and how I am going to have to start all over with new relationships.  Ugh....although I can always come back and visit.  It will be better for us to be in an area where Mike can make some relationships as well and that we will be closer to our school.

Anyhoo.....just thought I would share a couple more cute pics of the kids....

We call Mason the little Monkey boy, because he always uses his feet to grab or hold things.  Mike got this picture of him with his bottle when I was out one evening.

Judah is our little music lover.  Anytime there is an instrument anywhere, he wants to hold it or try and play it.

Mason in the bouncer.

Ok, so this is not the best picture of Mason, but all the others were blurry.  But you can tell how big he is getting.

Reading books with my boys!  Fun times....

Our Summer

I discover more and more that motherhood is a bit like juggling....trying to keep everything in order, deciding what the best thing is to do for me, for the kids, for my husband, keeping us all from going crazy being stuck in the house at times when it is too hot to go outside and play. Should I study, should I visit the neighbors, should we get out with some of the kids' friends?  I never realized how much kids need to get out and play and get all their energy out.  

My oh my.....at times this has been a very long summer and at the same time it is flying by.  The following are some pics of stuff we have done this summer, although I have also realized that my camera is constantly needing batteries.  Ugh....just when I have that Kodak moment I get out the camera and.....nothing, because the batteries are dead.  UGH!  Anyway, enjoy....

Rock star Judah!  He absolutely loves music and anytime there is an instrument to be found, he will play it!  Maybe a future musician?

Mason trying to feed himself.

Judah and sweet little Sadie.  Some of our close friends' daughter.

Mason is SO popular among all the girls.  He is definitely not lacking in the attention department.  This is Indiana, another of our friends' little girls.

It is hard to see in this picture, but Judah is actually standing on the outside of the glass in the window.  The metal bars are there behind him, but this was not a fun sight for a mother to come up on. We live on the 2nd floor of our building. He thought it was great fun though!

Caleb and Judah sitting in the same window playing ball with some boys that were downstairs while I tried to prepare dinner.  

I guess as I looked through these pics, it shows that we haven't done much of anything this summer.  Not very eventful, but just wanted to share a few pics anyway.

Judah in the Trunk

Just a funny quick story. Tonight on our way home from the area we are hoping to move to, looking for houses, we flag down a taxi. As we are putting the strollers in the truck Mike picks Judah up and pretends like he is going to put him in the trunk as well. The taxi driver got really scared and said, "No, no, no...!" And then Mike started laughing and told him he was just joking! He really thought Mike was gonna do it. So we all had a good laugh in the taxi on the ride home!

Visible Prints of God's Invisible Hand

I read this quote in a Beth Moore bible study that I am currently doing of the book of Esther. It has been a great study and I am really really enjoying it. When I read this sentence about "visible prints of God's invisible hand" it just stuck out to me and I could SO relate with seeing the prints of God's hand in my life. There was another quote that I read or that she said that I thought was great recently as well, which was, "Coincidences are miracles where God chooses to remain anonymous". So true, and so cool to take a step back and see where God has been at work in our lives. I have a couple cool and kind of random stories to tell that illustrate these so well.

As those of you that have been reading my blog most likely know, Jordan has been a stretching time for us financially, but it has been a great time of growing in our faith. I don't know why I would ever doubt God because for the past 15 years as I have lived by faith without a salary I have seen Him provide my every need, above and beyond. (Not that I think those that live with a salary don't live by faith. God just chooses other ways to teach them the same things) Anyway, for some reason this season has been stretching for me. But as always, God has been SO faithful.
First story....Mike and I decided to take the kids out to the park to get out of the house and to hopefully run into some Arabic speakers to be able to practice our language. But wouldn't you know it, we meet another western family with 3 kids and we end up visiting with them and we hit it off right away and go back to their house and drink tea together. (Ugh...this language thing is hard, especially when we hang out with English speakers, but that is for another blog, another day) Anyway, this family has now become good friends of ours, but the next day after the park they show up at our house, and they have brought us groceries, a new cell phone (because we had only been using one up to this point), diapers, and all kinds of stuff. Umm.....was this just a coincidence that we randomly met this family in the park and that they knew Mike was going to be out of the house during the day and we could really use another cell phone? That night Mike and I had to just lay in bed and smile and thank God for how He works.

