Grateful

I've been thinking about our kids and how they're doing a lot lately.  One of the hard things about living in this culture is that they have to deal with leaving home and going to some random place every three months.  Or going to other cities.  Or dealing with not being able to have certain foods because we can't find them.  They know to keep a fan on to help with mosquitos.  They don't think much of it if the power or the water or the internet goes out.

They just go with the flow.  And I really appreciate that.  One of the things I was worried about when we decided to go out with them this past weekend was them (or mostly Noah) noticing all of the trash and debris everywhere.  I didn't want it to scare him.  But what was sad was that he didn't think much of it because he's used to seeing trash and we had talked about people doing silly things like blocking the road and burning things.

Overall they are just unfazed.  Rightfully so because we've tried not to have them pay attention to it and we've tried not to make a big deal out of it.  But I've just been so grateful for how they're doing so well considering everything.  I mean, Bart and I are for sure more of a mess since we got back from being deported.  And now all of this and so tensions are definitely higher.  This is an example of something that happened the other day:
Bart: Babe why do keep yelling at me?  I feel like you've been yelling a lot lately.
Me: You've just been around way too much.
Bart (with a light chuckle): Now I know how you really feel.
Me: I didn't think before I said that.  I'm sorry.  Or am I?  (insert smile)

So yes, tensions are much higher right now.  I'm a yeller in general but you put me in this situation where we're all at home and we don't have many outlets, and I get a little annoyed.  I don't think it's ideal for Bart to be around as much either, but it's hard for him to go anywhere right now.  So we both need to be a little more proactive about getting out within our complex and still meeting with people.

Anyways, I digress.  I'm just really proud of our kids.  They love the team and they love Venezuela and they are doing the best they can given the circumstances.  It's really fun to see their personalities grow and change and adapt to whatever is going on.  Sometimes I wonder if coming here was bad for my kids, for social reasons, for development reasons, or just my own paranoia.  But I'm also really glad that they've been able to have this experience and see a different life and know that there's more out there, even though it might be difficult.

Would you pray for our kids?  Would you pray for us as we try to parent them and be consistent and love them well even when we're a hot mess?  We for sure need prayer in this area, maybe more than any other!