City Slicker Adventures

One night before the weather turned cold, the five of us went to the park for a picnic dinner. We ate, did some foot racing, and helped the kids attempt to climb a small nearby tree. Tree climbing, once a common and chief pastime of children, has always eluded me. Perhaps it's my awkward leg:torso ratio. Hopefully my kids fare better. Their dad was a master in his time.

As you can see from the pictures below, we stayed out until it was dark, which is rare for us since our kids go to bed pretty early. As we walked home, Cem suddenly stopped and asked in a hesitant and nervous voice, "Dad, what's that sound?" We stopped to listen. Living in a city, we hear all sorts of noises. Cars, airplanes, machines, neighbors. But none these cause him any pause. The noise was, in fact, a cricket. Singing for one of the last nights of the season, and causing Cem's heart to skip a beat.

In the past four years we've lived in a lot of places--big cities, small towns, and in the country. Jono and I have the tendency to long for quiet, secluded nature.  (Absolute wilderness is Jono's happy place.)  But we are learning to appreciate some of the perks of city life, and we are grateful to live in one that preserves green space and is surrounded by natural beauty. 2013 brought huge changes for our family. It has required a lot of adjusting for all of us. But our little family of city slickers is thankful for this journey we are on.

Look at Lu's face! She was totally skittish once the sun went down. Poor thing.

In early October, Lu and I flew to Israel to meet up with my mom, dad, and many close friends who were on a two week tour. We joined them for the Jerusalem segment. My parents got the "C&J engagement tour" in addition to all the biblical and historical sights. Ten years ago Jono and I fell in love and got engaged while studying in Jerusalem. It was great to show them the place where my love for a person and a region started.

The past couple of months have probably been our busiest yet. We hosted guests off and on for all of October and November. We are also moving forward with some of the projects that we came here to build. It is good to see our vision take shape, and we are very excited to welcome a teammate to join us in our work next month. Now we are gearing up for celebrating our first Christmas in Turkey. Though we always miss family and friends back home, I enjoy the simplicity of this season overseas.

Visiting Bethlehem. Ten years ago, it was here that Jono and I decided to name our daughter Lucy.

Christmas ornaments

A Lego Christmas tree

In family news, yesterday Cem belted out the Turkish national anthem, and he is using forms of Turkish grammar that I haven't learned yet. It is slow going, but every little bit of progress boosts his confidence. He also started playing with a futbol (soccer) club this past weekend. Futbol is no leisurely game around here. These kids were running laps and doing drills. Jono and I were the nervous parents watching him try to figure out what to do and keep up. But he had a great time and seemed to come home from practice with more energy than he went with.

Unbelievably, next week we will celebrate Lu's first birthday. This has undoubtedly been the fastest and most eventful year of our lives. We had a third child, packed up our lives for the fourth time in three years, moved to Turkey, made many new friends, and started new projects. The list could be much more extensive.

What could have been overwhelming has been overshadowed by God's goodness. Though not without difficulty, we feel so much thankfulness for everything this year brought us. Our move to Turkey could not have been smoother. Our children have adjusted remarkably well. Mercifully, we've been healthy most of the time. And every new experience has given each of us an opportunity to grow and be stretched in new ways. Our hearts are grateful.

 

Apparently these three kids create more chaos than a 4.9 quake. There was one here a few days ago, and we didn't even know it had happened until our phone rang with the news and our Facebook feed filled up with reports.