Autumn Sunshine, A Hundred Eggs, and Phubbing: The Week in Review Vol. 17

"The sun,--the bright sun, that brings back, not light alone, but new life, and hope, and freshness to man--burst upon the crowded city in clear and radiant glory.  Through costly-coloured glass and paper-mended window, through cathedral dome and rotten crevice, it shed its equal ray."

--Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

We experienced this sunshine, hope, and freshness over the past week.  Thank you, praying friends.

In other news, I have a hundred eggs in my refrigerator.  Yes, 100.  I have yet to find a cheaper (and still delicious) gluten-free breakfast, so our family goes through an average of 8 eggs per day.

Kalan: "If I order a lot of eggs, will you deliver them to my apartment?"

Gary (the egg vendor): "Well, how many do you want?"

Kalan: "A hundred."

Gary: "What?!  Do you own a school or something?"

Kalan: "No...we just really like eggs..."

Gary: "Well, if you order that many we will deliver them for free!"

So we received our first shipment this past week. Our meat and vegetable vendors have offered delivery services, too.  It's such a time-saver (and energy-saver...walking with two little people to the market and then making the trek back--laden with groceries--is quite the task when you're nearly seven months pregnant.)  ;)

Speaking of those sweet little people, Keira and Jude started sharing a room.  The bedtime monologues we overhear are hilarious.  

"Jude, you my BEST friend!"

...

"Jude, I sing you two songs, then time for sleep, ok?"

...

"Jude, why you crying?  You have a new tooth?  You want a nuk (pacifier)?  Don't worry, buddy."

...

"Jude, you too noisy, hurt my ears!"

...

"MOMMY!"

In closing, I'll share a funny new English word I learned this week:

For the first time ever (and probably the last), I actually understood a Chinese sign better than the English translation.

Phubber = phone + snubbing = someone who looks at their phone and ignores real life around them.

Have a great rest of the week!

Kayt

We're Back: The Week in Review Vol. 16

We're back in Taiwan after a wonderful visit in the US.  And we're back on the blog in order to stay in touch with all you far-away family and friends.

Our trip home was probably our worst travel experience yet.  Changed flight times, no in-seat entertainment on the trans-Pacific leg due to changed aircraft, and a vomiting child were some of the lowlights. About 20 hours into the 30+hour journey, by the grace of God, we regained our sense of humor and started laughing at our own exhaustion, and by the time we arrived home I wasn't even that surprised or upset that our building didn't have any running water due post-typhoon maintenance.  (It came back on just 24 hours later, which was especially good news for our overflowing laundry hamper.)

Jet lag was rough but we're all happy to be back in our Taiwan home.  Kalan started another semester of Chinese classes, and I've been setting aside time to study every day (though I'm not taking official classes anymore).  I've been working on learning spiritual vocabulary and some new Bible stories to share with friends.  I need lots of practice, so if you speak Chinese and would like to hear one, just let me know!  ;)

"Mom, we've heard this story a hundred times today..."

This past week had its share of excitement when I woke up one morning with a red, swollen, painful lump on my leg.  By late afternoon my whole leg was tingling so I went to the ER, where the doctor told me I had deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot) and was immediately put on bed rest in the hallway, and informed that I would need to stay the night for further testing and treatment.  As soon as possible I got in touch with our families and asked them to pray.  Around 10 PM my leg started feeling a bit better and the nurse agreed that the red, swollen lump seemed to be shrinking.  At 1 AM a doctor woke me up and said that he could do an ultrasound now instead of the following afternoon.  During the scan, he said, "Well, this is amazing, but it looks like the clot has simply disappeared on its own.  You can go home!"  After receiving medication I was in a taxi home just an hour later.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation...present your requests to God.  And the peace of God will guard your heart and mind..." Phil. 4:6-7

Other adventures this week have included my first attempt at freezer meals (shopping for and prepping a week's worth of meals at one time, freezing them, and cooking them in the crock pot).  So far it's been awesome.  Our market vendors even offered to deliver meat, eggs, and vegetables directly to our apartment when we buy in bulk.  Win!  I'm hoping this will help when we transition to three kids in just a few months (what?!)  

I'm still on the lookout for new recipes to add into the rotation, so send me your recommendations!

We also started preschool homeschooling this week.  We're only on day two, but it's been a blast.  Memory verses, singing, books from the library, crafts...an hour of focused activities every morning has been good for all of us.  I love my job.

Thank you to everyone who's been praying for our transition back to Taiwan, and especially to everyone who prayed for me while I was in the ER.  We're continually thankful for our friends on all sides of the globe.

