One of the Big Ones

Caleb's birthday is this coming Saturday.  18.  Deep breath.  :-)

This weekend our house was filled with Shanghai friends.  They started arriving a week ahead of time, Caleb's friends gathering for a big concert in Chicago that they had all made plans months ago to attend together .  Other friends came too, coincidentally.  We ended up with a houseful and it was so fun to have them all again.  Scott and I marveled at the crowd of Shanghai kids that were around our breakfast table Saturday morning.  How could it be?  We had served breakfast after sleep overs to this same group many weekend mornings in China... but this wasn't China... and here they all were!

Saturday night we had dinner at our house for everyone and I had decided we should do an early birthday cake since we had this group gathered.  Scott had picked out number candles and as I put the "18" on the cake it shocked me a little.  As we sang the birthday song, I realized that this birthday was not unlike this guy's birthday five years ago, when we were newly arrived in Shanghai.  He was turning 13 and I had no prospects for a party with friends until God put together far more than I could ask or imagine.  The Allen family, who were also new to Shanghai and whom we had met less than a week before the big day, gathered our family and another new family into their home for dinner, cake, gifts... the works.  Now the Allens and lots of other friends from China were in our Chicago kitchen celebrating another big birthday for Caleb.  A m a z i n g.

A milestone birthday for Caleb... this Saturday is the Big Day.   I love that he can look back and see how God provided for him and for all of us on his 13th birthday when we were new in a big foreign city five years ago.  I love that we had so many of our dear Shanghai friends with us on Saturday night for 18th birthday cake.

I love Caleb.   Happy Birthday!

Dreaming

We took a little road trip a few Saturdays ago to Iowa... or was it heaven?!  If you've seen the movie Field of Dreams, you'll recognize this site.  It looks just like it did in the 1989 film.  You can play baseball on the field and walk in and out of the corn, and that's what we did for a couple of hours. So cool, especially for the baseball lovers in our family.  :-)

Back Where We Started

The Calvary Church picnic... we attended one five years ago, literally a couple of days before we moved to Shanghai.  Last week we were there again, playing, eating, enjoying fireworks and a wonderful outdoor worship concert, just like five years ago.  Almost seemed like no time had passed at all.  It's been funny, several people I've talked with here since we've returned have said that nothing has really changed since we've been away, and in some ways it feels that way to us, too.  Our old life was waiting here for us.

Gwen sports her glow sticks as hair jewelry at this year's church picnic.

The trick is that we have changed, and in some ways I'm not sure yet where I fit.  When we left Chicago in July 2007, I had just finished another year in a long stretch of years of homeschooling.  Haven't done that for a few years now... so what will I do here in the fall?  In Shanghai I knew where I fit, I knew how to use my time well.  I know God has good prepared for me to do here... waiting to see what it will be.

Little Gwenny dancing at her first church picnic in 2006.

We saw things and did things in Asia that changed us, we met people that we loved and have now in many ways lost.  I miss those people, that community, the places we saw and the things we experienced.

I love being back in our cozy Midwestern house, freshening it up with new paint colors, arranging our life here once more.  Our sea shipment, with all the stuff of our China life, will be here on my Chicago doorstep on Wednesday morning.  Where will that Chinese style table go?  How about the Great Wall bowl and the Chinese calligraphy brushes?  Will they look silly in this very American house?  It will be an adventure to see if we can create some fusion decor.  :-)

I've gotten my fingers into the dirt in my little side garden, the one along the garage that I put in on a whim in the late fall seven or eight years ago.  A few of the perennials I planted then were still waiting for me, all gangley and wild from lack of pruning.  I've planted some new ones and added a few tomato plants and annuals... old and new, fusion happening again.

There are familiar faces here, old friends that were waiting for us.  The girls and I stopped at one family's house tonight at the end of our bike ride- hadn't seen or even exchanged Christmas cards with this family for five years- yet they welcomed us into their home immediately for an hour of warm conversation.  Balm to my soul!  We have prayed for new friends, people we don't yet know that we can share this life with.  God surprised us over and over in Shanghai with wonderful relationships... I know He can do that here, too.

