9 Days

Tomorrow I finish up nine days away from home. I'll have preached twice, talked to small groups eight times, and gotten to know a number of people in the broader church world. The conference was pretty well run and I would definitely do it again. Today I'm just enjoying the quiet. I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner pretty much by myself. I took a long walk. I worked on (long overdue) student papers, which are still not done, but hopefully will be 50% there soon (this part is making me wince). I missed a few mini-milestones. Sam apparently slept on a mattress on the floor in grandpa and grandma's room. Eli peed in the toilet (standing? sitting? details to follow...). I can tell it's been a bit of a rocky week for Emily, with late nights, night interruptions, some early mornings, etc., etc. Even a ratio of 4:3 with the kids is not a piece of cake. It will be a fair amount of driving tomorrow. Ninety minutes to friend Matt's service. Then several hours to where my friend Greg is. Then home to the family. I think it should be an okay day. Today it rained a lot. I was lucky to have aircon until today, but am now just running on Vornado power (this is the fan we bought to see if we want one when we go abroad again). That's the news from here. I still have no cell phone, but am able to do typing on my little chromebook. I have my dad's taste for orphaned but creative technology. Someday I'll start posting pictures again too.

Conference

This is my first time participating in a conference quite like I'm at. It's centered around mission workers who serve in a couple of dozen conferences, but then invites children and teens, mostly from within a hundred miles, but also from much farther away. I like the people I am meeting and they are all doing interesting things. For me, it's also been a challenge--mostly in a good way--to try to explain what we do and where we live to different age groups. I'll have talked to elementary, jr. high, high school, and adults by the time I'm done, and also will have preached at two friends' churches (one is a large suburban congregation and the other is a set of yoked congregations). It's an interesting place to be. I like the setting also. It's at a college campus, but one in a rural area. I get to see horse-drawn carriages, there's a beautiful lake and some nature courses, and there are various critters around (I've seen a snake, frogs and rabbits, etc.). Our kids are too young now, but it's the type of place we could maybe go as a family. I remember my Aunt Nancy has a camp her family went to, and David and I went to a camp when we were school-aged. This might be a nice compromise. Originally I thought I'd have to leave on Saturday and get a hotel, but I think I can stay an extra day if I'm willing to switch rooms. I'm hoping Saturday can be a grading/catching up day. I also found out I can visit one of my best friends from high school on the way home. I feel like this has been a productive time and I've gotten some things done. Emily's having a tough time with the kids back home. Three kids is a lot, even for four adults, and Eli's pulling some nighttime shenanigans. Hopefully things will settle out, but she's (understandably) nervous about our next conference and the transitions facing us. I'm thinking now might be a good time to check out a bunch of books from the library and to see what they have to say. Sometimes it helps just to hear what others are up to. Sometimes with the kids I still feel like we're pretty low on Maslov's Hierarchy of needs (is that right?). We're working on food and sleep and shelter. We're still a ways away from self-actualization. It's still at the survival stage.

Ports at Sea

It's hard to believe that we're coming up on a month in the US. We're doing pretty well with the transitions, but I still feel like there are a lot of ups and downs. We like being with family, and the kids are having a great time. I'm connecting to congregations and we'll get to see some familiar faces. I had a burst of productivity this week, but the truth is that getting things written and graded is still tough, even when I carve out a few quiet hours. I'm enjoying the small pleasures of being in the states. Everything is in English! I can internet shop! The public library lets you take out a huge quantity of books for weeks at a time with multiple renewals! Other things: we're thinking about weaning at some point. With Emily around 24/7 they want to nurse pretty much continuously. Next up for me is about 9 days on the road. I leave early tomorrow morning and go to a camp for most of the time. I'm excited about the time away but hope it isn't too hard on Emily and also know I'll miss the kid (this is my longe

st trip away). That's us for now! And attached are some pictures from the Indi trip.

