Happy, happy days! Rick's folks are here from Houston and we're so happy to see them. If you know me at all you've heard me say a million times that you couldn't get better in-laws than I have if you custom ordered them. They are fun, loving, generous, pleasant to be around and in their own Italian way pretty darn ethnic. (so fun for a generic white bread girl like me) Last night we were sitting in the living room talking and I got the biggest sense of deja vu!
When Rick and I first started dating I would spend quite a bit of time at his parent's home. If you've never been in an Italian family's home here's what goes on. The radio is going in the kitchen, the TV is on in the den and 8 people are sitting around talking, having at least 3 (and sometimes more) conversations. NEVER with the person sitting next to you! Always with someone across the room. If you could diagram the noise it would look like one of those matching exercises your kids brought home from pre-school with all the lines criss-crossing one another. I would occasionally retreat to the formal living room by myself and when Rick would realize I was gone he'd follow me and ask "Are you okay?". I'd always tell him "I'm fine, I just needed a break from the noise". Last night I didn't need a break from the noise, it was the sweetest sound I've heard in months!
One of the biggest drawbacks to expat life is the lack of extended family. I realize that we've always been unusually close to our families, living within 50 miles of both sets of parents most of our married lives, but I honestly enjoy and love my family and Rick's. We're not perfect and there are the occasional disagreements but overall I've found life without them to be the hardest part of overseas life. I'm looking forward to being home again. I'm looking forward to quick unplanned dinners with parents and having grandparents who are able to come and see choir concerts and plays. I'm happy that cousins will be around and we won't miss any more graduations, weddings or weekends at the beachhouse. I like knowing that they're nearby if I have an emergency and I like knowing that I'm nearby if they have one.
Singapore has been terrific but deep down (and not so deep), I'm an American and I'm happy to be going home!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Sympathy
It's a pretty rare thing for me to cry over a news story but the news about Steven Curtis Chapman's family tragedy had me in tears. I can't even imagine the double tragedy of losing a loved child at the hands of another loved child. While I feel terrific sympathy for Maria my heart just breaks for Steven's son.
I keep thinking about Joseph and his brothers and I kept remembering the verse as saying "what you meant for evil, God meant for good" but when I really started studying the verses in Genesis 45 I noticed something. The verses actually say "Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God" (NAS, Genesis 45:5-8a). Maybe I'm being silly but I found comfort in those verses and I hope the Curtis son does too! Joseph never accuses his brothers of 'meaning evil' but reiterates to them that God uses terrible situations to work his will.
I don't know if the Chapman's son was being a careful and responsible driver and he may have 'should haves' for himself but I am absolutely confident that this was an accident and it's a heavy burden for any teenager to bear. The press hasn't revealed whether the teenager behind the wheel was Will Franklin or Caleb but I hope that you all will join me in praying for the Chapman family and most specifically their son.
I keep thinking about Joseph and his brothers and I kept remembering the verse as saying "what you meant for evil, God meant for good" but when I really started studying the verses in Genesis 45 I noticed something. The verses actually say "Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God" (NAS, Genesis 45:5-8a). Maybe I'm being silly but I found comfort in those verses and I hope the Curtis son does too! Joseph never accuses his brothers of 'meaning evil' but reiterates to them that God uses terrible situations to work his will.
I don't know if the Chapman's son was being a careful and responsible driver and he may have 'should haves' for himself but I am absolutely confident that this was an accident and it's a heavy burden for any teenager to bear. The press hasn't revealed whether the teenager behind the wheel was Will Franklin or Caleb but I hope that you all will join me in praying for the Chapman family and most specifically their son.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Unworthy Thoughts
Am I the only person who has struggled with some of the things Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount? The one that always was hard for me was the idea that thinking the sin was just as bad as doing the sin...you know what I'm talking about. "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery; but I say to you that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart." and "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable in court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court" (NAS, Matthew 5:27-28, 21-22a).
