Our hosting journey | Toccoa GA | Family Photographer

August 1, 2015
 |  71 Comments

Williams 2nd

 

“Expect this to be hard. Expect to love them unconditionally…” This is what my husband and I both thought going into hosting. We told ourselves it wouldn’t be the easiest thing we have ever done, but we knew this is what God wanted us to do.

Well, I have to be honest ya’ll…we are several weeks in, and we have had so much fun! But here’s the biggest surprise:  We aren’t just loving them unconditionally; we are being loved back!!!  This brother and sister duo slid right into our family so beautifully.

Of course, it didn’t feel this comfortable the night we picked them up from the airport.  As we left the other host families and made that long walk to our car and then our two hour drive home, I could already see how difficult the language barrier was going to be. I had so many things to tell them and to ask them. But even the simplest things like “Did you enjoy the plane ride?” or “Are you cold?” wasn’t so simple.

Our first full day home was great: they seemed to get along with our kids, and especially adored our 17 month old boy.  But somehow even though we had an amazing first day, I felt exhausted with so many emotions.  As I rocked our baby to bed that night, I was thinking, “Is this how it will be for 5 weeks? Will I be entertaining two strangers in our home? Will my kids feel out of place or left behind?”

But over the next couple of days these two *strangers* quickly have become two beautiful souls that we never expected to show us so much love and kindness. K is the oldest and he is hilarious!!! I didn’t expect that at all. He has brought so much laughter to our family. And little A is a huge help to me! She loves helping to clean up and taking care of our three little kids. They are so good to one another. They help with our chickens and rabbits. They love swimming and being outside. And their English is getting better every day. They have gotten super, super goofy several times…where I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. How can we have so much fun and laugh so hard about things when we can hardly understand one another?! I didn’t expect that.

I also didn’t expect for things from our garden to disappear so quickly. Or our pantry. Or our fridge. These two EAT. They haven’t been picky at all.  I’m so thankful they love all the fresh watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, and tomatoes we pick from our garden, much of which they can’t get easily in their country.  I need to find a way to get chips growing in the yard and maybe a river made of juice and we will be set! Our chickens have always laid enough eggs for us, but I am afraid we will have to stop by our neighbors house to “borrow” lots more because K loves frying a few every couple hours.

We certainly have had some struggles and issues as everyone learns to fit together in our home, but man, are they worth it.   In our house, there are infants, toddlers, small kids, pre-teens and teens…and I have learned that no stage is easy.  It’s hard giving our own three the focus they usually get with our two host kids needing so much of our attention. A few times we have had to sit down and go over again why A & K get a snack just before supper when they can’t have one…or why they can’t drink as much juice as the big kids can.  Our host children need lots of our time and attention even for simple things like explaining where we are going and why.  Sometimes, it’s a struggle getting out of the door or even getting them to put the appropriate clothes on for where we are going. I have to take the time to type out explanations on my phone so that it can be translated into their language. But they need our attention for more important things too.  They shout, “Momma watch!!” Momma!!!!” a hundred times a day because they aren’t used to having someone caring about what they are doing.

Overall, these have been some of the longest days of my life! I am sooooo tired and I miss cuddling on the couch watching a show while eating snacks with my husband. We haven’t watched much TV since they got here, and even that has changed.  As I write this, the big kids are watching Frozen…in their language…and they love it.  I do miss our “old” normal at times…but I love this adventure and couldn’t be happier with how things are going. God really had His hand in having these two coming here for the summer.

4 ~ Family
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