Childhood Memories Relived

I remember my very first trip to Disney World.  I was probably seven years old.  At the time, there was only the Magic Kingdom.  Epcot was being built and Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom were not even dreams yet.

What do I remember most?  The Electrical Light Parade.  Could there by anything more magical than Cinderella riding in a carriage of lights?  I remember it being so incredible that my dad bought slides (does anyone remember slides?) so we could relive it over and over in our living room.

Thirty years later, I shared the experience with my own kids.  It was just as magical as it was the first time.

One of the benefits of the internship we're doing is that we were given season passes to Disney World.  Up to this point we've only gone during the day.  But a couple of weeks ago I took Hannah and Gavin, and we stayed until the lights started rolling down Main Street.  Honestly, it was even better than I remembered it. :)

Reliving your own childhood memories with your children has to be one of the most fun things about parenthood.  Seeing the pure delight and wonder on the kids' faces was even more magical than the lights.  I loved every minute of it, even thirty years later.

The Christmas Tree Hunt

Our family did something this year we've never done before.  We went and cut down a Christmas Tree.

The one perk to living in Florida is that there are lots of trees around.  Lots of Christmas trees.  That makes them cheap!  And since our fake tree is in storage in Ft. Worth, we decided we'd go all out and find a place where we could cut our own tree.  We had a blast!

We drove about an hour away to a Christmas Tree farm.  Obviously they know how to make the most of the season, so they had more than just trees.

The petting zoo was free, which the kids loved.  Notice they're in shorts.  It just felt wrong to be cutting down a Christmas Tree in 80 degree weather. . . but we tried to make the most of it.

Not sure what that creature is, but Ben sure liked it.

Once we were ready to pick out a tree, we took a hayride around the farm until we saw the type of trees we wanted.  They dropped us off with a measuring pole and a saw.

It was a hard choice, with lots of good contenders, but ultimately Dad had the last say.  Cody's family often got live trees growing up, so he has some very particular qualifications for an acceptable tree.  We finally found one Cody approved of and that the kids liked too.

So we cut 'er down.  All of us.

And hauled her back to the hayride stop to be picked up, shaken out and netted for transport.

Oh, and there was a giant trampoline pillow the kids were able to get some energy out playing on. :)

 It took a couple of attempts to get it securely attached, but it did make it back to Orlando!

And then we spent the rest of the afternoon decorating--senza the hot chocolate, since we had our air conditioner on.

The finishing touch was Ben putting his train around it.  We're hoping we keep it alive until Christmas.  It's already tipped over twice!  Making memories. . . .

MK2MK

Today I wanted to share a link to a story posted on Campus Crusade's website about a ministry that has greatly ministered to our kids through their transition back to the States.  Not only did our kids get to participate in a weekend retreat just for them, every other Thursday they meet together with other kids who are transitioning back to America.  Amanda Hill, who is mentioned in this story, is who leads that time with them.  She is fantastic.

We are so thankful Campus Crusade cares so much about our family.  Our kids' experience is totally different than ours, and in a lot of ways, a lot harder.  MK2MK has a blessing beyond measure.

The link to Campus Crusade's website, where this story was published is located here: MK2MK

But if you don't want to hassle with the link, I've copied and pasted the story.  In the picture, Hannah is on the left, holding the other little girl, and Gavin in on the far right.

Oh, The Places You'll Go

Helping missionary kids transition after living overseas.

By Rich Atkinson 

 5 December 2011

  

For missionaries and their families, returning from overseas requires adjustments long after their jetlag has subsided. Children tend to face the most difficult transition. MK2MK, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ is there to help. MK2MK’s mission is to build a global spiritual movement of MKs (missionary kids) who impact their world for Christ.

Staff member Amanda Hill says, “MK2MK ministers to third culture kids—meaning kids that grow up in between two worlds forming their own culture.” For example, their parents are American, yet the children may have only experienced living overseas.

MK2MK staff members help families transition from overseas through things like debriefing weekends and visiting them when they’ve returned to the States.

Amanda and another MK2MK staff member traveled to Texas to visit the Runn family who recently returned from serving in Europe. Their teenage daughter Courtney wrote on her blog about the difficulties of the transition process after living overseas for five years: "A girl in my English class asked me how my transition was going and I almost wanted to cry,” she said. “I couldn't believe someone I wasn't even close to thought to ask me that question and cared about my answer."

Her mom, Carrie, also appreciates the care from MK2MK. "As a parent, I am thankful to have godly men and women who serve with MK2MK pray and care for my kids in this new season of life," she says.

“Our heart is really to allow them to tell their stories,” says Amanda, “to be able to express grief if that is where they are.”

During a debriefing weekend in Melbourne, Fla., staff members gathered children and parents together to listen to the Dr. Seuss book, “Oh, the places, you’ll go!” and took part in a “hands-on” potted plant illustration. They showed the children the plant and said, “look how happy he is in his home.” But then it is time to move. They took the plant out of the pot, and with the kids, moved it from station to station around the room. They talked about what leaving feels like and they shook the plant up a bit, leaving the roots hanging out.

The staff members reminded the kids that transition won’t be like this forever, although it feels hard at the moment.

When they came to the station representing their new home, there was a bigger pot for the illustration, because the plant needs room to grow. The staff members emphasizes that God will help the Mk’s grow, too.

“We make it fun, too, like the places that they will go,” says Amanda. “The adventure of life being ups and downs and transitions.”