God really gave me some insight into that whole idea over the past few days with the great passport mystery! If you read yesterday's blog you know about the whole passport thing,one of the things I wrote was that I remembered thinking I should hide Chelsea's passport and then not really remembering what I did with it. Well, apparently I did not actually follow through on my not very nice thoughts about hiding it. The passport was found yesterday under Chelsea's bed. I realize that I probably took it upstairs and laid it on her bed with all the rest of her stuff (you know, the stuff that accumulates downstairs when she doesn't want to make trips up to the third floor) and I was probably pretty irritated when I did it. I'm pretty confident it wasn't exactly done with a heart full of love and affection, more likely one full of anger and resentment, so in a lot of ways my sin was totally within my thought life rather than in my actions. But...I've felt pretty guilty about my attitude both that day and the general unforgiveness I'd been showing Chelsea about her earlier passport mishandling. The stress and anxiety of not having the passport brought those feelings to the front. The Holy Spirit has been convicting me of my "thought sin" ever since the passport has been missing. He has used this little incident to teach me about sins you think rather than do and prompting me to confess those sins to Chelsea in particular. Not a bad lesson to take from a silly lost passport.
That said...I'm still really happy we found the passport, no police report, no lines at the Embassy, no delay in going home! God cares about the little things as well as the big ones! Oh...and I have to confess I'm not the one who found it. My cleaning lady Jocelyn found it and I'm very grateful to her too!
God really gave me some insight into that whole idea over the past few days with the great passport mystery! If you read yesterday's blog you know about the whole passport thing,one of the things I wrote was that I remembered thinking I should hide Chelsea's passport and then not really remembering what I did with it. Well, apparently I did not actually follow through on my not very nice thoughts about hiding it. The passport was found yesterday under Chelsea's bed. I realize that I probably took it upstairs and laid it on her bed with all the rest of her stuff (you know, the stuff that accumulates downstairs when she doesn't want to make trips up to the third floor) and I was probably pretty irritated when I did it. I'm pretty confident it wasn't exactly done with a heart full of love and affection, more likely one full of anger and resentment, so in a lot of ways my sin was totally within my thought life rather than in my actions. But...I've felt pretty guilty about my attitude both that day and the general unforgiveness I'd been showing Chelsea about her earlier passport mishandling. The stress and anxiety of not having the passport brought those feelings to the front. The Holy Spirit has been convicting me of my "thought sin" ever since the passport has been missing. He has used this little incident to teach me about sins you think rather than do and prompting me to confess those sins to Chelsea in particular. Not a bad lesson to take from a silly lost passport.
That said...I'm still really happy we found the passport, no police report, no lines at the Embassy, no delay in going home! God cares about the little things as well as the big ones! Oh...and I have to confess I'm not the one who found it. My cleaning lady Jocelyn found it and I'm very grateful to her too!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Pray Hard!
Do you ever have one of those days when you're so completely obsessed with something and then the Lord says, "okay Lorri (or whatever your name is) it's no big deal".
We've lost Chelsea's passport. Actually to be a lot more accurate I lost Chelsea's passport. Long story short...two years ago Chelsea left her passport in her pants and it got washed, mom reamed her about her carelessness and made a big deal of the whole passport replacement process but we got her a new one and from that point on I haven't really trusted her with her passport. Big mistake. When she'd go on a trip I'd make her return the passport to me, or I'd find her passport just lying around and would get on to her. The main point here is that I really didn't forgive her for the whole passport issue. So...when Chelsea went to the States in March she brought her passport home and left it downstairs. I vaguely remember seeing the passport and thinking "I'll just put this away so it's a bit hard for her to find and then maybe she'll take better care of it".
Well, I put it away alright. I have ABSOLUTELY no memory of what I did with the #@*%&*passport!!!! I have searched my house upside down for the passport and cannot find it. I intended to write today and ask people to please, please, please be praying that I'll find this stupid passport and then I got an e-mail from my friend Martha. The subject line said urgent prayer request.
Of course I read Mattie's e-mail and learned about two new parents who's baby was just born with Down Syndrome and an endocardial cushion defect twelve weeks early! That's 3 MONTHS early folks, she weighs less than 2 pounds! The baby, Ellie, is as cute as can be and her parents are upbeat and positive but I just know how they feel right this very minute and all I could think of is the amount of time I have spent praying and stressing about something as stupid as a lost passport. Please be praying for Ellie, that she won't have any side effects from her prematurity, for her parents to be strong and have courage (as it says in Joshua) that they be able to take care of her. I remember those days so clearly, when we never knew if Paul was going to make it or not, how faith was sometimes so hard to hold on to and how God saw me through everything. Isn't it kind of amazing that God could connect Ellie's parents to someone in SINGAPORE, literally half-way around the world, who understands their situation completely and can pray for them specifically. I found a new reason to be in awe of how amazing God is! That's better than finding a passport any day!
