Challenges

I wrote this about a month ago and am just now "publishing":

Looking back there have been about 3 times on this journey that have been very difficult, and we finally realized that each of those times were when we: #1 first came to this city; #2 returned to this city after 3 months in the states; #3 this most recent return after 7 months away.

It has been a challenging month--some of the things that we expected, but others we did not.  There is most definitely a realm that we do not see that has been at work each of those 3 times.  Thankfully it looks as though they realize they are losing the fight and that we are determined to follow our Father wherever He leads.

About a week after we arrived we went with some local "family" and friends to pick fruit.  Of course anytime that you do something like that here it become an all day event.  We met around 2pm and didn't get home until around 10.  It was beautiful to see the view of the city and a cool experience to pick some pineapples.  Some of the other group picked dragon fruit, but since we did that last year we decided to check out the pineapples (which we had never done before).

Up until this point we had spent a lot of time just getting back into the groove of things, cleaning the house, etc.  So this was our first REAL experience out with Stephen among the locals.  :)  And I heard more than what I bargained for about what I should/should not do to be a good parent here.  (I am venting a little :)  Since that time I have continued to hear more and more. And honestly I could list it all out for you but the common denominator is that many people today treat their babies like kings and then don't understand why when they get older and start making demands (ruling the house).  I am not a perfect parent--I know that, trust me!!!  However, it is my goal to daily ask God to give me the wisdom I need to raise these children and following them around with a fan is not what He is telling me. I am to the point now (after 2 weeks) where I can just laugh it off.  If they continue to stand around and frown at me and tell me what I should be doing I just very politely tell them why I am doing things a certain way.

AN UPDATE:
  Things have settled down quite a bit.  We are enjoying a more relaxed schedule until school starts on September 2.  I am anxious to get started again, but I also know that it is going to be very busy.  So, again I am thankful for the down-time.

  This week we are expecting a typhoon and we are already experiencing some cooler weather and a nice breeze.  It doesn't normally hit our city hard--we just get all the perks.  So we are actually looking forward to the typhoon since it is a break from the heat.

   We have been trying to give the kids some sort of schedule during the summer.  It usually looks like this: daily family Bible study, free play, lunch, reading/writing time, chores, and then free time for the rest of the day.  For a few weeks Autumn was taking swim lessons, but she has finished now.  Our evenings have been pretty free other than meeting with local "friends."  When school starts again, it looks like we will do like last year with homeschool in the mornings and Chinese school in the afternoons.  And I am pretty sure that we are going to have a nanny that can watch Stephen while we are doing homeschool.  Actually it is Autumn's swim teacher that wants to help watch him.  She seems like she is very willing to use our "methods."