One of the new experiences we have had this year is having a driver for the first time. I had thought about the possibility before when Joe had an offer from Russia that he turned down because I had always heard of families having drivers in Russia. When I thought of a driver though, I always pictured the elite of New York City with their uniformed worker who drove them around in a nice car. For one thing, this isn’t New York City. But it has been a nice experience to have a driver. I think almost every city we have been in it would have been nice to have one, but like most things in life there are positives and negatives. Here is what I have found with having a driver for the past several months:

Positives:

• For me, the biggest positive is not having to find a parking spot.  One of my least favorite things about driving in Europe is the lack of parking.  And also once you find a parking spot, I am not always comfortable with maneuvering the car in the designated spot.
• It is so less stressful in terms of not worrying about getting lost and not having to deal with rude drivers…or the chance that you might have road rage on one of them
• Having extra time to talk with the kids because I am not gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles and not uttering a word until we arrive at our destination.
• I no longer have to think about whether the gas tank is full.  Although I fully confess that in the last 9 seasons abroad, I could probably count on one or two hands the number of times I have put gas in the car because Joe so faithfully takes care of it for us.
• I am able to be in the back with the kids and diffuse any problems right on the spot, so no distracted driving.

Negatives:

• You have to really plan ahead because there is no just running out quickly for something you forgot for dinner.  So far this has worked out pretty well.  But even for a last minute change to go out to dinner instead of cook it can’t really happen.
• You have to put your family in the care of someone else’s driving.  This has been a little stressful for me at times because one of our drivers (we have had three now…another negative, but the other family here was able to stick with their same driver for the whole time, so maybe that one is just us) almost gave me a heart attack a few times.  When you have a driver who drives very fast and hits the pot holes at full speed, it can be interesting.
• Anyone who has multiple children knows that getting them out the door at the set time can be hard.  As soon as you go to leave the youngest has a dirty diaper, then someone else has to go tot he bathroom (even thought he bathroom call was made 10 minutes ago) and then someone else forgot something they want to bring.  So I have had to plan ahead more as we walk out the door so I can be down at the car at the time we requested to be picked up.

Overall, I am really thankful we have had a driver this year and glad to have had another experience to add to the books

We have really enjoyed living in Mariupol, Ukraine so far.  It was a leap of faith for us in many ways because much of what we heard about the city was not positive.  As we looked at our hearts and the desires for our family though, we felt like God was calling us to step out of our comfort zone and go for it.  Maybe it is because we had such low expectations for this city that it has been a pleasant surprise.  Of course, like any place we have lived, there are aspects of the city we could do without.  But one of the best things about this city is that there is so much more for us to do than in the previous 4 years or so.  We have found some good parks, great restaurants to eat at, a bowling alley and ice skating rink, a nice area in the center of the city to feed the birds, etc.

But one of the greatest finds was on Saturday when Joe took Elijah to a professional soccer game here in Mariupol and paid $1 each for mid-field seats five rows up.  ONE DOLLAR.  You can’t get into a high school girls basketball game for that in the States!  And it was a good game too.  Elijah had a blast and Joe enjoyed the two hours out with him.  We haven’t found a better deal for $1 anywhere else.

I think another aspect that is helping us enjoy Mariupol more is our overall attitude.  We decided that if Joe was going to take this job, we were going to “go for it”.  That meant to us that we would view it as an adventure and an opportunity for God to refine us.  I think that really helped prepare me to be thankful when we got here.

But since arriving here, another attitude check has helped us.  We are finally realizing how good we have it with this lifestyle…it only took 9 years   We have always enjoyed the slower pace and been thankful for the opprintunities we have had, but I always had the sense we were sort of living with one foot still in the U.S., which is hard not to do in this lifestyle.  But this year, I feel like we have completely embraced where we are and seen what a blessing it is to have this time together as a family.  We are soaking it up, relaxing, enjoying one another and the kids, and realizing this journey is going to be coming to an end soon.  There will still be challenges here for sure, but the change of attitude will hopefully prevail and give us thankful and joyful hearts.

And we will enjoy a few more soccer game for $1.

One of my favorite things about living a life overseas for 9 months and then coming home for 3 months, is that you get to see how much you have that you really don’t need. After every season we come home to a house full of things after living with only 1-2 suitcases worth of our stuff for 3/4 of the year. It is at those times that you realize how much extra stuff we have.

It is funny for me to think back to when Abby was a baby. I went through the typical baby registry before she was born and she had it all: an infant/bouncy seat, an exersaucer, a high chair, a swing, a car seat, a front carrier, a stroller, a baby bath tub, a baby gym/playmat, baby monitors, crib, changing table, glider with ottoman, pack ‘n play, etc. And I thought I was going simple by passing over things like a doorway jumper and a wipes warmer! Now with my fourth child at four months of age and having lived through having an infant in 4 different countries, I realize that you can really get by with very little for them (Isaiah currently has a car seat, a double stroller to share with Naomi, a baby wrap and a pack ‘n play to sleep in).

Not that any of the things I had for Abby are wrong or weren’t used. Many of them were helpful, but you realize when living abroad and not being able to bring them all, that you can get by without them and your life is still wonderful. I think that is why every single time I come home from being overseas and see all we have in our home that I did not miss, I tend to clear things out.

This year I had a similar feeling as I packed up our New Jersey home. We keep things pretty simple in terms of how much stuff we have and yet as I was packing up, I still got a sick feeling in my stomach of all that we had. I was boxing up certain items that at the time of purchase seemed so important and necessary and after a few months ended up down in our basement. And I realized I had more joy in finding things to give to others to use than I did in buying the item and then storing it for “when I may need it someday”.

I realized too how it is easy for us as Americans to watch shows like Hoarding or Hoarders and become disgusted at how much others will store up for themselves. But we all do this to a certain extent. We all have more than we really need, it just depends what line we want to draw at what “excessive” is.

So as I was getting ready to come overseas this year, I decided to just see what it would be like to not buy anything for myself for the next 4 months.  That isn’t a long time by any means.  I am usually not a big shopper and work to stay within our budget that we set at the beginning of every season.  But I do realize that usually if I see something that I think I want or will use, shortly after that it is purchased.  In reality when I look around at all I have, I have very little need for much of anything more for the rest of my life.

My hope is that from this little time away from purchasing things I will see the freedom that comes from having less.  Not only does it free up money to share with those who have less, but it frees up time that is used in purchasing the items, using the item, up-keeping the item and then possibly storing the item.  I hope to make the best use of my money, time and efforts during my lifetime and maybe this is a way I can do that better.