 |
| glowsticks sent by grandparents |
Drew and I both tend to welcome change, and this has been a good one. What I'm trying to do with this post is give you a feel for what our weeks are like. So let's start off with what's on the calendar.
Weekly Schedule
Monday - Friday Drew is out the door 8am, home by 7pm.
Monday - Thursday Titus is still in preschool 8:15am to 5:15pm.
Tuesday nights Drew goes straight from work to our 7-9pm English corner at a coffeehouse; I meet him there. Auntie Wang is home with the boys. We're back around 9:30.
Mondays I have Dship group with two friends;
Fridays I have moms' group/playgroup.
Tuesday & Thursday evenings Auntie Wang is at our home to help me.
Saturdays are free as of this past weekend! Meaning, we are free to get together with friends or have the day all to ourselves. (Previously Drew had been gone every Saturday to help facilitate two groups meeting at the South Church.)
Sunday mornings we join the South Church service and teach the junior high class. Every other Sunday afternoon we fellowship with a foreign group and often teach the elementary-aged children or lead the music.
And this is what a single typical day feels like.
Weekday Daily Routine
5:30am parents rise!
7am family breakfast. It's good quality time. Everybody's got their bowl of oatmeal with ground flax seed and honey. Drew reads a really short story from a children's Bible. We try our weekly memory verse (just started that habit this week). It's not perfect but it's togetherness... and all the boys genuinely like the regularity of starting our day this way.
Titus does a short 20-minute reading lesson in the morning.
8am Drew and Titus are out the door to work and school, respectively.
Meanwhile I usually have mornings open to run errands, prep plans and materials for our small groups, pay attention to Mike & Jon, do housework and get together with neighbors. Yang Cong & me and kids hang out once or twice a week. Then there's lunch, naps, quiet time, meal preparations, more errands etc.
5pm me, Jon & Mike pick up Titus from school, lingering on the playground and taking our time walking home.
7pm Drew's back and we eat supper together. Sometimes we have guests. Evenings are for clean-up, playtime, storybooks, fixing-whatever...
8:30pm boys in bed.
10pm (well that's the lofty goal anyway) parents in bed.
We are satisfied with our schedule and it usually feels ok. This week in particular is going to be looooooooong because Drew has to work all seven days, Monday - Sunday. Then he has the following Monday - Wednesday off for the national holiday Dragon Boat Festival. This is merely the normal way Chinese arrange work schedules around holidays.
After much delay, this spring we decided it was time to hire a house helper, Auntie Wang. It was the right decision. I'm going to tell you all about her another day.
There is a reasonable amount of open time in our week. We think it's so important and wise not to plan every moment of every day. The great value of unscheduled time is being available to people! When friends call us up we can say yes to that need or invitation to play.
And, we have spaces for rest. Rest is essential.
Any Space for a trip to the US?
Why yes! In the compensation negotiations, Drew conveyed our need for one month's time to visit the United States, perhaps annually. The arrangement is such: Drew can schedule his vacation time succeeding or following Chinese New Year, which is the longest holiday, and also work remotely from the US for one week --- a composite one month out of the office. This is a very unique request and Drew's employer has been understanding of our need to visit family. Yippee!
counting the graces
thank you Father for
little toenails and fingernails to clip
little toenails and fingernails to clip
walking hand-in-hand with my big boy Michael
sharing time with Lyn, a friend who is an excellent listener; she makes me feel understood and supported
sharing time with Lyn, a friend who is an excellent listener; she makes me feel understood and supported
thoughtful box of treats from Alabama
summer evening outside with family -- bamboo sticks, green grass, dirt paths
very useful guitar, long-term loan from a friend leaving town
the knowledge that Auntie Wang is coming today to help me get unburied from this mess
fantastic week having Tommy live with us
your patience with our fickleness
"no matter what state my heart is in, you are faithful to answer, with words that are true and and hope that is real"
It sounds like a busy schedule, but full of sweet good things!! Hugs!!!
ReplyDelete