gratitude, #369 – 388. Tuesday, January 18, 2011   a nurse practitioner on our team a nurse practitioner who made dinner for us tonight because I’m still sick homemade mashed potatoes David and Richey found a hidden-away supermarket with Ritz crackers, vanilla extract, bread crumbs, and cream of mushroom soup! orange gerber daisies my kindle Colleen’s divine chicken Pho soup emails from home our four new plants: one for the living room and three for the balcony we are slowly getting things hung on the walls (which makes all the difference) Anju the smell of fresh-brewed Starbucks coffee, thanks to a friend from home our family spent a morning…

  the kiddos. Tuesday, January 18, 2011      

  another sunday. Monday, January 17, 2011   It’s Sunday night again. Tonight feels like a gleam of light in a dark week. Yesterday I laid in my bed and cried out to God, “I need your help.”  I am weak and miserable and my heart is so wicked.  I am beset by doubts and temptations I have never faced before.  I am sick with a wracking sinus infection.  I am unable to get along with my husband or go through one hour without exploding at my children.  I stare at my Bible – when I take time to open it – and the words run together and I am…

  everyday sights. Saturday, January 15, 2011      

  what i like. Saturday, January 15, 2011   Tangy dahi yogurt Everybody here thinks coffee should be drunk milky and very sweet Three supermarkets, a pharmacy, and various produce stands within walking distance of my home My kids never complain about the dirt Bold, hardy tropical plants What I don’t like Learning that fast food here is, in fact, made with MSG Bumper to bumper traffic at all hours of the day Watching my children inhale exhaust fumes Going to multiple supermarkets a week and never finding everything I need Looking straight into the eyes of a child beggar and knowing they are exploited    

  q and a.   Wednesday, January 12, 2011 Okay dear friends.  Because I love you and because this blog is just as much for you as for me, I’m going to do a question-and-answer post. Several of you have been emailing/facebooking/commenting with questions about our life.  Great questions.  Questions that others are repeating.  So I am gathering them together and will answer them here, for you all. This is not meant in any way to replace personal responses, but I am a little slow to email these days, and, well, it’s just fun.  Thanks for caring about our life here. Q. Does Amie get tired of getting passed around…

  writing. Wednesday, January 12, 2011     This week it’s “standing lines” and “sleeping lines.” Thank you for praying for Judah’s adjustment to school.  Last week, after Christmas break, was horrible … he screamed when we dropped him off, while he was there, and, the worst, was picking him up afterwards and seeing his red-rimmed eyes.  We agonized.  We prayed.  I laid awake at night.  Maggie said, “Give it two full weeks and then you can decide what to do.”  So we stuck it out.  And after a week, just like that, he settled in.  Now he lights up when he sees his teachers each morning.  He dashes in…

  eighteen months old. Tuesday, January 11, 2011   Miss Amelie turned a year and a half yesterday. She is known by our team as “the laid back one” of the six children.  She is sweet-as-sugar charming and easy to entertain. She is happy ninety percent of the time, but when you cross her, you’re gonna get it.  She has strong opinions and a fierce temper and has been known to hit her head against walls or tile floors during temper tantrums.  Judah responds by bursting into tears when someone hurts him, but Amie’s first reaction is to hit back.  Spankings hurt her feelings excruciatingly, and she is quick to…

  sunday. Monday, January 10, 2011   I tried to write a blog post today. I sat on the sofa and thought and wanted to put into words this welling-up feeling of frustration I’ve carried around the past week, and then today’s bursting-forth irritation and tears and fights with my husband.  I tried to explain just what exactly it is about living here that gets under my skin so much and makes me snap at my children and blame David for every little thing that goes wrong. I thought and I typed for awhile, and then I closed my laptop and went into David’s office to have our first ever…

  taking the fortress. Sunday, January 9, 2011   On Saturday two friends took me (David) three hours outside the city to a tiny town in our state that boasts a rock fortress built by a Muslim king into the second largest monolith in Asia.  It was a grand adventure, traveling through the countryside, getting glimpses of everyday rural life, and culminating in one grueling hike. You’ll notice in the pictures below that the means of ascending the fortress is hundreds upon hundreds of little steps carved into rock.  Fortunately, the government has installed a rickety guardrail because at the top you must cross a sheer rock face horizontally.  …