![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEiO8Jo9E7hmoJkplj9H1M60N89wL1gkxpdlsXhMk6aIYokj25H0CJ9ZfNIDZ3ivFy8GrvJIYlkaHeVazP1e_yen6b9fN6-vzBkRn87cbVLs8Kj3JkMIapW3PDKo_ZOYoxNmodPFsEDqZYo\/s640\/Picture+400.jpg\")
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As I\nwas recently writing our annual Christmas letter (I know it\u2019s January\u00a026th …\ndon\u2019t judge!), I arrived at the traditional \u201crun-through-the-ages-and-characteristic-activities-for-each-child\u201d part of the letter and I got to\nreflecting how great our kids have been about this whole \u201cpreparing for the\nmission field\u201d life that we\u2019ve dragged them into.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0From day to day it’s just … life – and I don’t always give them enough credit for what they endure.\u00a0 We\u2019ve taken them from their own house and moved\nthem into Grandma\u2019s house … where there is\u00a0ONE bathroom and three bedrooms total:\u00a0 Melissa and I in one, Grandma and The Princess in another, and the three older\nsiblings together in the smallest of the three!\u00a0\nWe have dragged these poor kids\u00a0around on long weekends and extended trips to meet\nstrangers (to them) and sit through worship services in strange (to them!)\nchurches.\u00a0 And there\u00a0have been\u00a0bigger adjustments:\u00a0when I quit my job this\npast summer to pursue funding full-time, it necessitated a school change for\nthem, and all the stress and uncertainty that comes with such an upheaval.\u00a0 Furthermore, because of time and\nbudget restrictions, extracurricular activities have often been severely\ncurtailed.\u00a0 (Dats hasn\u2019t gotten to play\non a soccer team for a while, for instance.\u00a0 And he loves soccer.)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I’m not saying that it has\u00a0all come easily to our kids, believe me.\u00a0 At times they\u00a0have dragged their feet about certain necessary steps – like downsizing the number of toys they have.\u00a0 And I’m sure each has now and then\u00a0coveted a friend’s possessions, activities or house.\u00a0 And arguments about privacy for dressing or whose turn it is to use the bathroom occur daily.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Literally. Daily.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But all in all, they have not only endured all the challenges, they have flourished.\u00a0 And they know WHY we are doing this and they are all on board 100%.\u00a0 And we couldn’t be prouder.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Having said all that, here’s a little paragraph The Drama Queen (age 10) wrote for a class assignment recently (to practice using prepositional phrases!):<\/p>\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A Great Dane has more space\nin a dog house than I have in my room. In my bedroom in the corner is a white wicker\nbed which is the only thing in my brothers\u2019 and my room that I don\u2019t share with\nthem. Next to my bed stands a tall two-door cabinet stuffed full of our\nclothes. On top of the dressers is where we keep my sister\u2019s and my hair bow container\ncrammed full of thousands of hair bows that spill out on to the dresser or\nfloor when we open a drawer. In the middle of the room lies our small rug in between\nmy bed and the bunk bed. By the window sits our little, teeny, tiny table which\nis the only thing separating my bed from my brothers\u2019 bunk bed. Under my bed\nare my many crafts because there is nowhere else to store them. In our closet\nmy purple, leopard patterned volleyball has been squished in between our shoes.\nOn top of my bed is my dark blue blanket, covered with my pajamas, Bible,\njournal, camera and a hat. On the ceiling is our ceiling fan that almost hits\nmy brother in the face when he climbs up on to the top of the bunk bed. Someday\nI hope I will get a bedroom I don\u2019t have to share with my brothers and sister.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n