Again an OH driver

I passed my diver's license with an outstanding 98 (I lost two points for pausing during the cone exercise). I'm excited that hopefully I can move on to the next thing and forget about my brief return to being 16 again. It is funny how authorities like this affect you. I had one dream last week where I was in prison. Last night (as is often the case before any test or important meeting) I woke up to look at the clock every hour or two throughout the night. It's funny how shame works. I really felt anxious about the (real) possibility of failing. Last night Emily and I went to the church parking lot and I practiced in the cones for an hour. We even met a 21 year old whose Mom brought him over to watch and study how to do the test. I was grateful that Randy had the supplies to set up so that I could feel I'd put some time into practice. All of this said, I'm very glad it is over and don'e plan on repeating this experience. What a funny event! An upside of taking the test away from Cinci is that we had time to talk and enjoy the countryside. I don't think I've been in small town America for a while. It felt relatively peaceful. My brother and dad both like long-distance driving--hopefully it's something that I can do also. I also enjoyed driving our old Saturn, which was probably our first "big" purchase as a couple and which drives well a decade later with a 108,000 miles. Otherwise things are going well. Sam's loving the extra attention he gets in the US. Pretty much every day he gets to play in the sprinkler, ride cars in the driveway, and spend time with his grandparents and his aunt Reina. He gets to play with all of Alan's old toys (Tonka, stuffed animals, etc.). He's been to several playgrounds, and especially enjoyed when trains would pass by. It's been nice to have extra sets of hands around. The truth is our kids are up 7am-11pm (between the three), so it really can feel like a double shift sometimes. The babies are saying more are very entertaining right now. Eva seemed ecstatically happy when I came down this morning. Eva can say "kick" now, because of the kicking I have her do (and she also does a little stomp kick on her own). They also can say things like "shoes," "one two three," uh-oh, OK, no, up, done, dog, all gone (awgon),etc. Some of these only we can understand, but they are verbalizing a lot. Sam has on several occasions made up a "hot wheels" song. He is asking a ton of why questions, some seeking understanding and others seeking limits (why does / why can't). It's pretty fun to watch them developing. I'm having some good conversations with pastors as I seek to get to know congregations here. It'll be a busy few weeks ahead. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about it all and to stay focused on good things. I have always admired people who can do lot of travel/speaking. I'm still not sure it's my gift, but I'd like to get better at explaining what we are up to and helping congregations to think about their place in the broader world. I still feel like I have a backlog of projects. For instance, I have grades to do, a chapter to finish, and sermon/talk material to work on. I'm actually looking forward to the camp in a week in that it may give me some time to do an hour of writing a day in a quieter environment. I don't know if this is really feasible, but it would be nice. Some of my goals for the next two months: walk every day, read a couple of novels, check out some audio books from the public library, enjoy time with family, catch up with some friends, write a little. I think this is all possible, and it could be a pretty fun sermon. I also feel like I'm doing a fair amount of church-y work through October, so it may be the winter could be a little quieter (perhaps Sundays only, with the rest of the time devoted to prepping class, playing with kids, and diss work for Em).

Absence

This has been my longest absence from blogging in a while. This is often a place for me to think about family life, personal progress, and kids. It has by all accounts been a hectic six or so weeks. I'm finally inspired to write again by the addition of my chromebook, which is encouraging me to do more light writing (and hopefully to make progress on a single chapter I'm writing for a project). Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly: (1) Wrapping up in Taiwan. We left earlier than planned, so things were not entirely smooth. I had to figure out how to finish things up, we relied on Linda for lots of help, and the plane ride itself was a bit ugly. If I looked stressed lately, it's because at some point (probably next week), I have take a driver's test, grade papers for my school, and write a sermon for the next Sunday. I think all of these things will come, but, wow, I just wish they were a bit easier. (2) Chicago. Our trip to the paternal home was wonderful. Super aunt and uncle Don and Nancy, and wunder-cousins Amy, Daniel, and Mary provided much needed baby-care and all manner of kindnesses and amenities (trips to a petting zoo, a pool for use, good pizza and ribs, etc.). It was really a nice homecoming. Sam played games with grandma and grandpa, who did a highly commendable job but who also looked a little surprised at how exhausting grandparenting three little kids can be. I decided in addition to talking about "parenting," there should be some way to talk about "childing." For example: "screaming at your parents and throwing food on the ground is especially bad childing." One of the funniest instances was when my parents bought Eva a little toy double stroller with two plastic babies. My mom was wanting Eva to have a doll and thought this would be great. What she underestimated was Eli's paternal instincts, or possibly just his love of wheeled objects. It was funny to watch because at 20 months it is still pretty hard to understand property rights. Who was the wronged child? Eli, who didn't get the dolls, or Eva, who was "mugged" by Eli? I did the first two church visits during this time. It was a great trip. It was very, very nice to be back in my grandparents' space. We watched tv, played in the yard. I looked through old dressers and learned new stories from Dad and Nancy. I feel blessed that as an adult I could be in my grandparents' house and have so many happy memories. After this trip, I Chicago will probably slip a little on my "most commonly visited places," but I really do like the city. Emily drove us through ominous clouds and then a truly fierce rainstorm on the way to Indianapolis. By the time we arrived, great-grandmother's power was out. We had a good visit though, and also saw Emily's twin aunt and uncle. Barb and I drove with the twins the rest of the way to Cinci, where Eva again screamed the whole way and also stole Eli's blanket and through it on the ground out of spite. (I should say that Eva is really a charming kid, it's just that her screaming is a bit more intense.) (3) Cinci. We're now at our "home." I've been a little traumatized by the steps involved in getting a driver's license here. I don't know what I could have done differently, short of coming home a month earlier. Still, this is a huge hassle. I am hoping the driving test is smooth and I can stop thinking about this. We have a lot of family here now: grandma and grandpa, Uncle Al, Reina and Ginny, and visits by Lisa and David. I think it'll be a nice month. I've schedule some meetings with pastors and I start a preaching streak on July 15. This is our life. It's a little more change a bit faster than I'd like, but I'm trying to stay upbeat and proactive about everything. More to come soon...