Massive Flooding

It is amazing how we can get caught up in our own little world. This past week I have seen pictures on the news of the flooding in my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. It has been a little surreal to see the local amusement park under water and to know the pain, frustration, and suffering that is going on there. Unfortunately, Allan and I have been so caught up in the process of moving ahead with our life and making some important decisions this week that I didn't really give it a whole lot of thought beyond a mere passing notice. I didn't realize that in another town I call home, on the other side of the world, even worse flooding was happening. Last night we received an email message from the American Embassy in Manila about their office being closed on Monday due to the flooding from the recent typhoon. We often get messages from them because we had to register with the Embassy when we moved overseas and I am unsure how to "unregister". Since there are often typhoons and flooding in the Philippines, I really didn't give it much thought until Allan began showing me horrific pictures of streets and places that were not just some place somewhere in a country we once lived in, but of places we knew and streets we had been on.

The news media is calling this "the worst flooding in the nations capital in 4 decades... as more than a months worth of rain was dumped on the city in 12 hours". The last count Allan and I saw of reported dead was 106. Beyond that, the devastation has to be unimaginable as people who have so little to begin with are now left with nothing. As power begins to be restored in some areas, friends are beginning to post pictures on facebook. I have spent the last hour looking at them. In some ways it is amazing how quickly life goes on. Pictures from around Faith Academy on Monday show the women and men working to get rid of the mud and muck left behind, while the Filipino kids are enjoying the day off school playing basketball on what's left of the courts.

Here are a few pictures I saw on the internet of an area called Cainta which is near our home and where the kids school, Faith Academy is located. These are places we know and places we've been. It's a little hard for me to see such destruction.

A picture of Cainta in the Rizal province

This is a major road into Manila called Ortigas
We traveled over this bridge every Sunday on the way to church

Another picture of the same scene.

More people traveling on Ortigas

We have had no news from the area around the clinic, but it is on somewhat high ground. Please pray for the Filipinos impacted by this calamity as well as the missionaries who have also lost much and for those who will begin to help rebuild what has been lost.

This picture is in an area of Manila called Pasig

It is a little further down Ortigas closer to town.

The Mad Scientist

Will is taking his first intense Jr High Science program this year. He has been excited about beginning it and doing experiements. He has enviously watched Emily doing labs for the last 2 years. That sounds like he hasn't had any Science. He has, but this begins a different chapter in his education as he moves toward high school. This week he had his first experiments. He was quite thrilled and enjoyed every moment. This is his mad scientist look. Can you hear his eveil laugh?

The Other Side of the Box

There is a large Filipino business in the US known as Balikbayan. "Balikbayan" literally means a Filipino living outside of the Philippines who returns for a visit. A Balikbayan box is filled with stuff Filipinos send or take back home to their family in the Philippines. In Filipino communities across the US, Filipinos specialize in shipping these boxes. During our time in the Philippines, our family and Dr Holmes often sent us a box of little treats from home, Christmas gifts for the kids, and supplies for our ministry. (remember the pill bottles?) Now we are on the other end of the spectrum. Last week we packed up a box of stuff to ship to the ministry. Here is Allan doing what my parents did quite a few times:In the past we have shipped out of Atlanta, but there was a shipping office in Myrtle Beach. So we took it with us on vacation and right now it is waiting train transportation to the west coast before being loaded on a cargo ship.

Pictures from the Beach

Since I posted a blog from the beach last week, I thought I would show just a couple pictures:

Will ready to catch a few waves

Emily found a neat shell.

I just love the look I caught on Will's face

Showing the same shell to Dad

and here is one of Emily's treasured shell

She loves looking for sea shells

We brought home 2 buckets full

Will's favorite: The fast water slide

Every night he went down this slide at least 12 times.

By the way--I don't know those people in the hot tub

Here is Will coming off the botton of the slide

Out by the lazy river.

How many times can you go around in a circle?

ALOT!

Allan and Emily on the beach

A Distance Greater Than 21 Months

I remember it as if it was yesterday. One Christmas morning an 11 month old boy and a 2 1/2 year old girl received a pop-up tent. For the first time, the 2 wee ones began to play with one another not just next to one another. They chased and popped out of the tent; giggling and squealing all the while. And thus began a beautiful friendship. With only 21 months separating them, Emily and Will have always been close.

When Emily turned 12 and Will was 10 I noticed things began to change. I would tell people,"This is probably the biggest difference in age that they will ever have." I was wrong! 12 and 14 is a much bigger age difference. Poor Will is surrounded by teenage girls who are rapidly leaving childhood behind. While he is looking for a game to play in the pool, his sister and cousins want to "lay out" or just talk. Last fall the kids all went out into the woods to play imaginary games. As hard as he tries, he now can rarely talk them into heading out into the woods and when they do the girls do more talking than playing. I've discovered "talking" is a big past time of teenage girls. Just last week, his cousin Beth called him on the phone to come play in the backyard in the camping tent she had set up. He went filled with excitement only to discover the girls wanted to sit in the tent and.....you guessed it, talk. He finally talked them into getting out of the tent and into the yard where they.....practiced handstands and handsprings. Now is that a great boy activity?

We are spending a few days relaxing at the beach this week and the differences scream at me. Emily is enjoying walking on the beach looking for shells, swimming in the lazy river or riding in waves on her boogie board, then laying out in the sun or sitting in the hot tub while chatting with me. Will on the other hand is in constant perpetual motion. To the beach to boogie board and get completely filthy building sand castles or chasing seagulls, to the pool, swimming the lazy river backwards, chasing his father or anyone else through the lazy river forward, running up the 3 flights of stairs to the hotel slide and then throwing himself down it at rocket speed to the pool below only to do it over and over again. He is having a blast, but I wish I had brought his friend Christopher along!

Besides the differences in my kids, I am beginning to see signs of physical changes in Will too as he nears 13. His feet have exploded out of his shoes and all his pants are able to go through deep puddles without getting wet. In the picture below, you can see he is almost as tall as his sister; much to his delight. I am sure in the next few years he will leave action figures and legos in the past. For now, he is wanting to embrace childhood and get in some good testosterone play time. I just need to find him another boy locally to join him on the journey.

Sweatshirts and Jeans??

There's a nice little breeze blowing through my windows this morning. Last Monday a cool front blew in bringing with it the first hints of fall. I quickly turned off the ac and threw open the windows to relish in the cool weather. I really love fall. It's my favorite time of year. While I have struggled with not being in the Philippines, I am thankful to spend another Autumn in the upstate of South Carolina. The days have been sunny with highs in the upper 70s and low humidity; just about near perfect. The kids on the other hand are acting like it is in the 40s. Every morning they wake up and put on bluejeans and sweatshirts. I am still in my summer PJs or Capri pants. I wonder if this is still a by-product of living in the Philippines. It never felt this nice there and the humidity rarely dropped below 80%. It's a good thing we didn't return home to someplace like Montana. They would have never survived. For me, I am going to enjoy this brief taste of fall while it lasts. This being the South, I'm sure summer will return, probably with a vengeance, before fall is here to stay.

Here's a picture of the boy taken just moments ago.

Notice he also has on Wool Ski socks. He's CRAZY!

Here's our new High Schooler! She had ditched her sweatshirt while I was typing this blog. It was just too cute a picture to not post. Besides it gives you a little glimpse into our home school life.