More Precious

Could I go all grandma on you for a minute while I reflect on life when we first came in 1999? I want to do this, not to garner pity or to make us look like great adventurers, but so that you can understand how vastly different life here is now.

When we first came, we lived for 3 months in a foreign student dormitory as it was illegal for students to live off campus. This dorm room was just that - one room, with a small bathroom which the housekeeping girls wanted to hose down every day (they called it "cleaning." We quickly learned how to say, "We don't need that, thank you."). We rode our $8 bikes around our campus and a bit beyond. It was exciting to go down to "Modern Plaza" where we could get cream of chicken soup and Diet Coke. Those were luxury items back then. Phone calls to the States cost 50c a minute. When we moved into an apartment off campus that November, they hadn't installed land lines yet. We had to wait in line for the phone at the bottom of our building and pay three mao per minute to call our friends on campus. We lived for someone coming from the States who could bring us all the supplies we couldn't get here.

I think about these things, and it makes me even more grateful for the amazing access we have to things now. We can call our family practically for free. We have cell phones. We'll have (by the end of this week, hopefully!) a car. I can get a diet Coke if I walk across the street. But best of all is this recent discovery of Book Depository. On this website, we can order books that are generally cheaper than Amazon and which ship for free, straight to our door here in Asia. I can't tell you how much this cuts down on what we bring back from the States!

I feel like that sounds shallow. I'm finding joy in these material things? Yes, yes I am. But I'm grateful that I've been able to be in a position where I didn't have them. I think it's given me a greater appreciation of them now. It's like the saying, "You don't really appreciate food unless you've known hunger." I'm glad God allowed us the experience of not having certain things because now when we do have them, they are more precious.

Megan's List

Megan is a writer, like her mama (see my homeschool blog for the notes she took during our science experiment). Here's a list she made back in October. My favorite is #7.

Too many flushes

Here's something I realized today that doesn't happen in the US. (I realize that's a broad statement that covers a multitude of things, but this is one I haven't mentioned before):

We have to pay for toilet water. Consider this: what if, when you go to the bathroom, you discover that you can't flush it? Why? Because the money ran out. So now it's just a bowl of water. What would happen if the toilet water card you put in the little machine in your bathroom wall didn't have any more money on it? And what if the management office where you go to top it up is closed because it's after 8 p.m.? And what if it's Saturday night and they're closed on Sundays? Think you can wait til Monday to go again? This is a strong vote in favor of getting to know your neighbors.

Thankfully, there was money on our card. Which we found out after we went to top it up at the management office and they said, "You can't put money on this card, it's already full!" So the toilets are flushing again.

Dust running wild

In the absence of my maid, I have had to scrounge around in my brain for the place where "cleaning skills and know-how" reside, dust them off, and use them. In the process I have discovered some places which she has, ahem, overlooked.

Exhibit A: Under the couch. We are all familiar with dust bunnies, but to say we have dust bunnies is an understatement. What we have living under our couch are dust rhinos. I know this, because dust bunnies would never viciously attack lunge at my face in that fashion. Territorial beasts they are. I don't think they are normally this aggressive, but they have been allowed to run feral for quite some time. I managed to subdue them, but I need to have a conversation with my maid about how we shall keep the population to a minimum in the future.

A Life in Cakes

We just celebrated Ethan's 10th birthday yesterday. Yes, 10!! We were reflecting on each year last night at dinner and got on the topic of Ethan's cakes. My mom set an example for me of having creative cakes for our parties. I can't say all of Ethan's have been amazing, but it's fun to look back through and see what he liked each year. Here they are:

1st year: He didn't care, so I just made a generic cake to the feed the masses of friends we invited (he didn't care who came at age 1 right?)



2nd birthday: Ethan loved Blue Clues. This is when I first discovered the awesome time and effort saving technique of using toys to decorate the cake, rather than actually drawing something. (I'm pregnant in this picture, by the way). It's fun to see that the two kids on the right, Jackson and Emma, were at his 10th birthday party too!