Second story....this one is kind of random, but I went to the grocery store and needed to pick up a few things, one of them being Oatmeal. Well, I couldn't find any at the store that I went to, and if you know how difficult it feels for me to get out of the house these days to get to the store, not getting any at this trip was very annoying. But, there wasn't any, so what was I to do, I would get it next time. No biggie! So, later that same day or the next, I can't quite remember, our family was invited to the neighbor house of our friends' that we met from the park. This lady and her family are Jordanian but have lived in the US and are actually on their way back to living in the US. Anyway, I am sitting in her living room, the kids are all playing and she randomly comes out from the kitchen with a big container of Quaker Oats and asks me if I want it because her kids don't eat it. In my head I am thinking, "Is she serious?" "Is this for real?" How often are you over at someone's house that you have just met and they offer you their Oatmeal. So, I said "yeah", and just laughed inside and thanked God, yet again!

Third story.....ok, this actually has a two in one story because just as I was starting to write it I realized that someone blessed us with tickets to go and see a "Pirate Show" at the Children's Museum here in Jordan. A bunch of other families were going and one of our friends called us and said that someone wanted to buy us tickets. Wow, ok....so before the show we all were meeting at the mall nearby to eat dinner in the foodcourt. So, there are about 4 families and about 10 kids running around. I was going over to help one of my boys with something, when this lady approached me and started talking with me. She was super friendly and just curious what we were all doing here in Jordan. So we got to talking....she was only in Jordan for 3 weeks for some training with the UN, and then she would head back to the country she worked. It was nice visiting with her, then she said goodbye and a few moments later came back and handed me a bundle of money. Woah....I was a little taken back, and almost embarrassed as well. Why me? But again had to thank God for his providence and his sense of humor. Of all of the families there that evening she ended up talking with me and handing me the money? Random or providence?

I could actually go on an on of how God has blessed us with different things at the perfect time that we needed it. Whether it has been finances or friends or Oatmeal :-)

So, I tell you all of this to say that God has been teaching me to trust Him. Even when I don't think I have it all together or know where things will come from. He promises me in His Word that He will meet my every need, so I can REST and TRUST!

"Trust in the LORD with ALL your heart, lean NOT on your understanding, in ALL your ways acknowledge HIM and HE will make your paths straight" Proverbs 3:5-6

Happy Birthday Pa-pa!

Hope you have a wonderful Birthday Pa-pa! We miss you!

Anniversary

Wow, a year ago today we arrived in Amman.  It was such a crazy feeling coming into this new city and this new apartment.  Not knowing a single soul or a single thing about this country.  I can remember the weird and unfamiliar feeling of being in this new apartment, setting up the boys in their beds, our baggage strewn all over the place and just laying in our new bed wondering what in the world we had just done.  Taking in all the new sounds and trying to cope with the heat.  Then waking up in the morning with no food in the house and having to venture out into an unknown city with just about $4 in our pockets.  The family that stayed in the house before us had drawn us some maps, so we knew where a local bakery was and and ATM, so we were off.  When we walked into the bakery, we were surprised to find all the prices written in Arabic, and we didn't know a single word so we were shy to ask anything.  Then we saw a package of muffins with english numbers on it, so we got them.  Ahh.....

It is amazing to look back and see how much God has blessed along the way.  First of all the apartment we moved into was such a huge blessing.  To have everything set up for us already and not have to go and find all of our furniture in a new place.  I cannot imagine how stressful that would have been.  Thank you Lord!  And then the different friends that God has brought along to be a part of our lives.  What a complete blessing!

