The honeymoon period

Most people have what is referred to as a “honeymoon” period when they move someplace new or start a new job. You know, that period of time when your excitement of the new opportunity seems to give you extra energy and a more-positive-than-usual outlook on the world. But as life settles into a new routine, it is very hard to maintain this outlook indefinitely. I knew we would hit the end of our honeymoon period eventually, so it was no surprise when it ended last month. For me, a big contributing factor to that was being sick with a cold for the better part of the month. It’s hard to remain positive and upbeat when you spend 3 weeks with a cough that won’t let you hold a conversation for more than 10 minutes. Or read to your kids. Or run across the road. Or sing. And then it wasn’t just me with a cold, it was me AND Hannah. Then Bekah. Then Autumn. Then…..well, you get the picture. Energy levels dropped down. Patience wasn’t as plentiful. I longed for American pharmacies where I could get the cold medicines I was used to (and knew the names of) and was annoyed at having to use a translation app on my phone just to read the Spanish medicine labels in an attempt to buy the right kinds of medicine we needed. Yep, the honeymoon period is over.

Yet, in the midst of those trials I am still thankful (and grateful!) to be here. While it is hard to be sick in another country, we were not left to completely fend for ourselves. Some of the blessings in the midst of sickness included a friend who had some NyQuil and was willing to give me some when my cough was keeping me up most of the night. When my cold turned into a sinus infection I was able to see a doctor here at the mission’s medical clinic and get a prescription for antibiotics. My doctor visit plus the cost of the medicine cost me about $15 out of pocket. When Hannah got sick, I was able to borrow a humidifier from the medical clinic to use in Hannah’s room (since she is young enough that she can’t take most cold medications). When multiple people in our family were in various stages of being sick, another friend delivered over a pot of fresh chicken soup for our family. I had people constantly asking how we were doing and letting me know they were praying for us. The blessings were visible through our trials and I am happy to be serving in such an awesome community.

There have been some amazingly good things that have come out of this past month as well. We are establishing new routines and habits with our kids that I hope will carry on for years and years. Gabe and I are being much more intentional about our role as spiritual leaders to our children. Everyone is reading in their Bibles each morning before breakfast. We’ve started a catechism devotional that we do with the kids in the evening before bed (that devotional book will take us 2 years to get through…then we will probably just start it again from the beginning!) So far, the kids are enjoying it! After our evening devotional, we read a chapter from a Christian fiction book just for fun. We have been reading through the entire Chronicles of Narnia series and the kids have really been enjoying them. We’ve been playing more board games and just in general spending more time together. It’s been really enjoyable so far!

I’m sure we may experience some homesickness as Thanksgiving and Christmas draw near. It will be hard to be apart from our extended families during the holidays. However, my parents are planning on coming down here for Christmas, so we will be clinging onto that knowledge when everyone posts pictures of their family get-togethers on Thanksgiving. And really, we are excited to spend Christmas with the kids in the orphanage. I have a feeling it will be a wonderful, humbling, joyous experience.

So, while the honeymoon period is over, we are still enjoying our time down here for the most part. It’s not always easy. It’s getting harder and harder to get out of bed and daily get into a mindset of serving others. But it’s always worth it. The work God is doing down here, both through us and to us, is amazing.

Thank you to all of our supporters. While we haven’t actually hit our target goal in terms of monthly financial support, God has been providing for our needs so far. If you feel led to support us with a financial donation, whether monthly or with a one time gift, please message me and I would be happy to provide you with the link where you can do that. Your donations make it possible for us to stay down here and invest in the lives of many children who desperately need to feel loved and protected, so thank you and God bless!