On Eating With a Spoon

"Which end do you use?"

"Is this how you do it?"

 "I'm not sure this thing works right."

"There we go . . ."

 "Momma, this is a lot of work."

 "Why can't we just eat it this way?"

 (she reminds me of Pooh Bear here, trying to get the "Hunny" out of his pot)

 "If I could just get down to the bottom. . . "

 "Something has gone terribly wrong . . . "

 "I love to EAT!"

A Coward

This is how I feel.  Like a big coward.  I sense that God is moving us into a new season in our life and in our following Him.  I am experiencing a divine discontent.  I am tired of feeling like a failure.  Tired of feeling like we are having no impact.  Like we are even smaller than a drop in the bucket.  Tired of justifying a mediocre life with thoughts like, "Well, it's just hard here."  Or "Things just take a lot longer here."  Or the oft-quoted statistic that, "It takes Muslims an average of 6 to 7 years. . . "  I am sick and tired of settling for just what I can do (which I assure you, is not much).  I am longing to see what God can do.  But this is where the coward comes in.  I am scared to death of what He might require of me!  What it might cost me.  I am afraid of what people here think of me.  I actually don't know what I am afraid of.  But I am tired of feeling like the cowardly lion!  I have been so inspired by my friend Abbe, who has been so brave in moving forward with God's plan for her life in spite of so much.  Her family has experienced things that would shut most of us down  in the last year.  But she is moving forward, trusting God's good plan for her life, and taking risks.  She is dreaming!

I read on another blog this quote from Francis Chan's book Crazy Love, “God doesn’t call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn’t come through.”
I have been comfortable and I am tired of it.  I don't know what's coming, but I am actually excited.  For the first time in what feels like a long time, I am excited about what is coming.  Stay Tuned. . .

Back Home and a Visit

 "Let's put our heads together and think about this."

These two are cute!

 "Here Maya, let me show you how it's done."

"Purses and beads!?  You love those too?"

Getting reacquainted with her room.

Enjoying one of her name puzzles as a teether (thanks Lisa's family for using lead-free paint!).

Thanks to the Rumbaugh family who left this sweet rocking horse when they left--she really gets a kick out of it.

Maya and I hopped in the car a few days ago and went down South to visit our American friends who live there.  They had been separated from daddy/hubby for a while so we thought we could be a little help to them (Little Bird is something like 8 months older than Maya and Mama Bird is very pregnant with #2).  I got a little lost, and got a little resistance at the checkpoint where I had to get permission to travel South, but Maya is like a little key that opens every door, and after she was friendly with all the guards, we were on our way!  The girls had a lot of fun together and I think Little Bird is inspiring Maya to learn to walk. 

 

Maya pretending to share and be nice.

Back at our home in the city (the girls came up to be reunited with daddy/hubby and they all stayed with us for a few nights).

"I don't share my Daddy!"

Product Endorsement

We got a Bambinoz port-a-chair from hubby's momma for Christmas and it is so great!  Until we make the time to get her a booster seat, this has done the trick VERY nicely, and it's also really useful if you go on any kind of extended visit to a home without a high chair.  Maya likes it much better than this picture indicates!

Answered!

Thank you all sooo much for praying!  Last night Maya woke up briefly around 10:45 and we let her cry it out at that point, then she slept the rest of the night!  HOORAY!  We are both so very grateful for all of you who have lifted us up as we've been readjusting to life over here.  We couldn't make it here without your prayers and support.

Jet Lag

I feel compelled to ask for your prayers.  Maya is not handling transition well.  New food, new language, new climate, new people, new home/bed/room. . . Not to mention, she has jet lag.  She cannot express herself in words, and we cannot explain all of these changes to her.  She can't wake up and look at the clock and realize it is not time to be awake, and go back to sleep.  Every night since we got back has been hours of wrestling and fighting sleep and lots of crying and lots of wringing of hands and wondering what in the world do we do.  We know she is feeling insecure and her little world has just been turned upside down (again).  We know she needs extra TLC from us at this time.  What we don't know is just how much to give and when to say, "No, tonight you will cry it out in your crib and we will not wrestle you until 1 or 2 in the morning."  We know this too shall pass, we're just trying to know the "right" thing to do with her and it's hard to know when to accomadate and when to stick to the schedule and force her to adjust.  We're also very tired from the jet lag and feeling a bit desperate.  While I listened to her screaming tonight, for just a moment, I daydreamed about spanking her.  This is not a healthy place.  Please lift us up, and especially lift Maya.