Now we can say we are doing well in this city and thriving!  The language is coming along, slowly but surely.  We are making more and more relationships, and things are going well.  We thank God for this last year, and pray that the next one will be just as good, if not better.

Contentment

Something that I have been trying to grasp is being content.  Being content with whatever my circumstances are.  At times I do well with this and then at other times I am frustrated with the way things are going or wish things were different or so on and so forth.  So lately,  with Mike out of the house for the majority of the day and me home alone with the three kids, I found myself at first trying to run and do whatever I could to keep ourselves busy and not go crazy, but in the middle of last week, I realized that I needed to just accept the fact of how things were and find contentment in it all.  Yes, I am a mother of three boys, and yes, I am in a foreign city away from family, and even though at times it is not fun, this is how it is.  So, since I have come to terms with it, things have been going much better.  I have been trying to spend more time with my neighbors and learn this silly language, instead of running from here to there spending time with all my "western"  friends.  So tonight we went downstairs and hung out with all the "ladies".  I wish I could have had a picture of it.  Here I am surrounded by about 8 women, 7 of which have their heads covered.  They are all speaking Arabic and I am trying my best to follow, but mostly just catch words here and there.  Then there is a wedding across the street from us, so we all gather to the sidewalk to watch.  They way they do weddings here is that the groom and his family (I think, if I understood right) comes to the brides house and they play all this loud music and he goes up to get her and then they come back out together and his parents are dancing in front of them as they parade off to the car and then the whole entourage is off to the reception.  I just had to wonder what it would look like from and outsiders perspective to see this white girl in the midst of all these arabs.  Although one of my neighbor's daughters are pretty fair skinned, so maybe as long as I don't open my mouth I will fit in.  (well, except for the fact that I don't have my head  covered).  Anyway, it was a good night and I am finding more contentment these days!  Praise the Lord!

Our Crazy Life

The other day Mike and I met some friends at a nearby Burger King where there is a great place for the kids to play and run around.  It the same one that I walked to with the three kids a week or so ago.  I can't remember if I wrote about it or not.  I am sure it was quite the site though.  So this time as we were walking home Mike and I were laughing about how silly we all looked.  We have this small umbrella stroller, you know the kind that folds up pretty small.  Caleb usually sits in it first and then Judah gets on his lap, and off we go.  For some reason this night we had a lot of people looking at us and laughing or making comments.  I need to get a picture of it.

Anyway, not much else going on here that I can think of to write.  I have lots of pics to post.  I have been bad about keeping up.  Our  6th year anniversary has passed, Caleb's 4th birthday passed, Judah is all potty trained, and Mason has started eating solids. Oh, and I finished recovering my couches.  Amazing these little chapters of life that just pass so quickly.  Anyway, enough of my rambling, let me get the pics posted.

Caleb and Judah sitting in our kitchen window playing ball with some of the neighbor boys.

Here is Rock Star Judah at our friends house, at a "play date" 

Caleb turns 4!  (No, I didn't buy the cake from Safeway, I made it but just asked for a box at the store)

Mike and I on our anniversary!  Our friends volunteered to watch the kids so we could go out!

Our sitting room after.  (I still need to get up curtains)

Our sitting room before.

Happy 60th Mom!!! (You look amazing!)

It is hard to believe that my mom will be 60 today!  I sure wish that I could be there to celebrate with you and hope that you have a wonderful day!  You are and have been an amazing mother and it is only now that I am a mother myself that I realize the sacrifice and all that you did for us as kids!  One of the things I am so thankful for is how you have always given of yourself.  You spent so many late nights up sewing or baking for something special for us, and you taught us how to give to others!  Everyone who knows you is blessed that they do, and I am lucky to be able to call you my mom!  I love you!!!!!