3rd birthday: I'm pretty proud of this one. You can't tell much, but I dug part of the cake out, throwing those M&M rocks into the hole (if only real rocks came in candy colors). Again, Ethan's toys to the rescue!


4th birthday: I didn't want to ruin Thomas by planting him in frosting, so I constructed this, probably from a picture.


5th birthday: This one was our first in Singapore. I realize it doesn't make sense that Spiderman would be laying on the web like this, but it looked better than him doing a face plant into the cake.


6th birthday: Dinosaur! I wish I had a closer picture of this one. This was my first shaped cake. Notice the "rocks" on the table - chocolate pieces I found at Mustafa! The palm branches are courtesy of the courtyard. Ah, the tropics!


7th birthday: I'm not sure why Ethan wanted a Superman cake. I think he requested superheroes in general and this was the easiest. That red frosting was so potent the kids' mouths and hands were stained for days!


8th birthday: What do you do when your son asks for a "Lego Star Wars" birthday. Not Legos, not Star Wars, but Lego Star Wars. Call in the toys! There's a stormtrooper riding that green animal, and some other figures scattered around.


9th birthday: Ah, possibly my biggest challenge yet: a Bakugan birthday. Thankfully, these little toys are round so I suggested cupcakes. I then spent a night creating frosting in the various colors of Bakugans. After all my work, I was informed by my son that they were not quite the right colors. Because it was his birthday, I let him live.


10th birthday: Camouflage! Good thing I stocked up on all those different food colorings at the baking store in Singapore. This required brown, black, and two shades of green. My fingernails are still stained. As are some of the boys.

There it is - a life in cakes.

25 more

What am I thankful for?

101. Meaningful times of shepherding my kids' hearts where I've seen the light go on
102. I found my Hobby Lobby gift card! I thought I'd lost this in the States and then it just appeared on my dining room floor here.
103. Cars to borrow
104. I learned new vocabulary in Chinese this week
105. I set a reasonable and motivating goal for running
106. Megan has made a new best friend in our city
107. I have the challenge of teaching drama to kids in our homeschool co-op this spring
108. Friends over for dinner
109. a new grocery store
110. We're closer to getting our car!
111. Opportunities for my kids to see that I fail
112. Good talks with old friends
113. Seasons
114. A predicted high of 61 today so I can run outside
115. book depository
116. Tao Bao
117. Crystal Light
118. My kids are funny
119. God has shown mercy to my friend Lynn in ending her pain
120. He is showing His grace to her husband John
121. Our kids got really dirty on Sunday! (that means they had great fun outside)
122. Our helper, Su Jie
123. Our son has reached the ripe old age of 10
124. I have been married to the same wonderful man for 12 1/2 years, and he cares enough to celebrate each month of it with me (150!)
125. We had great celebrations of both yesterday!

A tribute to my friend Lynn

This morning I ran on my treadmill with Chris Tomlin worship pushing me along. As I listened, I thought of my friend Lynn Chynoweth, who went home to be with Jesus on Saturday night. I tried to wrap my head around the idea that what sounds like beautiful worship to me from her perspective now probably would sound like an old phonograph in a distant room. As I listened to Chris sing, "Holy, Holy, Holy" I thought of her standing by the throne, singing that with the multitude. It's an amazing picture.

It comforts me to know that she is free from pain. Lynn battled cancer for a long time. When I saw her in December, she was doing well. In fact, she'd just had good news that things were looking up. We lamented not being able to have time together then, but talked about seeing each other this November when we're back in Orlando.

Last week, Lynn experience pain that took her to the hospital. Her doctor told her she had 3-6 months. God, in His mercy, decided to take her sooner.

I met Lynn when she and her husband John worked with us in Singapore. They brought years of experience and wisdom to our team, and they shared it with us humbly and graciously. Lynn was a woman with a gentle, listening heart. She invited me into her life and our times together were marked by her joy and acceptance of me. She and her husband John have always been examples to us of how to walk faithfully for the long haul, but their faith and commitment to God on this painful journey has been unbelievable. I pray that I can be the kind of person who glorifies God like that in my life. She ran the race well, and I grieve the loss of her. May we all strive to be such people of faith!

