Toccoa Beautiful

 These four are great travelers.

 Uncle Henry and Aunt Sara hosted us, and took us to Toccoa Falls.

We also went to the Currahee Military Museum which pretty phenomenal.

 They actually have some pretty heroic great-grandfathers.

 They left pennies on the tracks, which Uncle Henry found and mailed to us later, smashed up real good. They were delighted by this.

Gabrielle wanted to get comfy too so she just jumped right up there next to Uncle Henry.

A little of this and that

 Bella is wearing a dress that was David's sisters when she was little.

 The Sylvesters hosted us and we had a blast.
We know them from our Westside days, and they both have been to our town in China!

Poppy brought back a few gifts from the airshow in oshkosh and little Diva sported her goods:

The kids participated in their first ever 'lego camp', it was fun but we probably won't return.

all the kiddos (and Craft cousins) don the shirts from Poppy: 'mad props', 'fly girl', and 'earning my wings': t-shirts from oshkosh.

line dance practice...

Smith Mountain Lake, 2 years later

 Once again the M fam blessed us with the use of their lake house. And their son even offered to come drive their boat one day.

Our kids count this as one of the most thrilling things they did all summer.

 They learned how to fall off the tube with flair!

Being with the Williams cousins made this all the more exciting.

 We had smores...

 Rested in the panorama of God's glory around us...

Played games, had airsoft wars, found more than a few 'ticks' which was memorable.

But the ten kids + four adults made for yet another adventure for the books.

These two crack me up. Asa has her in poundage by far, but she can be a bit brutish, and has left a few marks on him (mainly teeth ones). Sorry, Julie.

 The water was perfectly refreshing.

Here is lil' Julie and lil' Lorraine

Shiloh and Bella were a good match.

From the balcony (from which everyone jumped!)

exploring a SML town...

Chalk this up as a good homeschool fieldtrip, the Booker T. Washington Museum, it was really cool.

One of my fave pics of summer...Cousin Isaiah and little G.

The Olympics were ON! on the lake.

...and we may have introduced our kids to 'gambling' under the supervision of 'uncle Trav', take it up with him. This was so much fun...

These two were a great team and they knew when to fold 'em.
They stopped and fled with a bundle of skittles!

The beginnings

Grandma Donna joined the many fam and friends that greeted us at the airport.
Because our seats were not together on the ocean flight they bumped us to super-econo. Yeah.
(on the way back to China the same airline bumped us all to business class. This was amazing, what a way to fly 15 hours. We could NOT believe it)

 
Incredible toys and yards awaited...

..and an amazing house right next door to Poppy and CC, that we dubbed 'next door'.
This could be what made this STAS so splendid, a great space for all, and walking distance to P and C. They worked for months and months on this....we were SO thankful, and in shock at how they made beauty from ashes.

We hit the parks right away.

 

 And the pool every day.

 until we had to get ready for high tea or something like that.

 The kids recreated drive thrus, something they feel China is lacking.

Camp Buddy 2016

We have been hearing about Camp Buddy for years. And one of the main reasons we pushed our stateside to later in the summer was so that Sophia could participate in camp and our family could gather with other people like us regularly. 

The only way we would allow Sophia to go to camp in another country was if I went with her. I said, 'put me anywhere, in the kitchen, I don't care.' The camp director asked me to be in charge of High school girls study time. Which really meant: "you are their counselor, be there for them in every way possible."

So, as I packed up our house for Stateside, packed our bags, etc. I prepped for time with 'my girls'. The theme was 'American Idols', and proved to be fun and thought-provoking. Thankfully, my brilliant hubs had outlined Keller's book on idols and I took most of his stuff and ran with it!

Both Sophia and I were a little nervous. Upon arrival at the airport we also learned that our dear friends, who were already in Thailand to have a baby, were in bit of a crisis. The dad was in the hospital with an amoeba or something and was supposed to be a chaperone at Camp with his son, C. I became instantly in charge of C and his many medicines. My job was to keep him alive and having fun for the five days and keep his parents at ease. This quite possibly was the first time he had spent a night away from his parents. 

