Thankful

Lest you think that all we do is spend our time pining for China, I thought I would write a "half way" post about a few of the things we love about the life God is creating for us here. We are half way through our first year in the USA! We both feel like we turned a corner after Christmas and we're starting to really enjoy what God has given us here. It's like he's designed this perfect little spot unique for our family. I guess he does that for all his people, all over the world. So here's my top then list at the half way point of this year (in no particular order)

1. We really love the weather and the natural beauty of this place (once you get out of the city). Cookouts in January! Shorts in February!

2. Seeing our families more often.

3. YAY for Kids night at Chic Fila

4. We are joining an amazing church. A pastor who loves and reaches out to us. People who genuinely want to get to know us. A body of believers steadfastly committed to biblical unity and peacemaking.

5. Sweet times with Andy sitting on our couch talking and praying. seems the brokenness in our own lives, coupled with the transition stress, and all we are learning this year = great connection talking and praying .

6. Living in an apartment complex with lots of people from Andy's work who love the Lord and us! EG and Jack having awesome older kids to play with.

7. Our life group, our coaches, and our times with them. so sweet.

8. Lots of international friends that God has given us! For Arabic coffee, for hong baos from our Chinese friends, for being "frangranced/smoked" with burning incense by my UAE friend, Moisa. ( I smelled like smoke for week!)

9. For a new start. I like the challenge of a new place, figuring things out, developing some new habits. It's nice to wipe the slate clean sometimes. YAY for exercise class at the gym with Erin.

10. For the first time in my life feeling, not just knowing in my head, that I am precious to God.

Chinese Market Update!

I went to the chinese Market again today with my friend Erin. We had a really great time and I wasn't sad at all! I didn't even feel tempted to buy any hanging pig! YAY for emotionally stability this week!

Roasted Pig Head and Toothpicks

This has been a rough week for me. It started last week when Matt and Laura left for Thailand. Since they've been in the US for the past 6 months, the reality of us not being in China has been slower to set in. We've talked on the phone and texted and even got to see them twice. Them leaving felt like the door to that chapter of our lives just got locked a little tighter. Many of our dear friends who live on that side of the world are all together at a gathering we have been a part of for the past 7 years. It was definitely a highlight of our time in Asia so we've been missing China even more as we've thought about not being there this year.

Then on Monday I woke up and one of my first thoughts was "I miss my apartment in China." We liked our apartment for sure, but it wasn't our dream home or anything. It's just that I miss this one particular spot in our old apartment. Every morning when it was still dark outside I would venture downstairs and make my coffee. I would turn on one lamp by the couch and read and pray. Except for my one little lamp, our downstairs was totally dark and quiet and I felt totally alone with the Lord. I cherished those early mornings. In our apartment here, I just don't have a spot. It's bothered me but I've never missed my "spot" in China with such intensity until Monday. It's funny how certain things just trigger emotions you weren't even aware of. It poured rain all day Monday and the weather kinda set the tone for my week.

On Tuesday I was really glad to not be alone! I went to this Bible Study with a group of women who have been or are in transition because of a move. We're reading a book called "After the boxes are unpacked." It was really good to be with people who know my China world. We talked about the idea of cherishing the past instead of clinging to it. We have to be able to let go and not cling in order to really allow God to move in and heal us and do the new things he wants to do in the new world he's brought us to. It was really helpful to think about but it also brought China to my mind even more.

Tuesday afternoon I went to a Chinese market with my friend Ping. She is a dear and I stalked her at a Chinese restaurant and made her be my friend a few months ago.

She absolutely loves our kiddos and it's been so fun to spend time with her. She is so Chinese and brought gifts for our kids to the house and then loaded them down with gum and xiao man tou and slimy grape drinks at the market. She even bought me an olive juice. Not my fave.

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She and I have been trying to go to this big Asian market together for a while now and it finally worked out for us to go on Tuesday. Not the best timing. I thought I would really enjoy it. And for the most part I did, but it also made me really sad. There is a large Asian community here and this market is just unbelievable. It has everything you can imagine. I expected to find lots of yummy produce...

They even had really bad bread in small square loaves!This store really is like and Asian Walmart.

But I never dreamed they would have all this random SO VERY CHINESE DONG XI (stuff). I mean seriously, anyone who has ever walked in any Chinese store will recognize all this stuff!!

This is the aisle where I started to lose it emotionally. I mean it is so China. With Madonna playing in the background and all this Chinese stuff around me, I was acutely aware that we aren't in China. Seeing all this random, cheaply made dong xi at high American prices about put me over the edge. I started to cry and then I started to do some impulse buying. I just felt this strong urge to buy something really chinesey. First I bought these:

I love these toothpicks. I mean I never really loved them in China, but I felt like I needed them on Wednesday. They just felt so China with the fake Mickey and the little container you could find at any hole in the wall restaurant. I am pretty sure buying random items like this qualifies as clinging to rather then cherishing the past.

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And then I walked over the butcher and got him to cut me a big slab of meat off a roasted pig hanging from the ceiling. I know. What was I thinking. In all my seven years in China I never once bought meat from a roasted hanging pig, but for some reason I was just compelled to. And I sat at a little table with another roasted pig head right beside me and ate it. Somehow sitting next to a dead roasted pig head made me feel better.

