teisipäev, august 31, 2004
Routines
It's funny how you don't realize the routines of daily life until you don't have them. In Chester, we knew we would be at the corps Monday through Friday and on Sunday for church, we knew Chris would be hanging out with his SGGG friends on Saturdays, we knew I had Rotary on Tuesdays, we knew the kids had the "Wonderful Wednesdays" homeschool co-op each week, we knew our one favorite TV show--Joan of Arcadia--was on each Friday, we knew when we needed to get up and go to bed to keep with the routines of each day. Now we are here and are still working out our routines. They really help to shape each day. It can be easy to let time slip away without realizing it when we don't have them.
That's the challenge of starting from scratch is creating those new routines. It's almost as challenging a work as anything else we've done. But I realize that we need that structure; it's how we work best. So pray for us as we try to work it all out and get those routines in place.
We have had a few things that have begun to start that process. Chris has been attending a youth group that meets at the home of an American couple here whose focus is reaching out to teens. It's like a gift, because we have no teens in our corps (or anyone else for that matter!) for him to be with. When I picked him up tonight, he was telling me what a great time he had, but that he really wants to learn as much Estonian as possible as soon as he can so that he can feel like he knows better what is going on all the time. There are kids who he can ask when he doesn't get things in the group, but I am impressed with his attitude that learning the language is the best way to find his place here. He's really doing well and we are proud of him.
Our own corps work, as it develops, will help us with our routines, I know. But like with so many other things, I am impatient for that to happen. Everything will happen in its time, and I am learning that tightrope act of when to wait and when to do something.
--Tim
That's the challenge of starting from scratch is creating those new routines. It's almost as challenging a work as anything else we've done. But I realize that we need that structure; it's how we work best. So pray for us as we try to work it all out and get those routines in place.
We have had a few things that have begun to start that process. Chris has been attending a youth group that meets at the home of an American couple here whose focus is reaching out to teens. It's like a gift, because we have no teens in our corps (or anyone else for that matter!) for him to be with. When I picked him up tonight, he was telling me what a great time he had, but that he really wants to learn as much Estonian as possible as soon as he can so that he can feel like he knows better what is going on all the time. There are kids who he can ask when he doesn't get things in the group, but I am impressed with his attitude that learning the language is the best way to find his place here. He's really doing well and we are proud of him.
Our own corps work, as it develops, will help us with our routines, I know. But like with so many other things, I am impatient for that to happen. Everything will happen in its time, and I am learning that tightrope act of when to wait and when to do something.
--Tim