Have a great week!

Kayt

A Quick Family Update

Our bags are packed...tomorrow we leave for the USA!

We'll be spending July in Colorado and August in Wisconsin.  We can't wait to spend time with our families, as well as catch up with friends and supporters.  

I haven't been doing much blog-writing the past three months.  In case you haven't already heard, here's why:

We're thrilled, of course.  :D

Anyway, to catch up...here's an update on our family.

Kalan: Kalan's been busy studying Chinese, finishing up a semester of teaching, preparing a couple sermons (he'll be preaching in the US this summer), and helping our family survive my morning sickness.  He's been AWESOME--getting up early with the kids so I can get every possible minute of extra sleep, doing all the market shopping, preparing all our meals, and washing lots of dishes.  I don't know anyone else who could do all that every day with such joy and energy!  We celebrated five years of marriage last month and I'm continually thankful for our life together.

Kayt: I've been growing a baby (in other words, doing lots of napping and eating large quantities of hummus, yogurt, and almonds).  Besides that...I finished full-time Chinese courses at the end of May and started going to a women's center in the red light district of Taipei.  If you'd like to know more or join me in praying for that ministry, let me know and I'll send you more info!

Keira: Loves having friends over, playing dress-up, hosting tea parties for her babies, making up songs, swinging at the park, and running laps around our apartment in her running shoes.  Quotes:

Me: "In America, we can go camping!"
Keira: "What's camping?"
Me: "It's when you sleep outside, and cook food outside!"
Keira (with a confused look):"...that's kind of weird.  Why?"

(After she did something naughty)

Me: "Why did you do that?!"

Keira (after thinking for a moment): "It was a little bit fun...and a little bit sad."

A friend: "妳是台灣人嗎？" Are you Taiwanese?

Keira (with full confidence): "是啊！" Yes!

Jude: Loves running around outside, climbing onto the kitchen table when Mom's not looking, baths, books, singing, dancing, and snuggling.  Hates diaper changes.

Looking forward to seeing many of you soon!

--Kayt

Happy 1st Birthday, Jude!

 We love you!

The Week in Review, Vol. 15

This week by the numbers: 18 bottles of medicine, 10 hours in the Emergency Room, and 2 kids with bronchopneumonia.

Last weekend we went to Taichung for a mini-vacation with some friends (they're also missionaries).  Less than 12 hours after we arrived, their son was admitted to the hospital with severe pneumonia.  He (and now his brother, too) are still in the hospital.  Our kids came down with a less-severe version a few days later, and this week we've been recovering at home.

Please pray for both our families.  It's been a tough couple of months with back-to-back illnesses.

I've been doing a Lenten devotional.  Yesterday included Psalm 118:24~

"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."  

So, here's my thankful list for this week:

1. Our friends' two boys are recovering and will hopefully be discharged from the hospital soon.

2. Kalan.  This guy is amazing.  One morning he got up with the kids after a particularly long night so I could sleep in.  When I finally rolled out of bed around 9, he had already prepped lunch, had dinner going in the crockpot, was doing a second load of laundry, and had given both kids their medicine.

3. Taiwan's healthcare system.  We went to a different hospital this time around, and the doctors were great.  I'm also continually amazed at how affordable it is.  The total for Jude's doctor visit (including 3 hours on an IV, blood work, chest X-ray, and medicine)= $8 US.

Feeling good after some medication and hydration!

4. The holiday weekend.  We had an extra day off class/work to recover.

5. Prayer.  All our recent bouts with illness have been helping us pray more.  And I'm also thankful for all our family and friends who've been praying for us.

6. Coffee.  Our friends picked up a Costco-sized bag of coffee for us this week.

7. My parents are coming to visit...TOMORROW!

The cherry blossoms have opened in Taipei...hopefully a healthier spring is around the corner!

What I Learned in a Taiwanese Hospital

Since starting our family in Taiwan, I've often lamented, "It would be so much easier to have kids if we lived near family."  (For the record, this is true.  You can't beat grandparents!)  But about a month ago Kalan gently pointed out that I often use this phrase as an excuse to throw myself a little pity party.  "Kayt, God has called our family to live in Taiwan.  It is hard, but using this little phrase to complain just makes it harder.  It sounds like you don't want to accept the work God's given you to do.  Do you think you should keep saying it?"

