Interesting Events Among the Mundane

Tobin made a dragon/alligator in his class at school, came home and retold me the exact instructions. I got out the supplies and he made another!

Early December had all the schools having various 'field day' type competitions.

Bella participated in Duck walking, and I am telling you, this is not for the faint of joints. They get low to the ground and waddle waddle waddle. And they do it FAST!
Their class actually won and had no homework that night!

Tobin's class did something similar and he won a race, but parents were not invited, so no pics.

Our old helper came by. When working for us I could never quite read her emotions, but every time we went on a trip or something she would cry. She helped us when Tobin was about two. She would always say his name in English wrong, with his middle name, it sounded like this: Tobin Elias-uh, with emphasis on the 'uh' at the end. We still call him that for fun. The funny thing was that Tobin would call her 'Aunt' in Chinese and add his own middle name like she did for him, like this: Ayi Elias-uh. These memories had us belly laughing.

The day our new dryer came (our 11 year old one went kaput pretty much), a wedding was taking place right next door. And this young couple got the cool points for having the wedding party arrive on really cool Motorcycles, most if not all were Benelli brand.

I pretended I was getting this as a Christmas gift for David.
That would only make me the coolest wife ever. And I am not :).

The beautiful gown with biker jacket was charming.

Meanwhile Sophia made a house for the smaller Cokers with her pocket knife.

A friend of ours with five kids who grew up in a village way north of us says every nine-year-old needs a pocket knife, and David took it to heart.

Perspectives from the Old Year into the New

Where we long to be.
In the heights. No storms. Peace-filled.
I can see far down the valley and the harvest is ripe, full, greener than green.
It is up here where hearts soar and God's goodness is apparent.
Everything will be okay.
We are made right with HIM through His son and I KNOW that truth from right here.
All parenting follies/guilt/shame let go of,
All ugly marriage conflicts forged into something more beautiful,
All fears are quenched from the rest found in this place.
I can number my days without worry and smile at the future because HIS presence and HIS supply are not just known but actually felt from this mountain top.

Down in the valley dusk settles in.
From here I see the sunset spray the sky with colors unimaginable.
But it still gets dark within minutes.
From here I have to live out the truth I owned in the heights.
Sure my breaths come easier at lower altitude but then so does the lie that I control my breathing.
I need to rest here just as much as on the heights but I work too hard even at that.
The peace gets suffocated by my inability to see, as if I am supposed to see and know all things.
I long to die to self more, serve with real joy and love, live a love that is patient and kind,
But who has time for that?
How quickly my pride invades the valley.

The valley is where I live, metaphorically a bit, and literally.
It is here I must learn to maneuver better.
Surrounded by mountains and my inability to overcome, I falter and learn to lean.
That is exactly what this year had me learning to do:  Forget self, and trust the Trust-Worthy One.
I see the heights and long for them, but am learning the joy of taking one step at a time, and then the next, and then the next.
And God is teaching me this not because I struggle to take the steps, but because I struggle to take them slowly in His time.

Frankly sometimes I crawled, and kicked and screamed, or tried to jump and run over people:

"Explosion proof security, Please Cooperate"
Yes, please, I need this, explosion proof ME.

God is 'gentling' me. I have seen growth and grace here.
But the slow calm in a heart of trust is what He is after, and only He can do it...

Star gazing from the plains, bike rides through the hills, math problems at the table,
Lego cities, dress up, soccer Sundays, talking through hurts and disappointments, looking eye to eye with truth, forgiving quickly the small explosions...

"Take the steps more slowly, calmly and enjoy Me through these precious souls I have given you."

You can teach and live 'Sermon on the Mount' living.
Not to keep the letter of the law but to live the Spirit of the law, which is utterly more.
An utterly different love--a Jesus love that doesn't grasp at what is rightfully His.

I can walk this peace, this calm, this hope right here in the valley,
by giving all of me away, choosing to lose my life for others' sake.
No matter their response, When 'no one' is watching.
In the shadows, in the mundane, at the breakfast table, in the home school room:
Give the generous grace given you, He says...

This last year, this new year, this every day:
Unhurried, Grace-Full steps that follow with confidence the narrow, sometimes scary, road in the valley and treasure the glimpses of glory given from the peaks.
Depths or heights no matter, Calm and bright will be the way.

May your year be filled with calm steps that take the time to see the beauty, truth, and goodness of God in Christ.

National School Friends and Fun

 This is the view from Sophia's classroom on the fourth floor. And yes, she walks up and down these steps at least once a day depending on what classes she has. That at least counts for some exercise.
She says now being up on the top floor has turned really cold, so they stay in their heavier coats most of the morning.

I love this pic! And this kid, zhaojiaquan is our neighbor and Bella's classmate, he is a spirited, fun-loving kid that hardly ever frowns, makes my day every time I see him.

Soccer practice is Thursdays and Saturdays for almost three hours each time! whew!

 They sometimes scrimmage with the guys. And now Bella was allowed to join the team too.

They have a scheduled game mid-Jan when school gets out for Chinese New Year.

Bella's closest friend at school invited our fam for a play date. David and Soph were at soccer so we went and made dumplings with this girl and her mom.

 Tobin and Gabrielle did great too and we had a wonderful morning.

