Thankful

WE are in the home stretch here in Zurich...17 days until we head back home to the good ole' USA...and what a stretch it is. The weather has been unusually cold and rainy this summer, and the past week has been rough with lots of bad weather. There is unfortunately little to do here inside when the weather keeps you in, and being stuck in a small apartment with a rowdy (but really cute) two year old day after day can be quite a challenge! Jake is literally jumping off the walls, ha!! Tonight was supposed to be a baseball game night, but it was cancelled due to rain. I have tried ten times to wash our dirty towels today but someone has left their things sitting idle in the washer for hours- SO INCONSIDERATE! My insomnia is in full swing and I am laying on the couch watching CNN the majority of nights now (it's the only channel in English). To put it simply, we're feeling ready to get home. And some may judge me for saying that, while they haven't actually been in our shoes. But the truth is, I think its much better to leave happy than to leave feeling as though that day couldn't arrive soon enough. So, to deal with our stir craziness, we are planning to get out of Zurich for the majority of the next week and half and travel around, hopefully to warmer, sunnier weather. I think just getting out of the apartment and to new places will help a lot. You know it's gotten pretty bad when you two year old is overly excited just to go grocery shopping and he normally despises it!

So the point of my lame pity party is that I am always amazed at how the Lord sustains me, in the most subtle and refreshing ways. As I have described above, we are struggling a bit right now, and yet today God has blessed me with such sweet and kind encouragement.

1. My friend and neighbor in Houston, Jordan, mom to the two most incredible twins I know, Sammy Sue and Noah, wrote me a wonderful note that totally brightened my day. A compliment and encouragement from her is quite an honor to receive, because she truly is one of the most courageous and positive women I know, and an incredible mother as well. Her blog about her kids and their family is one of the most touching things I've ever read, I cry every time I read it!

2. I exchanged fun chit chat with my best friends Annamaria and Elizabeth on Facebook, which just reminded me of lucky I am to have friends like them in my life. I really don't know what I did to deserve them, but just a few minutes of writing to them totally picked me up. The three of us have been emailing all summer and they have been a source of constant love and support for me of which I am immeasurably grateful. Elizabeth also has an amazing blog and she was a huge inspiration for me to start blogging myself.

3. Next I got a nice message from Michael's cousin Catherine in North Carolina asking me a question about the blog and saying that she has enjoyed following it, which was such a boost as well. She has a precious son Sam, who is about a year younger than Jake, and she was saying how much she looked forward to the fun things I have written about such as soccer, swimming and baseball.

4. My sister Ashley sent me a quote about sisters that was so true to our relationship, and she couldn't have known how much I needed it today. It's from the movie "In Her Shoes" and it said "‎Because without her....I don't make sense." Again I am reminded at how very fortunate I am to have such a close bond with Ash and that distance does not hinder it, evidenced by us Skyping numerous times a week and talking daily via email or Facebook.

Those are four ways that God has sustained me today, and for each of them, whether they knew it or not, I am so very THANKFUL!! Their words blessed me and lifted me up just when I needed it. It's times like this when I actually feel the Lord taking care of me. He is showing me grace and mercy while challenging me to stay here, outside my comfort zone, a little longer, to see what else we can enjoy here. And when I look at the terrible things going on around the world, such as all the areas of unrest in the Middle East and the immense famine in Africa and the painfully slow recuperation in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami, my troubles here seem so stupid and insignificant. I am safe, I have food, water and shelter and a secure government. My child is not at risk of starvation, disease, or human trafficking. My family is not being threatened by war or political unrest. My sister just returned home from three weeks in Ethiopia, and she was so impacted on her second trip to Africa that she is considering doing a mission trip every year now. These are real problems, not the fleeting inconveniences that I was discussing earlier. I could just erase this and let myself be ashamed in private, but I would rather humbly post it, in hopes that others can relate to it.

It's easy to get caught up in the daily grind and to forget what a privileged life most of us lead living in America. Where we have freedom of religion and aren't required to pay a portion of our salary to be associated with the Christian church (the law in Switzerland). Where we are encouraged to go to college and further our education and life experience, (college is not a reality in many other areas of the world). We are healthy and successful and have wonderful friends and family who enrich our lives. I am so thankful for silly things, like my washer and dryer sitting at home waiting for me in the laundry room, and for my Tahoe parked in the garage. I am so blessed by our church friends at MDPC and the bible study we attend and I can't wait to start up again in August with our group. I miss our backyard and letting Jake run in and out as he pleases while I do stuff inside and watch him through the wall of windows on the north side of our house. I miss our things and all that's in that house which makes it our home. I miss seeing Michael walk from the garage to the back door when he gets home, and hearing Jake scream at the top of his lungs "Daddy's home!" as he runs to the door to hug him. But none of it's going anywhere, it will be waiting for us when we get back, 17 days from now, and I'm sure it will be an indescribable feeling to just be HOME...

I really never expected the blog to be anything except a diary for Jake to read someday about our time here. But it honestly has become so much more than that to me. It's cathartic. It's freeing. And it helps me get over myself in times like now when I just need some perspective but can't seem to give it to myself, and yet I somehow find it when I start writing. I don't consider myself a particularly funny or creative person, nor am I very hi-tech, as I was telling Catherine earlier today. So the blog was initially kind of intimidating because when I do something, I need to do it well, that's just who I am. And I was comparing myself to Jordan and Elizabeth and the numerous other amazing blogs I've read and worried that I would not match up, which was of course the standard I would hold myself to. And as you read in Michael's post, he is super creative and funny!! But you know what? I can honestly say I love this blog and I feel really good about it. It's me. It's us, our family. It's real and genuine, which makes me proud.

A few weeks ago an old friend, Katie, who is a nurse, wrote to me about sharing my blog with one of her young cancer patients at Texas Children's Hospital. The family was planning to move to Switzerland this summer but had to postpone the trip while one of their sons receives treatment. She just wanted to let me know that the blog brought them some happiness reading about family fun in Zurich, and I can't express what that did to my heart! The tears were falling and I was so humbled, especially having been through three surgeries with Jake at TCH, I can imagine what this family must be enduring, and I have been praying for them ever since. This alone makes me want to keep writing, for families like them. I know this blog is just something to read, but the fact that it can touch someone in a little way is powerful to me. The loving feedback that all my friends and family have given me about the words I'm writing has been the greatest unexpected reward of all. Maybe tonight I will actually get some sleep instead of staring jealously at Michael as he dozes away. Either way, I will lay down with a seriously gracious heart and I will thank God extra hard for the beautiful life he has given me...dirty towels, thunderstorms and all.

1 Corinthians 15:10  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.