July Update

Time for a photo update!

At the beginning of the month, we welcomed sweet baby Tumishang (Tumi) into our houseparents' family! We now have Big T, Little T, and....hmm. Little T can't turn into Middle T, not now, that'd be too confusing. I guess he can be Tiny T for now, although I don't think he will be tiny for long! He's a chunky little newborn! His big brother and sister were excited, although to be honest, they were probably more excited about the helium balloons that accompanied his arrival. He is keeping his mama busy!

Not long after, we welcomed two pink bundles into the baby home. We were SOOOOOOO excited to have baby girls again for the first time in what feels like forever! "SweetP" is 7 weeks old and "Daisy" is 6 weeks. (I decided to go with the flower theme for the girls' aliases - I wanted to remain alliterative, but naming a baby "Scabiosa" or "Scented Geranium" is frowned upon, even if it isn't their real name. There just aren't very many good flower names that start with S!)

They are just too sweet for words.

Even Babybear is getting in on the snuggles.

Lockie and Birdie are growing! Lockie is a chubby, giggly little sausage, and Birdie has a double chin and a concerned expression. Neither of them are big fans of napping and would rather be held.

Babybear is growing and his language skills are going through the 2-2.5 year old explosion. He has very definite likes and dislikes and is not afraid to tell you. We're working on convincing him he can't live on bread, fresh chips, and snacks. (We're not really winning. At least he likes fruit?!) "I dooooooonnnnn waaaaaaannnn" (I don't want) is very frequently heard around MBH! But so are "Okay!" "I paint!" "Want hug!" "Thankyouyou'rewelcome!" He says thank you more than anyone I've ever known...and he'll say it over and over again until you tell him "you're welcome!"

I made a sensory bin with rainbow rice. The kids LOVE it. It keeps them busy for a good hour and a half.

He just loves arts and crafts! He has an entire gallery wall and he loves to sit and stare at it and tell you all about it.

SO proud.

And such a mess... 

We also do a lot of science experiments! The kids enjoy them so much. They can't say "science experiment" to save their lives, though...it comes out so many different ways. Some weeks we do "sighin' spurrents"...some weeks we do "sciensperience."

Coronavirus is still alive and kicking. I'm working hard at trusting God, but I am so very tired of lockdown and it's hard to believe that someday we will have normal lives again. Please pray for us for endurance and joy and perseverance. The restrictions here are much stricter (and, seemingly, more mandatory, although not very well enforced) than most of the US. It's very hard not to cheat and break them, but as Christians, we do try to obey the government, even when things are confusing and don't seem to make sense sometimes. Why is it ok to fit 14-16 people in a taxi, but we're supposed to stay 2 meters away from everyone else? Why can I sit at a restaurant with someone, but I can't have people over to my house? Why can't we sing at church even while wearing masks? Why does the government keep telling people to wash their hands but doesn't fix the utilities promptly? Why is wearing a mask mandatory, but wearing it over your chin is considered generally acceptable? I don't have the answers to any of these questions...and I just need to trust that God knows, and even if I don't always agree with the government, I can rest assured that He is governing perfectly and nothing is outside of His control. Meanwhile, we try to abide by the regulations as best we can, and find creative ways to socialize, like grocery shopping together, something that sounded like a joke four months ago, but actually ended up being pretty fun.

I also was able to go on a nice hike the other day - the parks are open again, although technically, only for exercise. 

I'm also grateful to be able to go to church again (with chairs carefully placed 2 meters apart, which is apparently designed to help me kick my "whisper to my neighbor in church" habit). Yes, it is THIS cold inside the building. I don't know why I even bother to dress up. I just need a fashionable blanket.

Anyway, I hope you are all doing well, and that wherever you are, your lives are beginning to go back to normal and you are enjoying a bit more freedom! Please do keep us in your prayers - and I love to hear from you!

Book of Lists: Ways to Show Love to Others

In the last few blog posts, I shared some of the things I have been learning during lockdown. I have been using a large blank journal/sketchbook for various forms of journaling, such as mind maps and lists. I thought I'd share another one of my lists with you today - ways to show love to others.

Love is commanded and explained in many places in the Bible...no one can argue with that.

"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Ephesians 4:1-3

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." John 15:12

"Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." Ephesians 4:32

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

I thought it was good to think about how we express it, because love (and lack thereof) is communicated in so many different ways, both verbal and nonverbal. It's so important to be able to communicate clearly and it helps so much in relationships if people know you care about them. And it's so easy to come across as if you don't!

And of course, love between believers brings glory to God...like in the old hymn, "they'll know we are Christians by our love." I love this version. (Except for that one verse...please don't save my pride. Help me kill it...)

Keep in mind that just because I write about these, doesn't mean I'm necessarily very good at doing them! But God is working in me to help me. I'm blessed to be in a church community where many people have done these things for ME.

Ways to Show Love to Others

Listen when they talk. Stop interrupting ideas as well as sentences. Ask questions but not too many. Try to really figure out what they want to convey.