I wasn't ready to hear that.  So you can imagine what I was thinking when Jude was admitted to the hospital a couple weeks ago. Those four days may have been my most stressful and exhausting experience yet as a parent.  Then, just a few days after we returned home, we all got the stomach flu. But somehow God's been using this chaos and sleeplessness to teach me a few things.

First, He showed me that we do have family here.  The evening we were admitted to the hospital, our church family started to pray for us.  Over the next few days, they came to visit, brought meals/toys/coffee/baby snacks, subbed for Kalan's classes, folded our laundry, and watched/fed/ even bathed our daughter.

Second, God showed me that even when I felt alone, He was taking care of us.  The first night I told the nurse there wasn't any toilet paper or soap.  She chuckled and said, "This is a city hospital; you need to prepare those things yourself."  Kalan was home with our sleeping 2-year-old, my phone was nearly out of minutes, and there was no internet access.  A moment later, an arm holding a packet of tissues popped out from the other side of the curtain.  "We can share," another tired-looking mom said.

Third, the Lord reminded me that He will give me strength I need for the task at hand.  My job is (to borrow from Nike) "just do it."  For example, one morning I told the nurse that Jude's sheets were dirty.  "There's where we keep the clean ones, and there's the room for soiled laundry."  I don't know why I was so surprised.  Well, it turns out that it is physically possible to hold a baby attached to an IV while putting new sheets on a bed.

Fourth, God reminded me that even when I forget Him, He doesn't forget me.  Like when I came home to shower on the third day and our apartment electricity had been shut off--which meant a warm fridge, laundry half-washed, and no way to update my family in the US.  I called Kalan and had a complete meltdown over the phone.  After I hung up, Keira looked at me curiously.  "Mama, eyes wet!"
"Yes, Keira, I feel very sad and tired, so I'm crying."
"Oh.  Hmm...Mama pray?"
Nothing's more humbling than getting a much-needed kick in the pants from your toddler.  We finally prayed and then I called the power company.  We had electricity within an hour.



Lastly, God showed me that distance is no obstacle for Him.  We were blessed by our parents, siblings, and church family in the U.S. throughout this ordeal.  Many people wrote to us to let us know they were supporting us in prayer.  A dermatologist from our home church considered Jude's case, offered helpful opinions, and explained what was going on in plain English.  Even from across the ocean, God used His people to encourage us.

God's given us family around the world.  He takes care of us when we feel alone.   He gives us strength to do the work He's given us.  He never forgets us, even when we forget Him!


In light of all this, I've decided to stop saying, "It would be so much easier if..."


Instead...

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus...

The Week in Review, Vol. 14

This week was a sick one.  Literally.  After the kids recovered from bronchitis last week, I thought we were in the clear, but...now we're fighting an enterovirus.

So, this week was one of those weeks when we ate from a pot of chicken soup for five meals in a row and grabbed our clean clothes from a giant, jumbled pile in the living room.

It was also a week of playing dress-up and having tea parties.  In bed.

On a brighter note, Jude turned 9 months old this week!  

Even when he's sick, he's a pretty smiley guy.  :)

On our days-between-illnesses, we went for some family bike rides, now that Jude has his own seat on the bike (thanks Kermit and Collette!) 

Another highlight of the week month was that our friends watched our kids for an entire afternoon while Kalan and I went for a soak in the hot springs.  (Thanks Caty and Dillon!)

What a refreshing day.  Thank you Aunt Amy, Uncle Bret, Aunt Renee, and Uncle Fred for the Christmas gift!

Chinese classes resumed this week after a few days off for New Year's.  This week's topic was rather interesting...

抽大麻菸＝to smoke marijuana cigarettes

Fortunately, besides the names of illicit drugs, our vocabulary list included slightly more useful words such as "infect" and "virus" which came in very handy at the doctor's office this week.  ;)

In closing, I want to share a verse that I've been thinking on this week.  (My brother-in-law recently started doing this on Facebook, and I thought it was a great idea).

"...you make him glad with the joy of your presence.

For the king trusts in the Lord,

and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved."

你把永遠的福分賜給他，

又使他因與你同在的喜樂歡欣。

王倚靠耶和華，

靠著至高者的慈愛，他必不至動搖。

(Psalm 21:6-7)

In reality this is really, really hard.  Because when I hear a sick kid crying in the wee hours of the morning, my immediate thoughts are neither glad nor joyful!

  So this week I asked God for grace to forget myself, remember Him, and find joy in measuring out medicine, cleaning up bathroom accidents, and finally folding that pile of laundry.  

I'm slowly learning that this is what it looks like to walk as a mother with God.

Have a great weekend,

Kayt