 I really get along with this mom, she is very sweet

Bella also participated in her class competition for a type of 'field day' with different events.
Of all the second grade classes her class won the duck walking relay. And they were actually really good at it. It hurt my knees just to watch.

 She was so excited about this and even got a certificate and had no homework that night!

Sophia was invited to a birthday party of a boy who sits on her row (they do things in rows here a lot for school projects, etc.,) Interesting food..

 But lots of fun. David attended with her, which is usually how we do things and is not uncommon for birthdays anyway.

we love that our kids have good friends and lots of activities to keep them involved in our community!

Family Outing with Tobin's Class

Tobin's class organized a family outing near a lake in our town for a Saturday morning.
The theme the whole semester was 'Dinosaurs', so first they had a little fun quiz time.

If you know the answer, raise your left hand and touch your right ear (that is hard enough), then tell me which Dinosaur has the fastest tail.

I was shocked that Tobin actually knew the answer to some of these...in Chinese no less. I don't think I can name one specific Dinosaur in Chinese, much less their eating habits, etc.

Group pictures were involved...

As well as a mom v mom tug-o-war, which my team won (ahem!)

And a dad v dad group. David's team won also. (incidentally, this guy with David is the only guy I have seen carry a gun here, he works at the airport and is allowed to carry a weapon, traffic police and other cops do not)


also a balloon release.

 Fishing with this guy would have been fun...

 The girls and I left early and the boys joined us later. I am pretty sure others stayed well into the afternoon for grilling and eating

Thanksgiving in Pics

We hardly took any pics, we were enjoying our company, but here are a few...

Tobin and EP reading together before bedtime. We had an all girls room and all boys room.

Our 'thankful' pumpkin craft...Yes Tobin is sleeveless and Bella in shorts!

added more to our crew for dinner...

Lots of cheer to go around.

Fri night we did bonfire and smores!

 these are our raised garden beds turned fire pit.

Story time at night...

On Saturday we went to our friends village for a few hours and Sunday we decorated for Christmas while Gabrielle spiked a good fever.

It did make for sweet cuddles.
FULL of Thanks for sweet friends local and American with whom to share our weekend!

November Round UP

A lot has happened the past few months... here is a random round up of things going on around here...

1. Tao Bao has truly changed everything....(buying anything and everything on the internet in China with minimal shipping costs)

 You read that box right. 25 kg of butter. Not pounds, kilograms. I will let you do the math...
Delivered to our door.

 some perspective...

I imagine this will last us a long while. I chopped it up and put it in the deep freeze, feeling a little Laura Ingalls-ish...except not. Our Christmas ham is coming this way too...

stop the press....these were a good price, and you know how we love our Mexican food:

2. Mommy wars....I have heard of such things, trying to out-do the other moms at... whatever. I experienced it first hand here at what was supposed to be a child-parent build-a-dinosaur activity. I signed up to participate a little last minute and asked what I could bring to help and my group said they had it all under control.

 Most groups were helping their kids do some type of fun activity to build a dinosaur. Not mine. My moms were wanting a life size thing and the kids were not considered. I finally got out some paper for them to draw.

 I felt sorry for Tobin, tried to do my part in the construction with the moms, and got a bit frustrated that our table of kids were completely bored.

 They did turn the extra styrofoam into weapons and started to wreak a bit of havoc with other groups. What else were they supposed to do? I couldn't complain since I had no part in the planning for my group.

 These moms (or one in particular) were on a mission to make the biggest and baddest dinosaur.

 He was finally able to participate in the end. I promised him we would go home and make dinosaurs together.

 There it is...interesting.

This group's was fun, each kid got to get inside.

...and these were the kind that Tobin and I made at home.

3. Real Wars.
The week of Thanksgiving four rebel forces in Myanmar came together and launched an offensive against the Myanmar (Burmese) military. This was just over an hour from us and the stories and pictures coming through were tragic. There is so much to be said politically and otherwise about this. Not that it really makes the international news...but just in case... don't believe the hype about the new, free Burma. We are in no danger at all, but it certainly affects these border places and peoples. Some friends of ours, that live right smack dab in the middle of it all, ended up on our doorstep the Friday after Thanksgiving, completely unplanned. The U.S. embassy did a great job in helping them get through the border with proper paperwork and we were able to give them Turkey leftovers, hear their tales of the devastation, give them a bed, and let them tag along with us on a village outing.

4. Real Sickness.
Seems like groundhog's day around here when it comes to sickness, for almost two years now. Nothing too weighty, just unrelenting. I had another small lung infection. My lungs are now the topic of much conversation and we will follow up more in late March in Thailand. I am feeling mostly fine now, which is great. Sunday after Thanksgiving G started with fever, five days worth! Tobin got it mid week, five days worth! And finally Sophia succumbed to the crazy virus and just got over it this past weekend. Bella so far is A-okay. Learning more and more that we are so dependent on our good God, and in our weakness HE is strong.

5. Real Thanksgiving. 
We had a fabulous Thanksgiving Holiday, with some close friends driving five hours south to join us. Their family of Five stayed with us and the seven kids played and played while the adults talked long, laughed hard, and cooked a feast. Our friends even brought a real Turkey, our first ever eaten on Thanksgiving in our town! The day of we also had the S family and another family join us for a long table and packed house full of joy! (this will get its own post of pics)