I took in all this news, said: 'yes of course, no problem,' and quickly grabbed a coffee-oreo blizzard for me and a hotdog for Soph for our hour truck ride to the 'resort'/camp (love the DQ in CM airport).  

Excited and nervous, we both arrived ready for anything. And we got it. This camp was superbly planned, yet not over done. All the counselors were easy going, fun, and made this an incredible experience. I was wondering where these people had been all my life. I was amazed at their faith, their children, their hearts, their bravery, their silliness, and their sacrifice. The world definitely needs more people like them!

But I was most impressed with the kids themselves, especially 'my' high schoolers, back to them in a moment. 

The team time was a great dynamic to have ages 9-18 interact in an encouraging way through team v. team competition. I LOVED watching the older kids pay attention to and include the younger ones. 

Sophia turned 9 at camp, proving to be the youngest there! She was navigating some new domains in staying in a room with two other nine-year-olds and learning her place as the youngest not the oldest, like at home. She did wonderful！

Lots and lots of creative games...

various 'tracks' chosen. Sophia chose crafts so I joined her.

The shaving cream fight was one for the books...Sophia's team won that night because, for competition time, she was their model, they covered her and presented her to everyone with the words 'happy birthday' written on her. They did a bang up job, and I don't have a picture!

It was the shaving cream night where I really bonded with my roommate.
And seriously folks I did ask, 'where have you been all my life'.
I LOVE how God brings just what/who we need.
And He brings them at the right time. She was exactly what I needed.
She is the 'twin' of the lady on the left, below.

That is 'Betty Sue' in the pic and she was an 'American Idol' contestant that week at Camp Buddy.
Her 'twin' was my roomie :).

Our friendship forged deep and fast over belly laughs and late night cries.
Here is one who has suffered much but doesn't wear it at all. She wears faith, she wears surety. I would never have known any of her sufferings had I not asked questions, and kept asking and asking until wee into the night.
We talked parenting, theology, pop culture, marriage, and walking in suffering.
"When you walk down the pediatric cancer ward, there is no room for 'why me?' the question is 'why not me?" Whoa. One of many notable discussions we had.

She has raised four children and recently adopted two boys from the country where she lives. Hers is a life of sacrifice and still she has joyful energy and purpose.
I can say all these flowery things about her and mean every word. But mainly she is just plain real and down. right. hilarious. This made for fabulous times at camp with my new bff. She has a 16 yo boy who was at camp with us, and did I mention she was also my study helper with the HS girls?! Perfect match. When we made it to our bigger meeting after camp, I told her I could not sit next to her for fear our shenanigans together would distract others.

And then, I was blessed more by these girls. My high school girls. They had the latest curfew so the whole gang (+high school boys + counselors and anyone else cool enough to stay up past 10 pm), hung out and played games, lots of games, and talked and we laughed and danced, and made fools of ourselves.

I know we hear a lot these days about a generation of kids on phones and laziness and waywardness, and whatever-ness. And these girls may struggle with some of this (we got to the depths of all of our idols remember, so I do know their struggles, and they heard mine!). But I was most impressed that these girls (and the boys too) were mostly NOT trying to impress at all. They were real, and fun, and laid back, they didn't put on airs about anything.

And they love Jesus. They really really do. And they love others well, I saw them do it, even when they thought no one was looking!

For the ones who adored their parents (almost all) I picked their brains about that relationship dynamic, and then I went to their respective moms and said 'Thank you, you have blessed me and taught me so much about parenting as I have gotten to know your child.' (I hardly knew any of them before this camp). God knew this was also exactly what I needed. I needed the chance to see the long haul, just a snippit of the big picture of parenting and life.

This camp was a breath of fresh air for me. These girls taught me to exhale in parenting, get over myself, and rest in HIM. I love that these are my kids' role models, and honestly they were mine too for that week, I watched and learned and listened and loved.

Thank you God for this camp, these girls, my new bf, and my 9 yo who soaked it all in right by my side.