Being Thankful

Recently we have been going through a bit of a hard time financially. (As I imagine many others are as well)  It has been a stretching time for us and one that we are definitely learning from.  I won't go into details, but through it will just say that it has reminded me to be thankful.  It has been easy to look and see that the grass is greener on the other side and wish that I were on that other side.  Actually there have been days that I have been dwelling on this fact.  Looking on facebook or hearing about what others are getting to do and starting to feel sorry for myself.  "Poor me!"  Then one day I was thinking, in my neighborhood there was one family on one side of me who kept there yard nice and neat and everything always seemed in order, but if I looked the other way there was the house that was not kept up too well.  Weeds were growing, an old abandoned car sat in the driveway, and the house just didn't look inviting.  So I thought to myself, "The grass can be greener on the other side, but it just depends on which way you are looking"  I need to remember that although times may be stretching for us right now, many people are worse off.  Funny because in one of my previous posts I wrote about this and how I am so lucky to have been born where I was and on and on, but how quickly I can forget.  So, I am reminded once again to look at how blessed I really am.  I have three beautiful healthy kids,  I have a wonderful husband that loves me and would do anything for me, that I trust and don't have to worry about.  I have a house filled with peace (well, other then the naughty little kids running around that I have to shout at from time to time)  I imagine that I could go on and on and think of SO many things that I have to be thankful about, but soon those naughty little boys are going to be up, so I better get going.  :-)  

I have two funny stories to share before I wrap this up.  The other day when I was home alone with the kids I was sitting and listening to myself and thought it would be funny if I just wrote down what I was saying at any 10 minute interval.  So here is a small sample, "Don't put your finger in baby's ear!  Don't put your finger in baby's mouth!  Stop!  Get down!  Be nice!  Be gentle!  Boys play nice together!  Don't hit your brother!  You need to share!  Do you need to go to time out? Don't say stinky boy or yucky boy! Judah get out of the bathroom!  Caleb don't throw your food on the floor!  Mason, what's the matter?  Don't cry. "   (actually that is probably more like 1 minute. :-)

Which brings me to my other story.  As you can see, it is always nice to get out of the house.  The boys do much better when they are out and can play with others.  Mike has taken an English teaching job for the summer to make some extra money, so I am at home alone with the kids for a big part of the day.  The other day he left and I gave him all the cash I had for him to be able to pay his taxi and bus fare, then about crazy time when I was SO ready to get out of the house my friend Victoria called and said they were going to "Burger King"  would we like to join.  Oh my goodness I would LOVE to, but just one problem, I need to borrow some money when we get there.  Of course my lovely friend Victoria said this was not a problem.  Great!  Hmmmm.....now how do we get there?  Burger King is not too far from our house, walking would take anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes (for an adult walking alone), by taxi it would maybe only cost about 70 cents.  So I searched the house for any money we might have....pockets, backpacks, Caleb's stuff, the change jar that used to have some change in it, nothing.....Hmmm, I could knock on the neighbors door and ask to borrow some.  They surely wouldn't mind, but I just borrowed eggs the other day.  I thought of backing out, but had already opened my big mouth to my boys who were jumping up and down and had their shoes on ready to go see their friends, and knew at this point if I told them we weren't going I would be dealing with crying the whole rest of the night.  So, I thought, "we'll walk.  It won't be that bad.  I have a stroller, a carrier and Caleb can ride his scooter.  No problem!"  So off we go, about 10 minutes into it and Judah is sitting on Caleb's lap in the stroller, I have the scooter perched on top of the stroller, and Mason is asleep with his head dangling back as I push the stroller uphill to Burger King.  We were quite the scene, and everyone was staring as they drove past. Oh dear, one of those moments where the "grass seems greener"  ANYWHERE!  We made it and had a great time though!

So, if you feel like that grass does some greener on the other side, remember to look the other way and see the brown grass or the weeds, or better yet, as the old hymn says "turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and Grace"  Thank you Lord for your Grace!  "I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter His courts with praise, I will say this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice for He has made me glad"

New Videos

Here's the latest video of the kids.  Enjoy...