We've lost Chelsea's passport. Actually to be a lot more accurate I lost Chelsea's passport. Long story short...two years ago Chelsea left her passport in her pants and it got washed, mom reamed her about her carelessness and made a big deal of the whole passport replacement process but we got her a new one and from that point on I haven't really trusted her with her passport. Big mistake. When she'd go on a trip I'd make her return the passport to me, or I'd find her passport just lying around and would get on to her. The main point here is that I really didn't forgive her for the whole passport issue. So...when Chelsea went to the States in March she brought her passport home and left it downstairs. I vaguely remember seeing the passport and thinking "I'll just put this away so it's a bit hard for her to find and then maybe she'll take better care of it".
Well, I put it away alright. I have ABSOLUTELY no memory of what I did with the #@*%&*passport!!!! I have searched my house upside down for the passport and cannot find it. I intended to write today and ask people to please, please, please be praying that I'll find this stupid passport and then I got an e-mail from my friend Martha. The subject line said urgent prayer request.
Of course I read Mattie's e-mail and learned about two new parents who's baby was just born with Down Syndrome and an endocardial cushion defect twelve weeks early! That's 3 MONTHS early folks, she weighs less than 2 pounds! The baby, Ellie, is as cute as can be and her parents are upbeat and positive but I just know how they feel right this very minute and all I could think of is the amount of time I have spent praying and stressing about something as stupid as a lost passport. Please be praying for Ellie, that she won't have any side effects from her prematurity, for her parents to be strong and have courage (as it says in Joshua) that they be able to take care of her. I remember those days so clearly, when we never knew if Paul was going to make it or not, how faith was sometimes so hard to hold on to and how God saw me through everything. Isn't it kind of amazing that God could connect Ellie's parents to someone in SINGAPORE, literally half-way around the world, who understands their situation completely and can pray for them specifically. I found a new reason to be in awe of how amazing God is! That's better than finding a passport any day!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
It's Official!!!
Well, it's official! We're moving back to Houston in June. We've known there was a possibility of a move for a couple of months but weren't sure where we were going to be. There were rumours of Scotland (Edinburgh which would have been SOOOO cool) and Norway but Houston won out and I have to say that I'm absolutely delighted. I love Houston and even though many people think of it as that big ugly spot on the gulf coast to me it is and always will be home. I don't think you meet nicer people than Houstonians anywhere else in the world. I will miss some things about Singapore though and right now I have so much to do I can't even think straight. I've pretty much decided that we're going to concentrate on getting through Chelsea's graduation before we worry about anything else. So..if this blog seems a little brief it's because (as my mom used to say) I'm busier than a one-armed paper hanger. I'll keep you posted on how things are going.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Jakarta: Reasons to Love Singapore
I haven't written in a while because I joined two good friends for a shopping trip to Jakarta. While shopping in Jakarta is a fun adventure the city (and country of Indonesia) sure do make one appreciate the loveliness that is Singapore. I've been reviewing my time in Jakarta and trying to recognize just what it is about Jakarta that makes one feel an overwhelming sense of sadness and I've pretty much decided that the reason is the unbelievable contrast between the haves and the have-nots.
Here are my top 5 reasons to appreciate Singapore after visiting Jakarta:
#1 Driving. In Singapore you can safely drive your own car! Expatriates in Jakarta do not drive themselves, this isn't because of the traffic (although the traffic is unbelievable and will be discussed shortly) but because they are susceptible to fraud. Indonesian people have been known to literally ram into an expat driving a car in order to collect money from them, or even rob them outright. So...everyone there has to hire a driver. Since those who know me well know that I've carried on a passionate affair with my driver's license since the day I turned 16 I found the whole concept of a driver a bit repugnant! I will admit however that after spending four days being driven around Jakarta a driver is probably a good thing. There's no telling where my road rage would land me. Which of course leads to...
