I Got Nuthin'

I'd like to be updating with more pictures and fun anecdotes from our trip to Hong Kong. At the least, I'd like to be posting pictures of the International Festival at the school over a week ago or my costumed children from Thursday evening...but I'm not.
There has been a lot of frustration and irritability here at Chez Tse as of late. There is no one person or one thing to blame it on. Just life. Most of the time when I take a step back and look around at others' trials, I can really be thankful that these are my problems. I was so blessed this morning with some time alone and in prayer. It was much needed.
As I type this on our "old" laptop, our "new" laptop is going through a back up and system recovery. Not sure if it will work. The pictures are (mostly) all saved and I spent most of the evening updating our Quicken file on this computer. This is not the source of the frustration and irritability. (It isn't helping, but it can't be blamed as this just happened today and this funk has been going on for a while now).
Is it post-vacation funk? Is it busy kid and mom funk? Is it Daddy traveling a lot again funk? Is it worry, sadness and some regrets about my Granddad? I think yes.
I can't really pinpoint when things started getting rough around here, but they have been rough. The kids have been especially challenging since our return, but then again, are they just reacting to all of the aforementioned funks? They do live here.
Tonight was actually the best evening we've had in a while. It was hard to watch Daddy leave on a Sunday evening again, but we understand. We are beginning fall break and we don't really have any plans, we don't have our Daddy home until Wednesday, lots of rain in the forecast and entirely too much candy in the house that the kids are all too aware of. Could be a recipe for disaster, but I prayed today that it won't be.
Tonight was an answer to that prayer and I'll keep praying and keep starting over each day because that is what I need to do.
After a friend recommended this book last spring, it has become a faithful part of Nathan's bed time routine. It used to be a part of Hannah's bed time routine as well, but I've found she just isn't ready for this type of thing before bed. She would do better at another time of day, but I just haven't figured out how to do that just yet. I look forward to it as much as Nathan does. We read the situation, the multiple choices and then the Bible verse. Sometimes we go on and read more than just the listed verses and Nathan loves to look up the verses himself. He is actually getting very familiar with the books and likes to try and remember where they are by memory.
Tonight we read November's memory verse:
Philippians 3:13-14
I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.
This month is about learning to be a Christian and I love that the book reminded Nathan that he is a "Christian in training, just like your mom, your dad, or anyone else who calls Jesus Lord!"
I so needed to read that tonight. There is a lot going on in our lives right now and a lot of it is really good. When I read about where we were last year, I am overwhelmed at how far we've come (and so thankful!). Even though I've written before that there is no "Easy" button, I occasionally find myself looking for it.
I wouldn't trade the road we've taken to get here even though it has been so, so hard at times. There are so many reasons we came to live here and there will be so many reasons for us to live in our next home. We don't know where that is or even when that is, but we can know that we'll be there for a reason. Knowing that doesn't take away the stress or the pressure on the man of the house as we approach our third year here and the planning and murmurs of what's next pop up. We just don't know and sometimes that is really exciting and fun and other times it is so frustrating.
So yes, there is a lot going on and I'd really like to post those cute pictures of our cute children, but that isn't completely real. It isn't all cute and entertaining right now. I bet most of you are wishing our "new" laptop was cooperating and that I was just sitting down posting about how I'll be getting to the Hong Kong pictures soon enough or about how the kids had a lot of fun trick or treating last week. I don't know if I have it in me to re-label and re-organize all of the pictures that I labeled and organized before this "restoration" (should it work) so maybe this is a good thing for me. Maybe my strange picture labeling compulsion will be cured.
For now though I will end this random post and stop trying to figure out a way to add a picture (I could not find the attachment for the camera, could not make the card reader work on this laptop and couldn't even get the pictures from the school's website from the International Festival to cooperate!) Time to let that go and just accept that for now, I got nuthin' but words.