New Practices

2016 was a good year.  It was a great year, in fact.  

I've been thinking back on last year more than usual as we've walked through the first weeks and months of 2017 -- particularly because this year just feels so different than last. 

Last year felt like our foot was on the accelerator.  We had a few moments of letting off the gas, but for the most part, it felt like we were always on the move and the view was ever changing.  

This was mostly due to a revolving door of visitors and all the different activities and events we planned around their stays.  

Returning to the States every-other-summer means that those years with summers where we stayed in Albania would hold disproportionately heavy times of hosting. 2016 bore that out in spades.  I think we hosted nearly 30 different individuals for overnight visits ranging anywhere from one night to many weeks. The ministry activities were as varied as our guests.  It was busy but it was really good, too.

But now we find ourselves nearly a quarter of the way through 2017 and we have yet to host a single overnight visitor. It's a strikingly different pace in which we find ourselves.  At least for now. :-)

 As a family we have had time to re-focus on or resume activities that were put on the back-burner -- like catching up on projects and meeting with a language helper again.  We have also been able to devote time to good things like reading, listening to sermons, and starting some new practices too.  I'm going to share about one we started this month that seems to be working well!

I admit that we allow our kids enjoy a fair amount of screen time.  We have programs nearly every evening at the center that demand our attention, so it's been easier to leave the kids to themselves upstairs or in the next room and more often than not, they would find themselves absorbed in some game or another.

In feeling convicted about our laxity in that area, I decided to try a 30/30/30 program I heard about on a parenting podcast.  30 minutes of reading, 30 minutes of chores, and 30 minutes of playing together before any screens are allowed (this is after they have already completed a full morning of home school). Ellie also has an additional 30 minutes of practicing her instruments.

Wouldn't you know it works?  Starting this practice now, when life isn't so crazy, means that I have had time to work a few minutes each day teaching the kids simple skills that contribute to keeping our household functioning. (Like folding clothes, putting away the dishes, dusting, wiping down surfaces, etc.).

I have also discovered that a love of reading doesn't come naturally to everyone, but it's something that needs to be cultivated and this daily habit is moving them in the right direction.  Reni still gets overwhelmed at sitting and reading by himself for that long, but he doesn't mind reading every other page with Nathan or I, or having Ellie read aloud something to him. (Maybe I'm loose here, but for the moment, it feels okay to me).

My hope is that as the weeks and months progress, taking time to read each day will be something they both learn to love.  After all, they both have wonderful imaginations -- I think it's just a matter of time before they learn to submerge their imaginations in a world that someone else has created through the written word.

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Now when the kids finish school, they want to know their list of chores.  My challenge is to save the work for them to do! And while we often have to guide reading choices, it's a good excuse for us to sit down with them and share an activity together that stimulates conversation and discussion. Win, win, win!

Unfolding

Ellie, with her kind teacher who administered Ellie's achievement tests and gave us some direction for the next steps in her  education plan.

This girl of ours is growing up so fast.  

Most days I hardly remember that there was a time in her life before she was ours. But every day we deal with the lingering effects of early institutionalization. If I had the chance,  I would stand in the town square and hail any judge or social worker who would listen of the need to get children in permanent homes as quickly as ethically possible, and to provide meaningful social development in the interim.

Last month our family had the opportunity to attend an educational conference.  In the interest of full disclosure, you can label me a 'reluctant home-schooler'.  Education conferences are not something that ring my bell. I do not get excited researching curriculum, hanging out in online forums discussing the ways in which to improve immature handwriting, nor do I have a framed print of Charlotte Mason over my work desk.  However, I have begun to embrace the reality that we are a home-schooling family, and I need to start thinking --as someone famous noted -- with 'the end' in mind, instead of just dealing with things one year at a time. 

The carrot for this conference was the opportunity to get the children tested academically to make sure they are staying on target.  Little did I know when we registered how many other wonderful resources would be available for those of us with children who learn differently. Or that we would meet such amazing families who understand our situation. Or that we would be ministered to so richly. And as I type this list, I also realized how blessed we are to serve with an agency that doesn't see our children's needs as a hindrance to our service in our host country. 

We live in a fascinating age as discoveries continue to unfold in our understanding of the way God has created us.  Thanks to individualized tests and consultations, we learned some new things about our girl, as well as had some other realities confirmed.  We covet your prayers as we seek a possible therapy regimen to help train her brain to idle a little slower, less stressed. 

In the mean time, we keep taking it, one day at a time, watching our little flower continue to unfold. We praise God for His provision of her needs throughout, this conference just the latest.

Ellie performed an Albanian worship song at the student talent night during the conference.
She was thrilled to have an audience.  Her parents were proud.