Just because

Little bits of life

- A few Saturdays ago we took a drive about an hour north of our city to a cute little fishing town called Foca. It wasn't a great day to be outside walking around since it was cold and rainy, but we braved the elements and enjoyed seeing all the boats and historic buildings this sleepy little town has to offer.

- We recently re-applied for our Ikamet (residence visas) and have been approved! Now we don't have to hassle with dragging our entire family downtown to run from one government building to the next, notarizing this and that, for another 3 whole years! Actually, I have to give a little shout out to Joel for all his hard work. He gets all the paperwork in order and pretty much just tells me when and where to show up. He's the best! We are thankful that the process went smoothly and we were granted permission to live here. Thank you, Jesus!

- The other night a friend and his son showed up at our doorstep at dinnertime. As always, there was no call ahead of time to say they were coming. I have a love/hate relationship with this part of the culture. I love being able to feed people and for them to enjoy the food, but I don't like not knowing when someone will be coming and how long they will be staying. But I'm getting better at smiling and inviting someone to come in and eat with us without being as stressed out as I used to be that there won't be enough food, they won't like it cause it's different or that my house is a complete mess! I've learned from experience that there has always been enough to go around and our friends actually like some of our American dishes. 

- Yohanis and Colson play soccer behind our apartment building almost every day. It's usually the same group of boys that play together. Here they are wearing their favorite Turkish soccer team's jersey - Fenerbahce! I love seeing my boys building their own relationships and being confident in speaking Turkish!

- One of our favorite things to do as a family on the weekends is to have a picnic by the bay.  I'm glad the weather is warming up and we'll be able to do this more often. The kids love throwing rocks in the water, playing ball, flying kite and eating Daddy's yummy grilled chicken!

- Last Friday I had to make a snack for Colson and Vienna's kindergarten class. I made some chocolate chip cookies and borek (a pastry that can be filled with cheese, meat or pretty much anything, and okay, Joel actually made it). Cookies in Turkey are usually dry and hard so the concept of a soft and chewy cookie is somewhat strange. Not to brag or anything, but my cookies were a big hit and I was even asked for my recipe. I'm just glad they didn't think me or my cookies were totally weird, because we walk around feeling like we're weird and everybody is staring at us about 99 percent of the time :)

Vienna with her teacher

- On Saturday we finally got to meet our friends' daughter, Jazarah, who recently arrived home from Ethiopia. Such a sweet little girl! We couldn't be more thrilled that the Ethiopian adoption community in Turkey is growing. And it shouldn't be long now till my sister brings home her son! We just can't wait to meet him!!!

Happy Monday to you all!

Her face lights up when we drop by for a visit, she swings her door wide open and excitedly tells us to come in. I hand her the plate of cookies we've brought and she greets me warmly with kisses on both cheeks, then holds out her hand to me and I kiss it and put it to my forehead (a sign of respect to your elders). 

She is the sweetest old lady who lives across the street from us in a small apartment all by herself. Tomorrow will mark 9 years since her husband's death. We visit together for over an hour and she proudly updates me on all of her children and grandchildren while the kids make a fort with blankets and couch cushions. 

She stops chatting with me every now and then to ask the kids how school is going and to give them some strings of prayer beads to play with, apologizing that she doesn't have any other toys. Vienna quickly turns her beads into a jump rope and our neighbor just laughs and helps Vienna jump with her makeshift rope.

Turkish delight is given to the kids and tea is offered to me but I politely decline, telling her I need to get home soon. She tells me how much she loves me and that I need to visit her more often. Before we leave she loads a bag full of cookies and cakes for the kids. 

Tonight as we put the kids to bed we prayed for our neighbor and I asked the kids to help me remember to go visit her more often, explaining how the Bible talks a lot about caring for widows. I asked them if they knew what a widow was and Vienna piped up, "Is that like a spider, mommy?" :)

Sometimes simply caring for the needs of all my kids is exhausting and I don't feel like I have much time or energy for anyone outside of my family, but today I was reminded that loving my neighbor is as simple as going to visit them for an hour when they are lonely. I know our neighbor felt special and loved by us being with her this afternoon.
  
I want my kids to learn to love, care for and respect the elderly. and I'm thankful that they are growing up in a culture where the old are valued and great respect is shown to them.

Hi there!

Why hello there, blog world! I'm back! Spring is almost here and the warm weather and sunshine is reviving my soul and making me want to write again!

This week the weather has been absolutely beautiful. Beautiful enough to have the windows open, a warm breeze blowing through the house, picnics by the sea and afternoons spent outside. I love it! I'm such a country girl at heart and some days I miss farm life so much. It's hard walking out of our apartment and being instantly bombarded by so many buildings and people every where you look! I miss having acres and acres of land to explore, trees to climb, grass to walk barefoot in and creeks to swim in. 

Sometimes I get sad when I think about how different my kids' childhood is from my own. But instead of focusing on the things my third culture kids are missing out on, I'm trying to remember how much they are gaining. How their world view is so much bigger than mine was at their age. How their faith in God is so big and tangible and how they are learning such valuable life lessons from growing up in this culture. I'm so proud of my kids and I have so much to learn from them and their child-like faith in God!

First day of soccer!

Here's to more (hopefully) regular blogging!!!