December 15 2008

December 15 2008 

Current News Dec 15. 

Another break from the trek through our return to China. 

Tonight we are putting up the Christmas Tree. And listening to Handel’s Messiah. And we are putting on blue and white disco lights. Wait, we are not putting them on to wear, that would be weird. Not out of the realm of possibility, but weird nonetheless. We are putting the lights on the tree. 

The kids in Texas are bringing some ornaments with them when they come to Kunming on the 22nd. We have the stockings here with us and the Christmas table runner and matching wall quilt (the one with the cross stitch Christmas Bears center). 

I am getting some more ornaments from Hearts and Hands. The deaf organization my aunt Jane works with. They have a website http://www.heartsandhandschina.com/index.htm Really cool stuff that benefits a great group of people. 

Ruth ordered a dining room table and 10 chairs from them. I got to pay for it. Man, some things never change. 

It will fit all of us for Christmas and for other family coming over too. It will even fit all my friends who come to visit us in China as well. (hint, hint) 

The boys were part of a youth group fund raiser last night. They served a spaghetti dinner and provided entertainment as well. About 80 parents showed up. The youth directors said they get to serve with the best kids in the world, and I said to a friend, “That statement might actually be true.” Amazing kids from all over the place, serving together in Kunming. And my kids get to be a part of it. 

We had a good time tonight. Different, but good. And we are so excited about Bethany and K’Leigh, and Jonathan coming over next week. And Henry, Bethany’s beau, is coming Dec. 29. For three of them it is their first time to have a passport, much less travel out of the country. Bethany has been to Germany before.

There are so many things we want them to see. Like traffic. It’s crazy. And so ‘foreign’ to us. And chaotic. And really really fun.  Nobody gets hit. That’s the only rule. Seriously. I love it. Two descriptions can make it clearer. It’s like water flowing in a stream. When it comes to an obstacle it just flows around it. And, it’s like playing Frogger. You should try it sometime. 

I was right about those 6th graders. Lots of healing flowing through them. They don’t know not to ask questions adults are afraid of. So I get to talk about real stuff. And they listen and ask more questions and accept answers and feel sad and listen and care and then ask if we have homework in Math. I am so lucky to get to hang out with them for hours each day. I learn a lot! 

Oh, by the way, today in social studies, we were studying travel in ancient Greece and comparing it to today. So I had my 30 students tell all the places they had visited. Here is a short list. Ankara, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Beijing, Tokyo, New Orleans, London, Paris, Cairo, Singapore, Mumbai, Islamabad, Rio, Malaysia, Brussels, Jerusalem, Auckland, Manila, Edinburgh, Berlin, Seoul, Chiang Mai, Dali, Rome, and about 35 more many of which I cannot spell.  

Oh my. 

This is a great place to be. The boys are beginning relationships with people from all over the world. Tonight, we were talking to people on the computers and cell phone. We were carrying on conversations with people in Indonesia, China, the US, Bolivia, and Denmark. This is crazy to me. Yesterday I heard a guy from Central America speaking in a second language to people from Scandinavia listening in a second language and we are doing this in China. Overloading cross-cultural experiences like this happen all the time. 

Plus we are feeling at home again. Settled. Comfortable. And loved. 

People have been serving meals for weeks now. It is overwhelming. I have written more thank you cards in the last two weeks than I have in two decades. And someone let out the information about me and chocolate. That someone deserves a hug. 

4 days until Christmas break. Then two weeks of school before another two week break for Chinese New Year. During that break Wesley is going with the Boy Scout Troup skiing about 4 hours north of here. Not much snow in Kunming, we run temps about 40 in the morning to 60 in the afternoon. Not much rain, and ample sunshine. No humidity. Same thing every day. Could get boring if I let it. (Ok, I admit it, I am mocking you). The weather is unbelievable. 

Timothy played drums for youth group Friday. Andrew played bass at school Thursday. I played guitar with the 6th grade girls’ band on Tuesday. (The pianist was incredible.) Our whole family will be leading the service Jan 4. It’s been a great time for all that too. 

And all of us are doing well in the most important relationship we have. It has been really really good. Thanks for thinking about us. It makes a huge difference. You have been used. In a good way. Please keep it up. 

Some things to think about. Last week was three months. December 22nd is our anniversary. Would have been 24 years. December 24th is Bethany’s birthday. First family birthday celebrated without Ruth. First Christmas too. And not to be left out, December 23rd will be tough for me. Because I was working so many Christmas Eve’s and some Christmas days. And our anniversary was tough to really celebrate well at that time of year, for some reason, for many years now, December 23rd was one of the sweetest days of the year for Ruth and me. 

We spent so many of them together, sometimes shopping for the kids, sometimes shopping for each other, most times eating out in a quiet place, driving around town, talking for hours. Lots of holding hands, gentle touches on the arm that said no more than, “I’m here. With you.” 

Just BEing. Together. 

That’s what I’m afraid will hurt the most. The being with. Or more accurately, the not being with. 

Well, that and the holding hands. 

But there is grace. More than I could ever imagine. The kids will be here. And some of our family will be together for the first time in nearly 10 years. Aunt and uncle and cousins and all of us. It’s going to be grand! And hilarious memories from Christmas’s past. And more hilarity from this year too, I’m sure. Hey, you’ve seen us around each other, it’s always a party waiting to happen. 

So, you can cry for us. We will too. But please laugh for us as well. We serve a good guy. And he is doing amazing things in and with and through us all. And I know for sure that being with is what he’s all about. 

Kevin