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I bought my favorite Chinese vegetable, cai xin, to cook and a few other spices and we headed home. I don't think I've ever felt farther from China than I did on Tuesday at the market.

On Wednesday I hit my low. Andy took the kids out so I could make our Chinese dinner, but instead I sat on my bed and cried. Trying to make Chinese food was like pouring salt in my wound. So I put on make up to cover my red eyes and we went out for burritos.

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It's not like the wish we were in China. I know this is where God has us. I love the things he is doing in my life here, in our family, and in our ministry here. And I actually really like Florida. But I just plain miss my old life, my friends, belonging, the vision of what we were about there. There's a lot I love about this new life and I have a deep trust in God's goodness in leading us here. But sometimes, you just need some hanging pig to cheer you up.

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On Thursday the sun came out and we ended up having a cookout by the pool with about 25 of our friends here. It was really fun and a much needed break from the heaviness of my week.

Finally today I had the emotional stability to cook my Chinese meal. It was delicious and everyone in our family gobbled it up. Emma Grace, eating with her hot pink chop sticks said, "I love Chinese food!' It felt so comforting to stand over my sink, already stuffed with veggies and rice and finish off the last of the garlicky cai xin, just like I did every time Xiao Li made it for lunch. It's my Chinese comfort food for sure.

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I'm hoping for a better day tomorrow. We're getting ready to have a snack and watch a movie, but before we do, I think I need a toothpick.

Andy at age 7?

Now that Andy is back in school, my mom put this video up on her blog and said the third little guy reminds her of Andy! What do you think?!





Andy's had a great week at school and we are excited about implementing some of the things he's learned this week with our kiddos. I've had a really rough week missing China (I'll write about that soon), but today things got a lot better! Tonight we hosted a cookout by the pool with about 25 people we really like! YAY for 80 degrees in January!

DISNEY MARATHON

Sheryl and Andy came down last weekend for the Disney Marathon! We had a great time welcoming the runner at the airport! Tinkerbell and Mickey were really excited to carry the balloons through the airport to greet Sheryl! I dressed up as a runner in her honor, but there was zero actual running done on my part! They started in the wee hours of the morning. A few hours later, we caught them at mile 17 in animal kingdom. So thankful for our free Disney passes this year!
Looking good ladies! Tina is from Haw River and she was Sheryl's running partner.


Don't they look awesome?

At mile 18, still going strong!

JUST KEEP SWIMMING. JUST KEEP SWIMMING! We saw so many fun costumes in the run!

26.2 miles later-Crossing the FINISH LINE!!!

WAY TO GO LADIES!

PROUD HUBSTER!!!

HER BIGGEST FAN!

Sorry Emma Grace, I think your momma gets that title!

Tom, from B-town was their coach and ran the marathon himself in just over 3 hours!

26.2 Sheryl, you're awesome!!

First day of School!

Today is a big day in the Huffman house! Andy started school today! Though he's been working on his Master's of Divinity for a couple years now, today is his first day on campus! YAY Andy! Since our kids were off school today, Andy borrowed Jack's lunch box! Andy is taking a Christian Education class over the winter term. (I don't think they should call it winter term here-it's in the 70's) Lord willing, he'll officially start part time school this fall and we hope he'll be finished with the degree by 2030. HEHE. Just kidding. We hope he can complete his masters in about 4 or 5 years. He has lots on his plate-working, being a husband and dad and friend! We are proud of you Andy and I know this class, like all your others will be a blessing to our family (and others) as you grow to love and know Christ more and help us do the same! YAY for the first day of school!!

Mark this day

Today marks a milestone in our transition back to America. We've already done some major things-like buying a car and hanging up (most of) our pictures on the walls of our cozy apartment. But today I did something seemingly small that signifies a huge step for me in the whole adjusting process. I baked muffins. From scratch. I know it may seem small, but really it's huge. Our home in China was a regular bakery shop, with my faithful assistant Xiao Li delighting us with homemade apples pies and banana bread. I too really enjoyed making homemade rolls and muffins.

And when the trauma of relocation happened, I stopped baking. In fact, I have stopped doing a lot of the "normal" things I did regularly in China. Blogging and baking and keeping up with my Bible reading plan all quickly became memories of some past life I once lived. (you will be happy to know I still shower...well...most of the time.) I call it trauma because it really is traumatic to sell your life, say goodbye to every person in "that" life, even the lady who sold me a coke everyday, and move across the world, albeit to your home country, to start over in almost every aspect of life.

I haven't had the emotional, mental, or physical wherewithal to do much more than survive and help my family do the same. But slowly, I am coming out of this fog I was in and beginning to get some normalcy back into my days. I took a huge step over the Christmas holiday. While at Tim and Kathi's I hibernated. I turned off my phone for an entire week and I slept in til ten several days in a row. I didn't cook or do laundry or wipe very many poopy bottoms. I just hung out. I owe my in laws a huge thanks for giving me the space and childcare to be able to recover. I didn't even know how much I needed that. But I came back to Florida refreshed and actually excited about my role as a wife and mom, something I haven't felt much at all this past 6 months. And then I BAKED!!!! I found a new recipe, got all the ingredients, put my kids in bed, lit candles in the kitchen, turned on soft music and set to baking.

Maybe, just maybe, one of these days I'll get back to blogging and bathing my kids on a regular basis. For now, thanks for bearing with my disheveled kids, my lack of blogging, and my overall emotional instability.