Figure out what means the most to them and then do that. Listen hard for this and pay attention.

Ask for forgiveness when needed - and do it thoughtfully and not just to get them off my back.

Make it a point to encourage them and in general speak positively. Have less of a filter on good speech.

Keep my word.

Prioritize spending time with them.

Don't ask things of them that should only come from God. Being made into an idol is a heavy burden to bear. Making someone my everything is not love...it's a millstone.

Go out of the way to plan special things for them.

Find out what they dislike and don't do that, as much as reasonably possible.

Be patient with them. Love them over the long haul. Don't be forceful - but don't run away when things are hard or emotional.

Pray for them. Often and earnestly.

Love them even when it drains me and costs me. Love them even when it's terribly inconvenient. This doesn't mean I say "yes" to everything, but it does mean I say "yes" to some things I feel like saying "no" to. Love is not just doing what I want when I want to do it.

Believe the best about them. Don't assume the worst.

Be honest and clear when I communicate with them.

Be lighthearted and have fun sometimes - don't be heavy all the time.

Greet them like I am delighted to see them - and don't let it be fake. (This one is especially important in African culture! And it took me a long time to learn...I don't know HOW many people probably thought I was angry at them...)

Guard my tongue - from flippant, careless speech, from gossip, from complaining. Think about the consequences of my speech.

Remember to ask them about things that are important to them.

Make them food. (My friends know this is how I personally express love!)

Have them over (when we aren't on lockdown). Invite them into my life. It's probably crazy and maybe the toilet isn't clean and they'll need to help me cook and at least two people will come down to my house to ask for favors. It's worth it anyway. Having someone experience your real life with you is way more meaningful than perfect entertaining. And space doesn't need to be an issue. We've fit over 30 people in my two-bedroom house before, for Thanksgiving dinner. It was totally awesome.

Hug them, or don't, depending on what they like, and whether or not I'm supposed to stay 2 meters away from them, or 1 meter, or 1.2 meters, or 1.6 meters, or 6 feet, or...eish, I'm about ready to give up trying to figure this thing out. I miss hugging people more than just about anything else, during this lockdown.

Help them avoid sin. This may take some creativity, but it's good to have someone in your corner helping steer you away from temptation.

Think of creative ways to love them even when I'm limited (such as during lockdown). Use all means at hand.

This is just a start! I'm so thankful that as Christians we will have all of eternity to enjoy friendship with each other.

Lessons from Lockdown (Part 2)

If you didn't catch part 1 of this post, you can read it here. I am sharing some of the things God has been teaching me during this lockdown period.

More Lessons from Lockdown

- God is giving me GOOD things to enjoy because HE is good. There are so many amazing things - how much more amazing must He have to be to think them up! A boring, fun-sucking God doesn't invent chocolate.

- God is an artist and not only is this world His art - our lives are - a vastly multi-dimensional, beautiful piece of art. "You are His workmanship."

- Christ is enough, but He is not just enough. He is BETTER. His person and character are better than I can possibly imagine.  His plans and what He is going to give me are BETTER than what I think I want. They are not just a passable substitute, the bare minimum. The future is infinitely, wonderfully more than I can ask or imagine.

- This suffering is needed in my life. It is the only thing that is really forcing me to run to Christ.

- The Sower's Song - this song really hit home for me. Please give it a listen...

This suffering is a seed that will grow a massive tree for eternity. God is planting eternal praise for Himself. Everything is going to be...well, there are no words for that wonder. Everything will be good. Better than good. More than redemption.

- We don't know how to enjoy joy without the threat of sadness. 

"It's too good to be true."

"All good things come to an end."

"It's too good to last."

What if we turned those statements on their head to reflect what is actuallyl true when we take eternity into account?

"It's too bad to last."

"All bad things come to an end." 

(Only good things don't!)

"It's so good it has to be true!"

(Because God is the greatest Good and He is always true...)

- I actually do struggle with loneliness (for a while, I thought I didn't), but not in the traditional sense. It took a lockdown to show me that I was seeking to scratch that itch with people. It wasn't all wrong - fellowship is needed. But I need to run to Christ more for companionship and comfort. I wasn't, and this often caused a lot of friction in friendship. This loneliness doesn't present in the same way as someone who sits around feeling lonely all the time, but that person and I share the same root issue.

- I've learned a while ago, that I don't need to sit around waiting and dreading the next wave of anxiety that comes to cripple me. Because I'm learning that it's sin, and as a good friend told me, that's good news, because "there's a cure for that!" I can say no to sin, by God's grace and in His strength. But I'm realizing now that there's a second reason I don't have to be afraid. I play a song for the kids about how Peter walked on water and his faith failed; he looked at the waves and started to drown, to slip into the waves. But he cried for help and God heard him, Jesus stretched out His hand and saved him. And even if I slip into nauseating, crippling anxiety - God will graciously and lovingly reach out His hand and pull me up.