So we are back where we started... in some ways.  But not really.  We are ready to move on into whatever God has for us in this old/new life.

I'll let you know when I find out what it is.

PS.  Don't you love the creative header Carol created for me?  She is amazing!  :-)

We're Here

Caleb helps Gwen position her glove for a good catch.

We really are here.  We are living in our Chicago house again, as of Monday night.  The house isn't put together, not by a long shot.  We are still waiting for our air shipment to arrive, which means dishes and pots and pans, clothes beyond what we packed into our suitcases three weeks ago, pillows and other bedding.  The air shipment also has some books and games, stuffed animals, bikes.  We hope that shipment will clear customs in the US more quickly than it did on the China side and be to us by early next week.  For now we are sort of camping in our house, but with our beds, which came out of storage after a five year nap.  Beyond that we are waiting for our sea shipment, which includes all the furniture we took to China, like our couches and chairs, dressers and cabinets.  Hopefully those items will make it to us by mid-July.

Despite the missing items in our house, it feels like home to be back in the Midwest.  Lots of the same neighbors still live on our circle.  They've been so welcoming.  Our church feels like home.  The vibrant children's and youth programs there have been awesome for our kids, and I've breathed many prayers of thanks and relief to the Lord for the way they have all been included and drawn in.  Walking back into the big field at the elementary school behind our cul-de-sac to play baseball with the kids in the evenings, Trigger running after the stray balls, feels like home. 

Scott's back to work this week, riding the train into the city.  The boys started driver's ed and got their permits.  The girls have played with friends, and I've tried to make progress with the house.  Tomorrow, our 21st anniversary, we venture to Valparaiso for an orientation overnight with Caleb, while Scott's parents stay here with our other kids.  Life rolls on.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."  Joshua 1:9

P.S.  My sweet friend Carol is working on a new header for my blog.  Wait and see what she can do! 

Transitions

Yep, it's a Shanghai photo.  We may be in the US now, knee deep in all the tasks that come with returning after five years away, but China is still in us.  It will be, I reckon, for a long time.  Probably forever.  I can't know that now, less than a week removed from it, but somehow I can't imagine it not being a part of me always. 

It's so good to be here.  The sky is blue, blue, blue.  Coming from the perpetual smog that is the Shanghai sky, I love this blue.  I love driving my own car!  I love reconnecting with our sweet neighbors who have welcomed us as if we never left.  I love the ease of asking for help in a store- surprise, the clerks speak my language!  I love fast internet.  I love having virtually everything I could ever need so readily available.

We are in transition right now.  We are in transition because we are sleeping in a hotel at night, but by day are working in our yard and doing laundry in our house as it is being painted and carpeted.  We are living out of suitcases as we wait for our shipments to arrive.  We are getting US phones set up.  Today I set up the rental of a 96 gallon trash can for use at our home (don't ask!).  We are slowly recovering from jet lag.  We are eating our meals out, as all our kitchen stuff is somewhere en route to us. 

Someone asked me yesterday how we are adjusting.  Really?  We had been in the US less than 48 hours.  How can I know this?  I don't know if we will know this for sure in a month, or even six months.  I do know that God has been so faithful to bring people to us, to show us that He sees us and is walking with us.  I know that Gwen played at a friend's house today, and that Madelyn had her arm around a friend when I picked her up from the all day junior high program at church this week, the one I signed her up for online months ago.  I know that a neighbor hung a Welcome Home sign across our house.  I thought we didn't have any connections here anymore, but God knew differently.  He saved them for us.

So yes, China is in my heart.  I know I will continue to grieve the loss of our life there as time goes by.  So good to be in Chicago though, good to be in our house, even if it's only during the day for now. Good to be in practically the same time zone as our families.  Good to see the sky.  It's all good.

New Grace

Seth and friends on the last day of school.

Madelyn and friends on the last day of school!  Madelyn is wearing the good-bye shirt Concordia gives to all students leaving the school. 

 

Loved this scene... teachers wave good-bye to the buses as they leave on the last day of school.

Gwenny on Mingyue Lu, the street both our housing compound and Concordia are on.  Walked this way 1000 times!

Lights out, Shanghai...  we've loved you!

