Even so, there's something about having someone else in your home that adds a bit of stress. Even if they're the most easy-going person, it's different than normal, and it's challenging. Maybe that's not true for everyone, but for me it is. By the end of the two weeks I was worn out, just from the low-level stress of having a guest that long!
But we had a lot of good times too. We were able to have conversations on the laptop, using google translate. What a great invention! It's not perfect, but it's enough that we could actually "talk" about things and get (most of) our meaning across. I learned that Inta has a husband and 3 kids, whom she left to go to a strange country where she'd never been before, for an entire month, and over the holidays! That takes some guts! I don't know that I could do that, but her sacrifice made it possible for several orphaned children to experience life in a family. Many of them will end up being adopted into forever families. Hopefully many of them heard the gospel and experienced love, and they can carry that back with them to Latvia. A sense of hope has been added to their lives.
Our kids were great with Inta! They weren't embarrassed by the language barrier. In fact, the girls didn't even realize that there was a barrier and just kept talking right along. They all enjoyed having her here and would like to host her again some day. That stress that adults feel at having a stranger around just isn't there for the kids I guess. They'd love to host a child some time too. We'll see . . .
But I think the best part about doing this is that I feel like I've exercised. Let me explain . . . I've been trying to get back into the habit of physical exercise, and it feels so good when I do! I don't really enjoy exercising; most of the time I downright hate it! But when I'm done, I feel so much better. And with hosting Inta, it was a challenging and stretching thing for us, but I feel stronger for it. It's not that I feel good because "I-did-my-good-deed-for-the-year," but I feel like we've used what God's given us for someone else, and we've taken our focus just a little bit off of ourselves for this short time. There's so much selfishness in my heart, and when I actually peel back a layer of it, it's so refreshing and freeing! This experience wasn't what I'd consider a wonderfully fun vacation, but--like physical exercise--it's healthy to get out of my comfort zone sometimes, and it feels great when I do.
And God answered my prayers. He took away the anxiety I had felt before she came. He gave us four kids to ease the tension and keep things interesting. He let us enjoy the experience and learn and grow from it. He let us be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Our church is planning to host this summer, and I'm looking forward to being a part of it again. (If you're a Christian family in the US and are interested in the program, visit New Horizons for Children, and read about it.)
Thank you, Lord, for challenging me and stretching me. Thank you for blessing our family in so many ways, and for allowing us to be a small blessing to someone else.