#2 Traffic. Singaporeans may be kiasu but Indonesians are just plain crazy! The lady we stayed with described the typical stop light in Jakarta very colorfully. How many of you have seen the illustration (usually during a women's Bible study) of the container that's not really full. First large stones are put into a vase until it is full, then when it looks like it can't hold any more small pebbles are poured in and they fill up a lot of the spaces. But that isn't all...next sand is poured in to fill up the rest of the spaces and finally water is poured in to fill up every space in the vase. That's a picture of a typical traffic light in Jakarta...first the cars pull up and come to a stop, then the motorcycles pour in and fill up all the spaces between and around the cars and then you might have a few pedestrians fill in the infinitesimal spaces left by the motorcycles. And of course when you get ready to start moving after the light turns green it takes forever for all the smaller vehicles to get out of the way so you can move again. Lanes are a suggestion (and sometimes traffic flow is too!) and the reason there are few sidewalks is that people will drive on them if they are present! Although we were staying less than a kilometer from the mall where we did a lot of shopping, walking is absolutely unheard of and is literally dangerous to attempt. Man...I love Singapore!
#3 Filth. Jakarta is dirty! Every surface has graffiti on it, garbage fills streets and piles up next to fences. The canals are full of human excrement because there is literally no adequate sewage system. Everything is grimy and dirty
#4 Squatty potties. Toilet stops are as carefully planned as the D-Day invasion. If you're in a nice restaurant or home you automatically go to the bathroom just in case! I felt like I was five years old again about to go on a long car ride with my dad: "better go now, don't know when you'll have another chance!" Enough said!
#5 Safety. Singapore is safe. There's just no getting around that fact. When you are out late at night in Singapore you never feel at risk or insecure. In Jakarta the threat of terrorism is everywhere. Your purse gets checked everywhere you go and the idea that someone could harm you merely because you are an American is based in reality. I found the people to be friendly, smiling and pleasant (actually more than Singaporeans) but the deep-rooted corruption that is part of Indonesia leaves you with the feeling that if something bad were to happen you would be extremely vulnerable.
Here are my top 5 reasons to appreciate Singapore after visiting Jakarta:
#1 Driving. In Singapore you can safely drive your own car! Expatriates in Jakarta do not drive themselves, this isn't because of the traffic (although the traffic is unbelievable and will be discussed shortly) but because they are susceptible to fraud. Indonesian people have been known to literally ram into an expat driving a car in order to collect money from them, or even rob them outright. So...everyone there has to hire a driver. Since those who know me well know that I've carried on a passionate affair with my driver's license since the day I turned 16 I found the whole concept of a driver a bit repugnant! I will admit however that after spending four days being driven around Jakarta a driver is probably a good thing. There's no telling where my road rage would land me. Which of course leads to...
#2 Traffic. Singaporeans may be kiasu but Indonesians are just plain crazy! The lady we stayed with described the typical stop light in Jakarta very colorfully. How many of you have seen the illustration (usually during a women's Bible study) of the container that's not really full. First large stones are put into a vase until it is full, then when it looks like it can't hold any more small pebbles are poured in and they fill up a lot of the spaces. But that isn't all...next sand is poured in to fill up the rest of the spaces and finally water is poured in to fill up every space in the vase. That's a picture of a typical traffic light in Jakarta...first the cars pull up and come to a stop, then the motorcycles pour in and fill up all the spaces between and around the cars and then you might have a few pedestrians fill in the infinitesimal spaces left by the motorcycles. And of course when you get ready to start moving after the light turns green it takes forever for all the smaller vehicles to get out of the way so you can move again. Lanes are a suggestion (and sometimes traffic flow is too!) and the reason there are few sidewalks is that people will drive on them if they are present! Although we were staying less than a kilometer from the mall where we did a lot of shopping, walking is absolutely unheard of and is literally dangerous to attempt. Man...I love Singapore!
#3 Filth. Jakarta is dirty! Every surface has graffiti on it, garbage fills streets and piles up next to fences. The canals are full of human excrement because there is literally no adequate sewage system. Everything is grimy and dirty
#4 Squatty potties. Toilet stops are as carefully planned as the D-Day invasion. If you're in a nice restaurant or home you automatically go to the bathroom just in case! I felt like I was five years old again about to go on a long car ride with my dad: "better go now, don't know when you'll have another chance!" Enough said!
#5 Safety. Singapore is safe. There's just no getting around that fact. When you are out late at night in Singapore you never feel at risk or insecure. In Jakarta the threat of terrorism is everywhere. Your purse gets checked everywhere you go and the idea that someone could harm you merely because you are an American is based in reality. I found the people to be friendly, smiling and pleasant (actually more than Singaporeans) but the deep-rooted corruption that is part of Indonesia leaves you with the feeling that if something bad were to happen you would be extremely vulnerable.
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