How many people CAN fit on the subway? Maybe just one more

Sometimes I think that I have become so accustomed to the culture here that it doesn't bother me anymore. Then I remember that it's more because I don't put myself in the most frustrating cultural situations on a regular basis. For me, these mostly involve public transportation, shopping in markets, and tourist locations.

Take yesterday, for example. I rode the subway down to a place called Wang Fu Jing pedestrian street. I was fine for the first 16 stops. Then I had to take one stop over on line 1 - the original subway line, where you are within suicidal distance and potential of the oncoming train. There was a good number of people waiting when I arrived, so much so that I was unable to board the first train that came. Probably about 10 other people shouldn't have tried to board either, but they did manage to squish their bodies in enough for the doors to close. It was at that point I realized it would have been faster to just walk the last stop above ground. But if I had, I would have missed the sensation of not holding onto anything on the subway, yet being completely immovable due to the crush of people. If you haven't experienced this, you really should put in on your bucket list.

After a glorious time at the foreign bookstore, I headed to an indoor market which caters to foreigners, to find party supplies for Ethan's 10th birthday. There I was reminded how much I want to host a "market vendors convention" during which I instruct them that foreigners do not appreciate it when, a) the vendors scream, "Hello lady, I remember you!!", "Hello hat!!", "C'mon lady wanna buy some t-shirt?" or variations thereof, or b) the vendors physically pull them into a stall, or c) the vendors hovering and pointing out every item they are selling. It's a fine line for me between politely acknowledging their antics and simply getting what I need and getting out.

It may sound like I had what we call a "China day" when the culture just rubs you the wrong way, but I actually didn't. I think because I don't often put myself in this kind of situation I can be somewhat amused by it, and that's what I was yesterday. Just one of those "shake your head" kind of times when you're thankful you don't have to experience that all the time every day.

I declare spring!

I used to think that our city didn't really have spring. I mean, it had about a month, between the end of March and the end of April, when the winds picked up and told the pollution to take a hike for a few weeks, and the weather was balmy. Then it hit hot.

But today I realized something huge. Spring isn't shorter here. It just starts earlier. See, for Minnesotans, spring comes mid to late March ("in like a lion, out like a lamb" is what we always said for that month). But I'm staring out at 57 degree weather right now, and it's going to be at least near 50 for the next 10 days. The normal average right now is about 45. When we ran the half marathon in October, it was colder than it is today.

So may I officially declare it spring here? I know you southern born folks are shaking your heads and will continue to wear your long underwear, but I am rejoicing in the fact that we DO have spring! I'm off to enjoy it with a celebratory run. (no, not in shorts and a t-shirt like we ran the 1/2 - too many stares from the locals!).

And a few more . . .

Megan decided to get down on the floor to do Wii Fit with me yesterday. As she did she commented, "Ok, let's get this DONE!"

Today as she sat on my lap, she grabbed my sweater and said, "This is a mammal! It has fur!" Don't worry, it's not that our science curriculum is lacking. She just knows how to say something that will crack me up.

Kid quotes

The kids have been shooting out the classic quotes lately. Or at least I think so. Overhead at the Butz house recently:

Ethan, "Let's hope the Korean falls, perhaps." This said as we watched an American compete against a Korean in the 1,000 meter speed skating heat.

Megan, "I'm all milky!" after consuming a little box of chocolate milk in one go.

Ethan, "Mom, I think I've outgrown coloring." Ok, good to know.

Megan, "Mom, what's the key to life?" I think she got this from a movie. I hopefully supplied her with a better answer than the one the cartoon animals gave her.

Now where was I . . . ?

Being thankful. And the list goes on . . .

