Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Jaden's Theology

I was driving the boys to soccer practice the other day and I overheard a most interesting conversation between Jaden and Nicholas!  It went like this:

Jaden:  maybe in the next part, we'll all be superheros
Nicholas:  What do you mean the next part?? (thank you Nicholas, I was wondering the same thing)
Jaden:  You know how the Bible is divided into different parts?  There's the Old Testament and then there's the New Testament.  Maybe in the next part, we'll all be superheros!

I guess he thinks after Jesus' second coming, we will all have superhero powers.  I don't know, maybe he's right ... what do you think?  :-)

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I was volunteering in Jaden's class the other week and his teacher told me he is quite vocal and knowledgeable in sharing his religious beliefs.  They were singing a rhyming song where you have to come up with something that rhymes with one, then two and so on and so on.  When they got to seven, Jaden shouts out, "I know something that rhymes with seven ... heaven!"  To which his mostly Muslim class (in an American school) asks, "what's heaven?"  Jaden begins to explain about heaven and God and one of his friends asks, "what's God?"  Apparently it opened up quite a lengthy discussion in the classroom.

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One more story ...

This week is EID.  The annual pilgrimage to Mecca is this week.  Not sure if EID always falls in the middle of Hajji (the pilgrimage), but it does this year.  For EID, Muslims sacrifice a lamb for the forgiveness of their sins.  The meat is then divided between their family and friends and to the poor. Jaden's class had an EID party today and then they have 6 days off school. 

Yesterday, Jaden asked me what is EID?  I explained that I don't know very much about it and encouraged him to ask his friends at school.  As many of them are Muslim, they would be able to explain it better.  I told him that the only thing I know is that Muslims sacrifice a lamb for the forgiveness of their sins.  To which he responded, "EEEEE-UUUUUU!"  I asked him if we do that as Christians?  To which he said, "No, not any more."  I asked if he knows why and a bit to my surprise, he said, "because of Jesus."  I wonder if he really grasps the truth in his answer or if he just gave me the church answer to every unknown question ... "Jesus"  I told him that he is right and after talking to him for a bit, he asked me if it was okay to tell his friends at school that they don't have to kill a lamb anymore, they just have to believe in Jesus. 

My sweet little missionary.  I didn't want to squash his enthusiasm, but I'm anxious to find out if he said anything to his friends today.  We might have to start explaining how missionary activity is highly illegal here.  Families are lashed and deported for trying to convert people to Christianity.  How to explain all of this to my little 5 year old?

Monday, October 15, 2012

Yellow Belts

The boys earned their yellow belts in karate tonight!!  Way too cute!!!

Boys being tested for their yellow belt

Boys tested on their blocks
Here are a few VERY short videos...
 
 
 
 
I was a bit blown away by Jaden's kicks! 
He can also do the center splits all the way to the floor!
 
 
 

Karate class at our compound ... 14 children ages 4-6 took the test tonight.

Boys proud of their accomplishment

Boys with Sensei Abdul

 

Counting Down ...

Only 10 more days until my mom and my Aunt Pam come for a visit!!  We can't wait!!  The boys even started a countdown on their white board.  So cute!  The boys don't have school that week so we have lots of activities planned ... we're going to be tourists in our new country for the week! 

I was really hoping the weather would be cooler by now, but it's still pretty hot.  Although, I took the boys to the park last night before dinner and it was by far the most pleasant weather we've had since arriving!  Maybe there is a chance for cooler days ahead!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Happy Birthday Nicholas!

Our sweet baby boy turned four today!!  What a blessing he is to our family!! 

Ms. Ida, the wonderful lady that helps clean our house, surprised us with this beautiful and delicious strawberry cake for Nicholas!

Nicholas had a rough start to his birthday, but all things considered, it turned out far better than I expected!  He was so excited about his birthday last night that he woke up at midnight and never went back to sleep.  He kept wandering back and forth between our bed and his bed, sometimes alone, sometimes dragging Ken, sometimes dragging me.  Always kicking us back out after a few minutes (he doesn't like to share a bed).  Needless to say, it was a long night for everyone.

Of course, he fell asleep in his car seat on the way to school. I dropped off one exhausted little boy this morning.  I came back at lunchtime with cupcakes for his class and was surprised to see how alert he was. Pretty amazing considering he got no sleep last night!


Nicholas sound asleep upon arrival at school at 8am - It's hard work turning 4!!

Sharing cupcakes with his class at school!

So excited to turn four!

He took a long nap after school and then we were off to our first soccer practice. I thought the soccer club in Pearland was great, but this is truly amazing!! They had so much fun!!! The (paid) coaches were AWESOME!!! They had so many games and drills and activities ... they really kept things moving. The boys loved it!!!  I'll have to get some better pictures next week.

Nicholas' soccer team line up for next activity.

Jaden in action with his team in the gym next door to Nicholas. 
This momma was running back and forth to watch them both!


After soccer practice, I let Nicholas pick a restaurant for dinner. Ended up at McDonald's ... Boo! :-(  But at least the McD's here have veggie burgers!  The boys had a blast playing on the indoor playground before heading home.



We're planning a little bday party for Nicholas this weekend with some of his new friends here. Will post pictures next week.



Oh and a quick bus update ... Jaden had so much fun on the school bus on Sunday that he begged me to let him ride it every day!!!  He acted as if he was never scared ... he seems to have no memory of his little panic attack last week.  I'm ever so grateful he rides everyday now!!!  It reduced my morning commute from ~2 hrs down to less than 45 minutes!!