hmmm....let's make a small list.
- Weather - it can be challenging at times - hard to get outside when there is ice on the ground, bundling up 3 kids, finding transportation, walking in the snow OR when its 100+ degrees with no air conditioning, yet still wearing modest clothing without sweating bullets.
- Air Quality/Pollution - especially
during the winter - the Coal Plants heat the city, but billow out clouds of coal dust and fumes that literally blanket the city in soot. That can't be too great on our lungs....but a deeper root to that challenge is: - Health - catching bugs & illnesses that come with unsanitary conditions, foods, water that we aren't used to...plus all the environmental hazards, germs and coal smoke in our city.
- Celebrity Attention - with three blond little girls, its impossible to go anywhere without a swarm of attention. It wouldn't be so challenging if the girls didn't mind it. For them, its very hard to be touched, laughed at and crowded. Its especially hard when people try to pick them up despite their screams...and then laugh at screaming kids. :( This is hard on us as parents wanting to protect & encourage our kids. We are contemplating a further post on this in the future. :)
- Language Barriers - this is becoming less & less an issue as time goes on, but its still an ongoing challenge, as we seek to know others and mutually share the depths of life.
- Being away from Family & friends - missing births, weddings, funerals. *Sometimes we think our families in CA/KY have more challenges than we do, as they sacrifice heaps as we live cross-culturally.
- A Rich Perspective on the world,
people, culture, and our purpose in it all. Being exposed to great need, poverty, simplicity, and less modern hype. - Your family becomes much bigger than your nationality or heritage.
- You become a learner in every aspect of the word. This helps keep you humble and desperate, keeping the pride at a minimum. :) ...and you learn to be flexible, easy going, appreciative & patient pretty quick.
- But please know....the rewards are endless!! ...many that won't be seen for "years" to come!