In college, Scott sang with a group called New Grace.  On weekends throughout the school year, they traveled in a several state area to perform in churches.  They ended every concert with the same song... and on this last day in Shanghai, the day we move back to the US, it is running through my head.

The time has come, O Lord, for us to leave this place.

Guide us and protect us, and lead us in new grace.

Wherever life may take us, as we go our separate ways,

Help us share with others the things we've shared today.

May the peace of God the Father, and the love of Christ His son,

Guard us in the days ahead, and strengthen us each one.

May the blessings of the Spirit fill us from within.

God bless us and return us to this fellowship once again.

Last day... need to pack up, need to say good-bye to this city and the amazing community we have found here.  Strengthen us, Lord, with grace for the next adventure!  

Hello Chicago....

Last Day at Home

Tonight we said good-bye to our friend.  The place we called the bank when we first moved into it because of its appearance... three stories high and completely square.  We have occupied the first floor apartment in this granite cube for the last four years. 

The girls loved climbing all over the truck last week as it was being loaded.

Today was hard.  It seemed we would never make it out of the house alive. Our shipments have been packed and gone for a week, but somehow there seemed to be lots of stuff still in the house.  I made many trips upstairs to leave random items outside my neighbor's door, and our ayi took many things home as well.  When it was finally finished, Seth and Gwen and I sat on the bare living room floor playing silly games, like balancing various items on our noses, waiting for Scott to return for us after his first trip to the hotel, car loaded with our boxes and bags.  It will take us no small amount of organizing to get this last bit of stuff ready to go with us on our Saturday flight.

I had to shed a few tears as we stood by the car, outside the house in the dark.  The house itself isn't really a place I loved for itself, what with the marble floors inside and the imposing appearance outside.  I loved all the kids that came through that place, though.  All the meals prepared for hungry high schoolers, the sleep-overs, the movie nights.  Loved the time spent in the granite cube with our small group friends.  Loved all the playtime for my girls with the other kids of our Chinese Beverly Hills neighborhood, all the conversations with other moms in the twilight at the little playground.  Hard to walk away from those memories.

Caleb and Zach in his room last week after the packers finished.

Tonight we're in a hotel.  One more day of school tomorrow.  More good-byes to say, and for me I'm sure a few more tears to shed at the all-school closing chapel.  I'm thinking about whether I'll walk "home" from school with Gwen one last time, to stand outside our China house.

Winding Down

Good-byes are hard.  Seems like we've been saying a lot of them.  We said good-bye to Caleb at the airport last week.  We've said good-bye at church and small group and at dinners and coffees and parties and last walks and bike rides. 

Our house has been empty, save our beds and a few other random pieces of furniture, since last Wednesday.  I feel like we are in an extended state of flux.  I told Seth last night that I'm sorry our life is so weird right now... I need to embrace it because we'll be in transition in some form for a while yet.  In many ways I want to leave Shanghai now, this morning, to move on, to move towards some order in our lives again.  But this is a sweet time in its own way...

I'm sorting through the last items in my pantry, leaving things outside my upstairs neighbor's door multiple times a day.  Scott is working steadily at closing bank accounts, phone contracts, and utility bills.  I need to pick up all our records at the doctor, fill out the withdrawal paperwork at school, and host Gwen's good-bye party this afternoon.  Seth gave his portfolio presentation at school this morning, reflecting on his goals for the year in several areas and how he has met them.  I loved hearing him.  He's a confident speaker.   Never mind that all his dress clothes had been packed by the movers last week so he had to borrow dress pants from a friend this morning... it worked.  :-)

I'm getting things settled for our pets, finding places for them to stay until they leave, a few days after us.  Arranging accomodations and rides for animals seems to add to the crazy...  but I am thankful they will be able to join us back to the US.

 

 So many people we love...

Trying to process all of this, thoughts and emotions are swirling... its not my first time to move, and I know moving is a common experience for so many of us.  I want to help my family process this all well.  I want to process it well myself and some moments of these last days I'm doing better than others.  Knowing that God is behind us and before us, and that His hand rests on our heads helps so very much. 

