Well, as you can see by the sparse updates, I'm not on the computer much anymore these days! Our lives continue to be full, mostly with family time!
We enjoyed our Christmas break, but, we also enjoyed being back home and getting into a routine again!
We've had some hard days over the last few weeks. Thankfully they're spread out and are not one after the other. We knew these days would come (and why wouldn't they?). Jian has had so much to adjust to, a new country, new home, new food, new routines, new rules, new holidays, and on and on. Some days we wonder why he seems to only focus on himself and can't see other things going on around him, then, we laugh and wonder, why would he? He's grown up in an orphanage for 14 years and had to learn how to survive on his own! Our friend Charity made me laugh when I was telling her about some our rough days, she joked, "well, it's his own fault, if he hadn't been so good the first 3 months....."
So, our bad days are not horrible, but, just hard. They have involved tears, tension, anger, frustration and more. Thankfully, Jian has always been pretty good at being able to communicate his feelings after things have settled down and is able to learn and apologize! He really is an amazing boy! Some days we're exhausted and tired thinking of all of the things to teach him, so many things that need to be re-learned, or taught, after growing up without a family, but, at the end of the day, I'm reminded of the great privilege it is that God has chosen us to be the family to teach him!
These days often remind me of my behavior towards God! I am just as much (or more) rebellious, defiant and unkind as Jian is to my Heavenly Father - and I'm so very grateful to continually be forgiven and loved! Truthfully, Jian's hard days are much more few and far between than mine are! There is a lot of laughter and joy that permeates our home as well. We love to watch the boys enjoy each other and communicate so well together, it gives us special, fun memories.
Tanner has had a couple of hard weeks as well, but his have been physically. He's had a couple of migraines, one requiring an ER visit for medication to stop the vomiting. He used to really perk up after these visits, but, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. He's not felt well for quite a while, but, continues to live life with a smile on his face and joy in his heart. He really loves his brother, and he continues to be a wonderful example to us of how to live with suffering!
So, thankfully, the last several days have been good ones, and we know there will be more hard ones to come, but, we're grateful for a gracious heavenly Father who helps us get through them, and gives us a brand new start each and every day, to try all over again!
