China Update

While talking to Pete on Skype today, he showed me what it looked like outside his hotel room in Tianjin. This is not fog, people. This is SMOG! It was 8am over there when I took this picture. Ugh. Can't imagine waking up to that. Won't be quite so quick to be annoyed with this sunshine and hot weather now!

This has been a busy week for him. They've been working 6 days a week from 7:30 when the bus leaves until dinnertime or later - depending on if they have to attend a banquet. He's got the day off today, so they are hitting a local market, then going bowling! Should be a fun day off for them all. Hopefully he'll take a few pictures of his first Chinese bowling experience. Wonder if it'll be at all different from our American bowling? He misses us a lot and we miss him, but starting tomorrow our countdown is in the single digits! Yay! This trip has been harder on us than it has been in the past. Mostly because it's so soon after his last trip and even longer than that one as well. Plus, knowing he'll be gone again next month kind of sits in the back of our minds and makes it feel like this journey we've been on this summer isn't over yet. But, he feels like they are making good progress over there and he's with some of his buddies too, which helps.

I will say this about the trips he's been going on, I've never realized what amazing friends we have here. Not having family close enough to help can sometimes be hard. I try not to be a whiner and complain about how tough it can be sometimes. But, to be honest, having 3 kids home all day, every day, without a help mate can be tiresome at best. But, I have had such an outpouring of offers from my friends with this trip. They can see through this "I can do it myself" facade and have offered so much to me and my kids. Of course, getting me to accept the offers isn't easy. I hate putting people out, but I'm working on that. I know in my heart that these gestures are made out of love, not obligation. Our friend Jayson has been mowing the grass for me since Pete's been gone. Made him cookies as payment and he was happy as could be with something as simple as that. Had several people offer to have us come over and play in the pool, to take the kids for a movie night or a trip to the zoo, so I can have time to myself. Wow. Just such an outpouring of kindness from our friends and I cannot tell you how much it means to me. Pete and I have lived here for 10 yrs now and never have we felt more at home than we have these past few years. We have a loving church family and wonderful friends who help out their neighbors and it warms my heart. Growing up in Royal Center, we didn't have family around. They were, in fact, a lot farther than just the 3 hours that separate us from our families here, so my parents often had to rely on the kindness of their friends. Those friends remain dear to us still and I see that same thing happening with our friends today. So, yes, this is an update on China and how Pete's trip is going, but it's also to thank God for giving us such amazing friends, that would help us with anything, without a moment of hesitation. We are so blessed!