Wish I could tie these thoughts up neatly, but instead I just get them out.  It will take a while to mentally and emotionally sort all we have experienced and are now experiencing as we leave.  I love the Dr. Suess quote I've seen several places recently, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."  I am very glad that China has happened to us.  :-)

Peace

My dear friend's texted prayer this morning, in response to my text to her telling of lost items in the midst of days of packers in our house, my sleepless nights and anxious heart as details of the coming weeks spin through my head~

      "I pray for comfort and peace of mind, for the absence of anxiety, that the lost will be found, for the feeling of being well rested and alert, for a sound mind and a terrific day."

The Lord is good.  The lost has been found, I've had some moments of time in this busy day to reset, Scott is home with me and taking care of so many details, and there IS peace in the midst of chaos.

Thankful for the prayers of the saints, and the God who IS peace that hears them and answers.

Going Out With A Bang

Fireworks come big in China... I arrived home the other day to find these two huge boxes of them in the middle of our living room.  Scott was planning on going out with a bang, he said. 

There was no shortage of guys who showed up for the fun last night when we set them off on a side street near our house.

With the first spent box of fireworks in the foreground, Caleb sets off a long line of firecrackers.  Notice all the debris from the fireworks littering the street!

The noise and smoke were terrific, and the colored sparks flew high in the air and showered down around us.  Great fun!

Ladies' Lunch on the Bund

Love these women, love this view!

Chicken Dinner

Here's an common scene, even in this very westernized city.  This vendor will slaughter and pluck a duck or chicken for you on the spot.   Any takers?  I walk in the mornings with friends, and we see this guy frequently.  Very fresh meat, Chinese very like.  :-)

Chairs, and Pictures Not Posted

 

A month or two ago I had the thought that I would like to post a photo per day for our last month in Shanghai.  I would take pictures of all the places that we go throughout the week, and all the typical Shanghai scenes that have become so familiar.  What a nice way to end my five years of on-location China blogging... ha, ha, ha.  Did not happen.  

We are now inside of three weeks until we move.  We've been entertaining both sets of grandparents here for graduation and are loving it.  We've had a steady stream of graduates in and out of our house, staying up til all hours, enjoying their new found freedom.  I have just tonight decided that the detailed insurance inventory for our move is officially finished and Scott is scanning and emailing it to the moving company right now.  Happy to have that off my list.  Lots of end of the year and good-bye gatherings for different friends in the coming days.  Air, Sea and Do Not Pack stickers to apply to all our household goods.  

So I offer this one photo today.  It was taken in a warehouse or rather series of warehouses of furniture and random decorating items that I visited and shopped in with some friends about a month ago.  The photo doesn't show nearly the scope of the stacks and stacks of chairs, literally hundreds of them piled up to the ceiling.  The man pictured climbed deftly up the bamboo ladder into the pile to pull out the chairs we pointed out to him.  It seemed sort of like a house of cards... we were amazed when he made it out without a big crash!  :-)

Caleb's Graduation!

 May 19, 2012.  Just three weeks until we leave Shanghai.  Today we weren't thinking about our move, but rather celebrating Caleb's completion of high school!  When we arrived here, he had just finished 7th grade and was a month shy of his 13th birthday.  We didn't imagine then that we would still be here five years later for graduation. 

 

What a great day it has been, with both sets of grandparents here to celebrate with us.  From Mr. Munson reading from The House At Pooh Corner in the commencement address, to the taget shooting alarm clock Caleb's basketball coach gave him as a graduation gift, to the fun after graduation banquet, it was a day we were reminded over and over again of the special community we have been a part of at Concordia.

 Diploma in hand! 

 So thankful for Grandpa & Grandma and Pa & Nanny's presence with us today!

 Hoag and Liptak guys... we are all leaving Shanghai together in a few weeks.

 Concordia phoenix behind us!

 This morning Gwen came into bed with me for a cuddle.  I was thinking about all the events of the day before us, and realized that her graduation was just ten years away.  That length of time might have sounded like a lot to me back when Caleb was my only little guy, but now that I'm a little older and have seen how the years pass, I know that it's just around the corner.  Can't really believe the time with Caleb as our boy is nearly over.  I love the man he's becoming.