A little stress...

You know....I just noticed that I have passed 500 posts on my blog! Wow! So cool.

I am much better and feel almost back to normal now. I still have another 5 days or so on the medicine so anything bad in my system should be dead by the end of this medicine. Yay!

I have been a little stressed lately about language. On my test, the teachers said that I needed to get out more and speak. I scored great in the writing, but I didnt do as well on the speaking. Of course, I know that I need to get out more and speak. The problem is that I have kids, and they dont always handle going out very well. Maggie does but Dave does not (Noah is at school). In my new book (buku 2), I have an interview to do for each lesson. There are 20 lessons in this book and I am on lesson 5. Firstly, I feel like I am moving so quickly through this book. Secondly, I feel a little overwhelmed because there is ALOT of new vocabulary in this book so far. Third, every month we change teachers. This is really good, but I have had a teacher that has stayed with me from the beginning. She is hands down the best teacher in that school and for those of you that remember our team in Vietnam she is a lot like Mai! I no longer have her and I miss her a lot! Hopefully, I will have her again when we switch each month. And Finally, it is hard with kids. If I didnt have kids, it would be a breeze.

I really want to interview people that are not of my faith (does that make sense) and the Kampung (poor neighbourhood behind our house) is the best place. Dave can only take so much of it though so I just cant do it everyday. So I feel this huge conflict between the fact that my school and teachers want me out talking and my reality, which is that my kids come first. If my kids cant handle it, then we find another way. Many people have nannies here that watch their kids so they can study language. This is NOT an option for us. I found that I was very flexible about homeschool (obviously since Noah is at the international school), but I am not prepared or want to use a nanny. I know with everything I am that God wants me with Dave and Maggie when Shane is at school and Shane with the kids while I am at school. This works really well for us and provides much stability for the kids. So, what do we do?

I am slowly trying to start walking again with Dave and Maggie, but it is very difficult to interview people in another language when I am trying to watch and protect 2 kids! We went out yesterday morning to the Kampung. It was good except when someone tried to touch Dave and he yelled at them, "Dont touch me." Now, I understand how he feels. It was an old lady who thought he was cute. I told her he doesnt like to be touched. In a way, I dont mind him doing this. It also prompts me to tell the people not to bother him. However, I dont think it is healthy for him to be so unkind and so angry. So...dealing with all this is difficult for me. I had an awesome interview time though. I walked to my friends house and then she went with me and helped play with the kids while I talked. The problem was trying to get to my friends house....that is where people are going about their day and they love to stop and touch the kids.

What really concerns me is that last week, when we went to the Kampung, Dave had a nightmare. Then last night, after going to the Kampung in the morning, Dave woke up screaming uncontrollably. He was almost having some sort of panic attach and was struggling to breathe. Now, I am not sure it is healthy for us to even walk to the Kampung. I dont know if Dave can handle it. I feel like there is some spiritual battle going on here. Sorry if you dont believe in that sort of thing....but I do. Something strange is going on. Every time we go to the Kampung this happens. It is just not coincidence.

I dont tell these things to scare you, but it is life for me right now. Maybe it will help you pray more effectively. Oh I love my kids....they come before language, but I have lately felt a little stress trying to handle it all. Plus, I have been sick so that makes it hard I guess.

Well, I go to supermarket on Thursdays so I must be off. Please pray for my Davey!