Why Me?

The other day I went to get my haircut, which is a big deal for me.  When we lived in India I would only get my haircut every 6 months when we would go out of the country, either in Thailand or the US, so usually it is a big occasion for me.  Anyway, I just got a trim and that is not what I was wanting to share, but while I was sitting in this salon waiting for my turn I was watching this one girl in a chair getting her hair dried by one of the guys working in the salon, while a filipino lady gave her a manicure.  Here in Jordan there are a lot of Filipino workers, who either clean houses, are nannies, or who do service jobs.  And as I sat there and observed I thought to myself, "Why ME?"  Why was I born in a country where I am free to do what I want.  Why was I not born in a low caste family in India where we all lived in one room, and I couldn't go to school but had to beg for a living.  Why was I not born in a place where I was so desperate to make a living for my family that I would live in another country and be treated horribly, just so my kids could get an  education.  Why was I so lucky to be born to such loving parents who believed in me and encouraged me to follow my dreams and do what makes me happy?  Why was I born in a country where there is so much opportunity?  Where I am free to do what I want, and not what I am expected to do?  why me?  

Seeing other cultures has definitely made me appreciate where I have come from and I hope to never take it for granted.  And I hope that I can see people for who they really are.  Not for the color of their skin, or what country they are from, but to look past all of that and to see a person with wants and needs just like me.    I need to remember to reach out to people, even if it is just with a smile to let them know they are valuable.  God help me to do this, and to use my life to be a blessing to others.

Knowing enough to be dangerous.....

The other day when we went to the park, Mike and I were people watching and heard this lady say to a little girl "aboo-ha ishtara-ha"  Which, we translated as her father bought her.  Hmm....that seemed like a strange thing to say.  What would that mean exactly.  So we asked the other guy that was with us that has been here longer then we have an is in a semester ahead of us, and we all tried to figure out if this was some kind of saying here.  Maybe it is like saying she is from the gypsies and her parents got rid of her, or she was adopted, or who knows.  It seemed like a strange statement.  So the next day in class I asked my teacher and she said that it meant, "her father bought IT"  not her......   Ahhh...that made so much more sense.  In arabic words can be masculine and feminine, so when you are saying "it"  about something, you can be referring to it as he or she (him, her)  This little girl was hogging  the swing at the park and didn't want to share it so one of the mom's sarcastically said, "Her father bought it"  

So, I have come to the realization that we are understanding a lot nowadays, but it can be dangerous right now because we can quickly assume we understand.  Oh, the joys of learning a new language.

Judah singing

Milestones....

Do you ever have those moments that you look at your kids and think, "Wow, they are so big now?"  It's like you turn away for a second and look back and realize that this little one that you have in your head is now big enough to get dressed himself, or is now sleeping in his own bed.  I can't imagine what it must be like for my parents... Once your are a parent your whole view of things shifts.

Anyway, on Friday we took a trip to the park and I had one of these moments.  We met some other friends at the park and brought a picnic lunch.  The park was packed with people and it was a great day to people watch.  So, we found a bench to put all our stuff on right next to the swings.  I sat there with Mason most of the time watching kids fight over the swings while Mike and the boys and our other friend and his boys were off playing.  At one point in the afternoon, Caleb came over to me and found some strawberries in our bag.  He asks me if he can have some and then pulls the box out, tucks them under his arm and heads off.   On his way back to the others he turns around with his little 3 1/2 year old self and asks, "Can we eat them all up?"  I don't know why, but for some reason it was so cute and he seemed so big.  So then off he heads up and over a little wall to share his strawberries with the other boys.  

It's like one day you realize that everything is different and it will never go back to the way it was.  Mike was reminding me of that one time during this winter when we had both of the boys sleeping in bed with us to stay warm.   There were days that I would be frustrated with them not going to sleep and giggling or hitting each other, and Mike reminded me "these are the good ol days".  And, now those days are over.  They are both sleeping in their own beds and those days of all of us in bed together are just a memory.  It is a good reminder to enjoy the time we have right now and make the most of it.  

