One

Hello world, 

Today, I turn ONE. 

Happy Birthday me.
Lets all smile, I sure am!
And Go Tigers!

Peace out,

molly

Picture of the Week: Something Like Lilacs

Here's a Mandy factoid: my favorite flowers are lilacs. I love them. I love the smell, the tiny bunches of flowers. I carried white ones on my wedding day. I planted pink and lavender ones in our yard in Cartersville. I feel nostalgic thinking of the huge bushes outside the first home I can remember, on a military base in Minot, ND. That bush was where the Easter eggs were hidden, where my sister and I played "store" and where I once attempted to dig a hole to China (I got about 18 inches).

Here in the tropics we are surrounded by amazing flowers...beautiful colors and intricate designs. And they are everywhere. I'm serious...there are even government workers who go around each morning and sweep up flower petals from the sidewalks. Alas, though, no lilacs.

Imagine my joy when I was loading (another!!) load of laundry in the washer and I spotted these little beauties on my neighbors awning. There are not lilacs, but they reminded me of them. And that reminded me of God's grace and how He generously gives us so many things to bring us joy even when it's not quite home.

Do you think my neighbors would let me play "store" under their tree?

An open letter to some friends

We got a huge surprise this week. A friend flew through our city on his way to work in other parts of the country. He brought a 50 pound bag of goodies, a surprise, from so many of our friends. Here's what I emailed to them.

To Jonathan and Jennifer, Daniel and Greta, John and Andrea, Jeff and Jen, Chris and Sarah, Ben and Erika, Tommy and Stacey, Larry and Ruth, Tim and Becky, Brent and Melissa, Zack and Tennyson, Micah and Lisa, Billy and Rebekkah (and all the respective kids!),

THANK YOU.

Jim delivered our surprise suitcase yesterday. We were just stunned. I still am. Lydia has gobs of princess stuff and craft supplies and homeschooling material and new coloring books! Thank you. I put some of it away so we can bring it out in stages (she was a bit overwhelmed). You know here all the coloring books are actually already printed in color. It’s a very weird phenomenon. Coloring books that you can’t really color in. She wore her apron today helping me make desserts for our team meeting. She told Molly about the Cheerios so many times I think that may be Molly’s first word. I have started a baking drawer in our kitchen full of the much appreciated cocoa, choc chips, brown sugar, etc. Brian, I think, wants to build something just to use his new gloves!

We look forward to hanging our beautiful Greta-original works of art. Wow! Sarah: I thought it was a little weird that you sent a 31 catalogue, but then I read the note on the back! Thank you! All the packing in Ziplocs and Tupperware…you wouldn’t think that would matter so much, but I am just beaming at all the new storage we have for our food! (I will still wash and reuse the Ziplocs…till they die but it is good to know I have many!) We had grits this morning. Even let Jim eat some. J

A family on our team is away this week. I will cook them mac and cheese (they have two small boys) when they return. You guys are ministering to our team. I plan on making cookies to deliver to our neighbors very soon. You guys are helping us reach our neighbors. (Here, delivering goodies always ends up with getting invited to tea, to discuss religion, to start a relationship…no kidding, we have already been invited to a wedding, to a movie night, to discussions on personal stuff.) Brownies, choc chips…well, let’s just say you are making me a better helpmate for my sweet husband!

All those little coloring books and stickers and perfect for attending churches in different languages without childcare. Thank you for helping Lydia adjust to this new (long, church service….) life. Molly will have something fun for her birthday (August 2!!) dessert…brownies? Cookies? Something with brown sugar!!!? She will be happy I’m sure, but also we are going to “use” her birthday to invite our neighbors. First birthdays are really big here (like weddings) so this will be a great way to open our home. And while a cake mix doesn’t seem all that spiritual or exciting, you have made it easier for me to be a good hostess, not stressed out mommy! Thank you (from Molly…the little evangelist!) J

We love the kids’ drawings. I can’t believe they can all do that well. I’m just seeing Lydia make people (big head, little sticks coming out of them for limbs, etc) and I look at your kids’ artwork and just get excited for my girls to be able to grow in their little expressions of art and I feel so at home with their sweet drawings on the wall.