My Home and Heart: Order and Disorder, in that Order

 Two and a half months ago we said Hello! to America.

 A week ago we said our goodbyes:

All the in between was filled with fabulous adventures, new experiences, and the ever-eventful life of a family in limbo.

I really think this was one of our best stateside times ever. Looking back, so many memories bring instant smiles and amazement at the growth of our kids in stature and heart.

But eventful doesn't mean stupendous all the time. There is always the navigation of emotions and needs surrounding certain changing relationships. (we need to go deep fast but don't want to overwhelm. How do I do that?)
For most of these relationships it is so easy no matter how 'changing' they may be. God has blessed us with those special souls (most within our own families) that are patient, pursuing, and super loving on us.

Yet, I always discover the various people I aim to please too much while at 'home'.
I sometimes live in fear and disappointment of not meeting others expectations, or feel sad when others don't meet mine.

A dear friend is sick very sick.
A favorite neighbor, whom we were blessed to spend time with upon arrival, just died. This lady has made us a special treat called 'trash' for ten years and put it in every package the Cokers would send. Our kids LOVED Ms. L's 'trash', and loved her huge St. Bernard, Monty.

Our kids played soccer on an actual team. They took some gymnastics lessons, swam almost daily, and got to participate in some crazy fun things (100 foot water slide, horse riding, boogie boarding, tailgating a gator game, dancing, sending mail (a favorite), kneeboarding, and tubing behind a boat).

I hope to unpack our adventures mainly for our own sense of remembering.

But my heart is disordered. (I am borrowing the term and using it more loosely. It is possibly from Tim Keller, sounds puritanish too, maybe Edwardian??)

Yes, in this overseas life we love
(and I say that sincerely right now, a week back: I LOVE this life God has called us to, I LOVE this place we live, I am not convincing myself, I am meaning it.)
In this life we love, my heart is out of sorts.
Tired? Sure. Discontent? Most likely. Out of control? Absolutely.

We unpacked our 12 bags in the first two hours.
We organized, sorted, and put things away over the next two days. I hung up the 'wall words' I had bought,  My favorite being: "Home is wherever my group of crazies are".

I even got out old and put up new Fall decor, though it is not feeling fall-ish at all (I had to put my new corn kernel/bean bag frozen on my feet last night to cool down).

My home is in order and actually looks kinda cozy and cute.
(I won't post pics so that no one can tell me otherwise).

But my heart. These first few days.

And our children's hearts. Whoa.

Mine is a little 'white wash tomby' some ugly deadness in there creeping out of what looks clean.

It is not the coming back that has me flustered, it is the diving into the 'groove' and the sense that I just can't do it that is completely unsettling me at the moment and showing me so much uck that I thought had changed in my heart.
I can't do it. I can't home school, I can't be a patient mommy, I can't be a submissive wife. I can't be a light for Jesus in this community.

And these emotions change, of course, because I am a fickle woman of varying...everything.
I tell David often: "I will not feel this way in a few hours, give me time" (poor guy).

The kids are not loving local school. For Soph, Chinese third grade is where it gets real tough, and she is a month behind. Are we crazy for making her go back?

Tobin and Bella are doing okay, but the home school too,  is sloth-like and completely irritating to me. I am in a rush, don't they know it? I let them play for three months, for goodness sakes!

And then the morning comes and I get to a quiet place to face my weak, ugly, messy heart and lay my burdens at the cross.
Or I try, and even hesitate to do that.

But I still go. Early, with coffee, I go to the word. Perspective comes, and reality settles me.
The Jesus reality (which is the world's), not the one I make up to suit my pity party or my overwhelmed state. No, no. His word settles me and shows me the disorder even more clearly.
I see it all.
His grace shows me I can't do anything at all.
I am a needful dependent being and He will place my heart in order.
He will show me what I am loving more than Him and how unsatisfying that is.
Exposed and overwhelmed, HE quiets me, gentles me, settles me, and will set my heart back to order, like we did with our home. Our home, wherever my group of crazies are.