Thankful

I just got back from taking Rachel for a walk to the playground and back. And as we were walking back, I was thinking about how thankful I am to be here. When David and I first started talking about coming here, it was so hard to imagine a better life than I had in Chattanooga, with such amazing friends, an amazing church, everything my kids needed, our friends, Target and Starbucks..., and I was thinking back to a post I wrote just a few weeks ago telling how homesick I was for all things familiar and safe, and yet, the last couple of weeks I have begun feeling way more settled and at home. Things are still very different, but they are becoming "normal," and I have adjusted. I know there will still be difficult days from time to time, but I really am feeling normal. And I am able to breathe a bit and enjoy the place where God has brought us.

I have been thinking for a while of how to describe our job. Yes, we take care of high school girls whose parents are missionaries in places other than the greater Madrid area, but what that looks like on a day-to-day basis isn't really much different from what I had been doing at home, only on a larger scale (cooking and cleaning for 7 instead of for 4) and a bit harder just because of the unknowns and language barriers. But I am managing and I am feeling more confident each day, especially since I've been taking a short-term Spanish refresher course. That is helping me a lot.

But today as we were walking home, I was thinking about the fact that I can take Rachel to the playground for some Mommy-daughter time, walk there and back, leaving David at home with Mathis, and how thankful I was for that. David has been homeschooling Rachel on kind of a part-time basis, and even though he has been taking on more and more commitments at school (teaching elementary computers one day a week, doing some light construction here and there, carpooling to various school activities, working on new public relations materials, etc.,), his schedule allows him to be home with us most of the day every day. I was telling Rachel how thankful I was that Daddy was able to be home with us so much now and how much I am enjoying this time for us to be together as a family, remembering days back home when he would leave for work at 6:45 and sometimes because of various meetings or whatever, not get home until the kids were already in bed. Those days weren't the norm, thankfully, but it made me realize how much I am loving the slower pace of our life here. I don't really go anywhere except to the grocery store and to the school once in a while. I don't drive because I don't know how to drive a stick shift nor do I feel comfortable driving here, and everything I need is within walking distance. I don't have the social life or church involvement I had back home, but I am realizing that this is a particular season that God has given me. It is a gift and I am beginning to see it as that.

Another note I want to mention is that we have been praying for Rachel to find a friend since we arrived here. There are hardly any children her age and she was really missing her friends back home. This week, while watching her and Mathis play/fight/play together, we realized that God had already provided the best friend she will ever have, in her brother. Mathis was a surprise to all of us, but looking back, I am astonished at the providence of God to provide a playmate for Rachel who she would need so much this year. God always knows best. I believe that with all my heart and I say that a lot, but we were struck by that truth this week as we realized the answer to our prayer. We didn't know we needed to have another child, but God did for such a time as this.