Judah's latest things these days are that he is trying to talk so much.  It is so cute.  His new and latest thing he is saying is "Get out de house!"  Like Mike was giving he and Caleb a bath the other night and Mike opened the door of the bathroom to come back in and Judah said, "Get out de house!'  It is so funny!  It is the way he says it as well, with such conviction.

Mason is giggling these days and being cute.  Not too much to say about him.  I will have to get some video and post it soon.

newest pics

Mason almost 4 months

Kids at the park, at another birthday party

Judah's sunburnt face and Mason in the background

Sweet Mason holding "daddy's" finger.

Cultures

Wow, it is amazing how time will go by so quickly.  It has been a long time since I have posted anything on here.  Hopefully I haven't lost your interest.  Obviously many things have taken place since Judah's birthday, that was over a month ago.  Geez....  Life is busy with three little ones in the house and trying to study this crazy language.  Evenings are usually spent putting kids to bed and then trying to study a bit, so I don't get too much time on the computer these days.

There are many things I have been thinking about lately though.  One thing I have been realizing is that it is so easy to adjust to a new place.  (well, sometimes easy...) Maybe not so easy, but easy to forget what is unusual here that would seem funny to people at home.  I was just sitting here watching Oprah and she has some cooks on the show.  Well, they are making "pork chops", but whenever they say the word "pork", they bleep it out.  Isn't that funny?  It made me remember, wow, we are in a different culture.  I don't know if you are aware, but among Muslims, pork is forbidden, so they even go the extent of bleeping the word out on tv.  Funny, huh?  Also, I went to visit my neighbors the other day and get some language practice in.  They are a family that keeps their heads covered, but if you are there as a woman alone you can go into the house and you get to see their hair.  Little things you take for granted or forget about.  I am always making funny language mistakes too.  Like today I asked a lady what her name was and when she replied she said, " ana saher"  So I repeated, "ana saher" .  Well, Ana actually means "I" .  We had a good laugh!

Lately I have been feeling a bit like a stranger here in this place and so aware of the fact that this earth is not my home.   As someone who has travelled a lot and doesn't have many possessions, you become aware of this fact.    It hit me one day when a friend of mine was talking about a high school sweatshirt that she still owned and wore. (your swim team sweatshirt, Tash)  But I thought about it.  Wow, as someone who has had to pack most of my possessions into a suitcase, I have had to shed those things.  First moving to India....Mike and I had two suitcases each.  Those were all of our earthly possessions at the time.  Of course we quickly accumulated after awhile of being there, but then made the move here.  So another time of fitting all we could into about 6 suitcases.  So, when it gets cold you can't pull out that winter jacket that you have had for years, or your dress shoes to go with these certain pants, or whatever it is.  But God promises in His Word that He will meet our every need, and he has done that and beyond.  I could go on and on about His faithfulness and how we have been provided for.  It is just a funny thing of life as a traveller.  And believe me, we have so many possessions now.  We were certainly blessed to take over this apartment from a Korean family that was leaving.  I think it was one of God's great provisions for us and saved us much stress in our move here.  Just having the little things in the house like laundry soap, and saran wrap was such a blessing, being in a new place.  Not understanding the language and how the money worked yet, or where to get things.  We have been blessed!

Ok, that is enough rambling for now.  I will try and keep things shorter from now on and post more often.  Blessings!

Judah's birthday

The bigger boys helping Judah open his gifts!

Judah and Jonathan riding the bikes and scooter.  They had a great time!

My masterpiece cake!  :-)  Blue cake with chocolate chips....Yummy!  And the following is a video clip at the party.  It is not the greatest clip, but I thought it was interesting to get the call to prayer in the background to give everyone a little feel of what it is like here.  After awhile you get used to that and forget that to people at home that would be strange.