76. I have not been awakened or kept awake by the war zone like fireworks which have happened every night this week due to Chinese New Year. This is nothing short of a miracle, as I am a light sleeper.
77. Our children have also not been awakened or kept awake.
78. Despite the close proximity to the fireworks, we haven't had any broken windows (this happened to some friends of ours, so we know the possibility is real!).
79. God is revealing some significant things in my heart
80. He's also giving me hope that said things can change!
81. We had fun with our kids and their best friends at the temple fair yesterday
82. Erik is home for three days!
83. We got our Wii Fit Plus DVD back which we left in the States
84. We can look forward to a fun dinner out with friends tonight
85. Valentine's Day was a joy with a little foresight to bring back things like conversation hearts and heart shaped confetti. My family enjoyed their heart shaped breakfasts.
86. The weather is getting warmer each week!
87. I had a great time of prayer this morning. It just starts my day right.
88. We're still learning and enjoying much about American History in homeschool.
89. There's a Subway opening three blocks from our house!
90. Our kids are really good eaters. I can feed them almost anything.
91. I have a husband who is gentle and patient with me.
92. Long underwear.
93. Heat lamps in the bathroom (I know I said it's getting warmer but I'm a colder than average girl!)
94. We can watch the Winter Olympics on TV and our computer - we don't have to miss a thing!
95. Coke Zero
96. oatmeal. It's my breakfast every morning.
97. Tulips! I found some at the grocery store the other day.
98. The beautiful colors of my living room bring me joy
99. My brother has a wonderful wife who is an answer to prayer
100. Facebook - seriously! I keep getting reconnected with old friends. Very fun!

Gold Digger

I was delighted recently to find both Glee season 1 soundtracks at the DVD store. We've been listening to them in the car on the way to the north part of town and back. One of the songs is a cover of Kanye West's Gold Digger. As we were driving home the other night it was playing, and Megan piped up, "I'm digging for another kind of gold!" Said with finger up her nose. Nice.

Thoughts on pouring myself out

One summer back in my days of angst, I camped out in the book of Ecclesiastes (Ecclesiastes, with all its "life is meaningless"talk is perfect for angst). I spent a long time in, and even wrote a poem about, chapter 11. The gist of it is, "You don't know what God is going to do with your life, so let Him fill you up and then pour yourself out and see what He does."

I've been thinking about being poured out lately. Now that I'm settled into life here, I hear God calling me to give of myself - who I am, what I have, what I can do. This thought was further reinforced when I read this post at Donald Miller's blog this morning.

So now I'm asking myself - what is my field to plow? And am I plowing it well? Good thoughts.

Surprise date

I love surprises. Really, honestly, I do. Surprise me sometime. As long as it's a nice surprise, and not anything embarrassing.

Erik surprised me this week with a special date. He told me that we were going to have family night on Thursday, but that morning announced that we were leaving the kids behind. I was told to wear something nice, that our helper was staying late to watch the kids, and we were leaving at 5. I figured there must be entertainment involved, and I was hoping that we might be going to Riverdance. I saw advertisements a long time ago and wasn't even sure when it was taking place, so I didn't hope TOO much.

We drove downtown and parked near the "Moscow Restaurant." That's where the parking attendant unintentionally let the cat out of the bag by asking if we were there to see the Riverdance performance. Yes! Even though it was only 5:30, the wait for the restaurant was ridiculously long. We had waited 1/2 hour when some of our friends happened to show up. One of them had been helping the Riverdance crew with translation and finding local musicians. We ditched the Moscow Restaurant and went with them to Big Pizza instead. Yeah, I know that sounds like a big step down in dining, but I'm all about a place where I can have a salad bar without waiting. What can I say? I'm a cheap date.

Well, for dinner anyway. I'm sure that 18th row tickets weren't cheap. But what was priceless was that our friend took us backstage with him where we witnessed the dancers warming up. I have this to say about what I saw back there: I'm no professional dancer, but it just doesn't seem like McDonald's and a smoke should be part of the warm up routine.

It didn't seem to bother them though - they put on a great show! Me, I'd have been shooting french fries into the 5th row with all that bouncing. I think my favorite routine was the Trading Taps one. I don't feel like going into detail. Just trust me that it was really good. A woman behind us was so moved she repeatedly cried out, "Duo hao kan!" during the last number. Duo hao kan indeed.