In short, we feel incredibly loved. We are overwhelmed. I just want to be able to convey how much this stuff means to us, but more…how much you mean to us. We are very very blessed to have such friends alongside us on this journey. It is hard to live without a car, a/c, brown sugar, a crockpot, good crayons…but as I was thinking last night as I fell asleep…it is extremely hard to live away from you, our church, our friends. That’s my culture shock. It truly is. We are making new friends, We are loving our work. We are sure and firm and joyful in this calling. It is a hard calling though. And a giant suitcase of stuff has been divided up in my cabinets and when all of it runs out, it will still be a reminder in our hearts of love and partnership we have with you all. Life with you is half as hard and twice as good.

Much love and much gratitude,

Mandy (for the Stock Household)

Picture of the Week: Grandma

Lydia is getting better at drawing. Here is grandma. Notice the 4 limbs, the curly short hair and earrings. (I can never figure out how to rotate iphone pictures...sorry she's on her side).

I suppose this is not unique to living here overseas. If we were in the States, Lydia would be drawing grandma just about the same. But that's the point. Many (MANY!) things here are different. But some things just aren't. Molly is crawling, clapping, teething. Lydia is learning how to dress herself, cut paper, and draw grandma.

We got all those questions as we were moving here. "You are moving where?! And you are taking your children?!" For moments, yes I too worried that my kids might be growing up deprived, playing with sticks and constantly in danger of disease. Ok...well, that's kind of true. But there are good things here. Normal life is happening. The girls are growing, learning and having fun. They don't worry about not having TV because we have "Family Movie Night" on our laptop. A cardboard box serves as a little play house. Grandma and Nana read stories over FaceTime.

We know children adapt quickly. God is gracious in this way to parents. More pictures of our normal life to come. Some drawn, some taken but all part of the Stock Household's normal life. 

Picture(s) of the Week: Care Package

Molly with her new teething ring. Just in time for tooth #5! 

I honestly never thought I'd appreciate care packages so much. My mom has made it her new hobby to shop for, pack and mail boxes full of goodies to us. We are averaging one "Nana Package" a week thus far!Friends have spend much time and many dollars on shipping to send us good things like cereal, magazines and Twizzlers.

But really it's not so much what is in the package that makes us feel loved (although we really do value the fruit snacks and Crayola crayons) but the effort we know it takes to send a package, the love put into action and the joy we get from a tangible reminder of people who love us, support the work we are doing and have not forgotten us.

I stayed full till 2pm. My first bowl of granola (my favorite!!) in 3 months. 

We have pictures that the Falkins kids colored for us and photos of grandparents. We are savoring honey straws and Cheerios. Even today, Lydia pointed up to our picture wall to a photo of the Andersons..."They sent us a package!!". Thank you friends and family. You are making us feel appreciated, included, cared for and loved.

Her new favorite thing. Cutting with her new scissors (both scissors and Pottery Barn mag from Nana!)

Picture of the Week: Conference

We knew where we were going. It's just a kilometer or so from our apartment. But try to tell that to the auto driver.

Brian hailed one down (while the girls and I stood to the side). He told him where we'd like to go. The driver seemed convinced Brian meant another road. Our apartment security guard, Robert Alex, got involved. They start speaking in another language and bring security guard #2, Renke, over. A guy carrying a hose is walking by. He joins the conversation.

Every few seconds Brian asserts he knows the place and can direct the driver. After a few minutes, fares are negotiated, Brian has made them all believe he knows the way and we get in.

Here, you can have an address. You can have a map. You can even have your iphone tell you where to go. None of that really matters though if you 1) are white, 2) can't come up with enough landmarks or 3) don't put the emPHAsis on the right sylLABle. Sometimes that means you get ripped off, overcharged or taken the long way. Sometimes it means you have help from every and any person within earshot of your American accent.

Today it was quite funny. 

Picture of the Week: Laundry

We had to wash "Whitey" the squirrel. He wasn't so white anymore! 

It's the chore that never ends. You load, wash, take out, dry, take down, fold, put away (repeat...endlessly). I'm glad someone came up with an all-encompassing word for it: laundry. And since Adam and Eve got their first animal skin clothes, the homemaker's life has struggled to not feel like this all-encompassing word is all-encompassing her! Here, just as in America, we dirty clothes. So laundry continues on with all it's glory.

Recently a friend posted on facebook: "Only in America do we worry about how pretty our laundry room is". I suppose that might be true. My laundry "room" here is a balcony off the kitchen. It's enclosed with metal bars to keep pigeons from poo-ing in my washer (a very common problem) and monkeys from raiding.  That's right. My washer is outside. I have no dryer. We went fancy on our washer and got one that heats up the water for some special (diaper) loads. It all seemed very primitive when we moved here a few months ago. But already as we pass so many women dunking clothes in rivers, sewers, buckets, etc to clean them I see how much I really do have...which was the gist of my friends quote.

