Well here we are again! Another week has flown by. My children needed me extra this week so I didn’t have much time to sit and write in the evenings so this will be a smorgasbord of thoughts.
Shania turned 7 months this week! She has brought so much joy into our lives. I still can’t believe we have her some days. While having a baby is certainly exhausting it has been fun to watch her grow. She is developing quite a fiesty personality. She started to sit up for short periods of time this past week. Her walker is her favorite thing. She seems happier now that she can scoot around and observe things on her own. A favorite seems to be scooting under the table while we are eating.😂 She’s started scooting out onto the veranda if we leave the doors open. I think she likes all the sun on the back veranda. Layton does so good with her! For being an only child for 6 years I’ve been amazed at how well he has adjusted. He still has times where he wishes he could have more time “just you and me mom.” But I remind him how much he prayed for a little sister. Soon we will have to move all his legos and Knex to a higher plain to keep her out of them. I’ve noticed there’s starting to be less and less burp rags and swaddle blankets in the laundry.
November 3 marked our one year anniversary here! I had thoughts of writing a special post about our one year here but somehow I couldn’t get the words to come out how I meant them. Maybe next year… Time has went by fast. Our one year here feels like it’s been a year of growth for us… learning to be more flexible, surrendering control of everything, and patience patience patience. One of my devotionals said that everyone is “under construction” and that’s how it feels. I get quite discouraged some days at my poor Bangla and it feels like I will never quite adapt to this culture. One day it came to me clearly that “you're doing your best.” So I try to leave it all in Gods hands and hope these people excuse my stammering tongue and my cultural faux pas. Some mission fields boast of souls being saved, lots of interest in our church, etc. it’s not like that here. Several members are discouraged, some have mental health struggles… because of the strong Muslim culture there’s seldom new attendees. Occasionally new people will come to church but they usually end up asking for money after the service since we are white foreigners. This is something else I have had to lay down. Going to the mission doesn’t necessarily mean that your little church will be thriving and growing. Last year at revivals Neil said the church in Bangladesh is going through a low time. In our orientation Carl told us that missionaries shouldn’t judge their success based off of how many were baptized or expelled. Jared and I are very thankful for the consistent way we see our two sisters live here in Dhaka. It is enjoyable to see. A lot of people ask if we have been lonesome. After Shania was born I was really lonesome but now it’s just weird little things we miss. Things like the “empty” roads at home, being able to talk with anyone in a language we all know and understand, knowing where to go and buy things. When we had our staff visit the ministers told us that when hard times come it’s good to be able to think back to a time where you felt Gods call to serve. I’ve been thankful that we have been able to do that. Someone gave us a canvas with “our” verse on it “John 20:21.” There has definitely been hard days. Days where Layton cries and begs to go home, or when Jared can’t get visas for the other CSI men, or when I am just over cooking in a kitchen that’s 95* for months on end or when our male member here messages and lambasts Jared and calls him names. Remembering John 20:21 reminds us that God called us here even if we feel like we aren’t doing much. Adjusting to living in a big crowded city has been the hardest thing. Jared is an introvert and sometimes all these people EVERYWHERE drives him crazy. We are slowly learning what times of day there are less people out and what days are best for driving. We are looking forward to our next year here! This past year we have really enjoyed getting to know our other members, having church services at Golpagange and Kulna, seeing Kulnas crazy Sunday school, going to Kishorganj, revivals and fellowship, all the pizza parties when the other missionaries come into Dhaka😍, making friends here in Siza Court, seeing all our friends here fall in love with my children! It’s been good!
Today (Sunday) the metro stations from Argogoan to Motihel are open! This means that our Farmgate Station in our backyard is open now. Every 10 minutes a metro arrives or departs. At first we were worried it was going to be really loud but when the fans are going inside you can hardly even hear it! This morning during devotions Layton was quite distracted as we sat on the couch. We can see it from our living room window so can even see the people getting off and on the train. 😂 For the next few months this section will only be open from 7:30 to 11:30 am. After the initial public excitement wears off we plan to go on a spin.😃
Layton put on socks for the first time in months today. They barely went over the backs of his heels.😂 he was excited because he could really run and slide on our tile floors.
After kindergarten today I took some pants for Jared that needed shortening, some shirts that needed an extra button and buttonhole, and my dress that the tailor had sewed all to the tailor. My dress turned out really well! He did a good job with the darts in the waist. Amber trained him well!😁 however it needed taking in at least two inches on either side at the waist. He measured off of one my cotton dresses that fit perfectly. (Kim, I’m looking at you!❤️) Lilen (not linen) is more of a drapier fabric so obviously it doesn’t need to be made abit bigger like cotton does. Lilen is a thinner fabric with drape to it. It’s not polyester really. Lanae and Amber really liked it so I decided to give it a try. It reminds me of DTY knit at home but with a bit more body to it and no stretch.
Thanks to our friends and church for the prayers and support. ❤️
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