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.