So all this to say, just as laundry still exists here, so does materialism, inequity, injustice, and (God-willing) thankfulness and joy in the daily tasks. My hope is that I never worry about how pretty my laundry "room" is nor do I pride myself on how spiritual I must be to do-with-less. But that I do laundry (cold or hot water, inside or outside, pigeons or monkeys or just the cool breeze)
for the glory of God. This is the day (full of laundry, dishes, diapers and dirt) that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! 

Picture of the Week: Flood (and Hot Dogs)

Brian loves hot dogs. Give him a dog loaded with slaw, onions and mustard and he's pretty happy for a while. So, for Father's Day we took him to one of the few places in town that serves a legit Brian-approved hot dog (though we had to bring our own mustard).

But this is Asia. And you don't just go out and get hot dogs without some sort of adventure. Just as we were finishing up our yummy lunch, water starts flowing up from a drain near our feet. Then, it starts flowing out another. Then, it's gushing and we are picking up purse, diaper bag and toys that had settled on the floor. We all lift up our feet as the waiters rush around with squeegies and mops. And well, we continue to eat. The  flood subsides and I look at Brian and say "Happy Father's Day"...always an adventure.

Oh, and don't worry, for our trouble the manager insists he'll give us a good deal next time we come in. So I suppose we'll venture out another time for a free hot dog. Hold the flood. 

Picture of the Week: Market

It was kinda like going to Sam's Club or Costco. It was a big market that had everything bigger better cheaper!

Ok, it was nothing like Sam's Club, but we went to this big city market...mostly to see it and take photos. It is "very National Geographic" as my friend said.

Everyday-ish I go to a market (a fruit stand, a meat stall, a grocery store the size of your living room) and they are all on a small scale like this picture. I wasn't trying to be artsy here. But this captures so much. The guy carrying a huge amount of some vegetable on his back (yes, see that daily). The skinny frustrated boy guarding the produce (usually they speak English better than their parents, so I deal with them a lot). The man feeding the other guy something (ok, don't see that everyday, but I have seen it). The bananas still on the stalks, the garbage, the reused cans and boxes and baskets. And coconuts. Coconuts everywhere.

Here is where I shop. The color, the filth, the bartering, the community. And I don't even need to show my membership card to get in! 

For Michelle

This post is for my friend, Michelle. Last week she called, surprising me since it was so late in the morning (for me) and definitely late at night (for her). She couldn't sleep. We had a great conversation but one thing she said was "Mandy, you're killing me here. One picture a week on the blog is not enough!"

So, here Michelle (and everyone else who wants to see more pictures of life here, Lydia and Molly and whatever else is on our camera). Here you go. Hope these pictures set you at ease. And anytime you can't sleep, call your friend who will be finishing up morning snack.

Lydia playing at the fountain. 

Laughing at my attempts to get her to eat solid food. 

Pre-Ballet class (singing in a parking garage)

Me, in everyday garb. I don't like wearing my scarf like that...but that's how you do it here. 

Lifting flaps.

That silly smile (also wearing "ethnic" garb).

Molly at the zoo. Very impressed with the animals.

Taken right before a random lady pinched Molly's cheek so hard she cried. 

I feel like I will show this to her one day and say "See we were in South Asia."

Finding her shadow (or an ant...not sure). 

Both adorable in person...but not the most photogenic.

Pig and Whitey...ready for a trip.

Dyes in the market.

"Lydia, go stand next to that huge pile of beans."

Asking for a flower necklace. 

Blurry...but having fun (wearing bangles, coloring in the van back from a trip). 

"Say hi to Mia for me ok Aunt Michelle?"

Picture of the Week: Raji

So, we rode an elephant.

We went on a day trip to the visit the king and queen of our state. They weren't available for meeting with us, but they kindly let us tour their palace (barefoot as not to desecrate the sacred space) and ride their elephant for a mere $2 a person.

His name was Raji. We couldn't get very great pictures...since we were on an elephant. Our friends took some from their adjacent elephant. It was amazingly scary and bumpy (no seat belts, no safety bar...) and fun and the girls just seemed to think this was normal life. And, in this country, it kind of is.

I mean, no we don't ride elephants on a daily basis...nor see them in the city. But, everyday is an adventure. Amazingly scary, bumpy, fun and well...our new normal.