Friday Togetherness

This week was supposed to be one where we reached out more - we planned to have a Chinese co-worker of Ryan's over for supper on Wednesday and invited our neighbors over for supper on Thursday. But then Hadassah got sick... Tuesday night she was up 6 times with a fever, which thankfully broke on Wednesday afternoon, but we didn't want to spread the cold to our neighbor's boy, so we canceled.

So this sight has happened a few times... until the cold she was great going down for naps, almost eager to get into her bed and drifting off peacefully. With this cold, though, sometimes it will be an hour of trying to get to sleep, as I try different things to help her. Being stuffed up is no fun when you're a baby who doesn't know why or what to do! So for the past few days an extra nursing before sleep seems to be the only way to clear her nose long enough for her to fall asleep, and a few times a pillow on our bed seemed to help. So, I've been learning to be flexible, and trying to focus on the joy of extra time to snuggle with our little girl instead of the disruption it causes to routine. ;) She's growing up so fast, so these are times to cherish.

And yesterday, the sky was blue again...

 Yes, this is China! It was like a little gift from God, who knew we were missing the beauty of creation. ;) And I'm getting a glimpse of the China Ryan fell in love with when he was here 9 years ago.

Ryan took us on the e-bike to a park he used to run to. It was such fun to ride in the breeze on a Friday evening, going away from tall buildings and seeing farmland, smelling dirt - good, earthy dirt - and fresh-cut grass!!

 And it's so good to just be a family. There are so many things to do, to figure out, so many ways we want to reach out and be a blessing, but it can be very overwhelming at times. We need times like this to just get away, to breathe fresh-er air and enjoy being together.

Hadassah was so excited to be able to get down and move. :) I have a feeling that when she starts walking alone she's going to take off running, she goes so fast!

Part of the outing was for our Friday "date night." I am so blessed to be married to this man!

We made it to the Huangpu River but didn't stay long as it was getting dark. But we hope to go back one day soon, take a picnic, and enjoy being out in nature once again. It does us all good.

Thank you, Lord, for Your many blessings...