I wish I had more time to put thoughts into words about our time thus far in the Philippines. I would try to describe my children's faces when they saw families and little children living in a park--their first experience with homelessness.
I'd try to express the uncomfortability that anyone who's traveled cross-culturally knows well--of feeling so thankful to be somewhere, and yet so ruffled in the same moment. I'd let you know that it's such a good thing--for us to have that feeling.
For many days we're here, our actual routine hasn't changed that much from what it's like at home. Steve still goes to work--it's just in a taxi to the Manila office (& sometimes it takes a while to get there in traffic!).
As for me, I teach, correct, beg God for patience when moments take a turn for the worse, and attempt to put food on the table--only I'm doing it all from 16 stories up in our apartment. Free range rambling in the fields of Newtown has been replaced by an afternoon spent in the swimming pool of the apartment building--one good thing traded for another.
If I had more time, I'd say that our family gets a lot of attention around these parts. Diverse families like ours are pretty unusual here. For the most part, I don't mind this. It's normal to notice differences and be curious about them.
But sometimes I want to crawl in a hole. At those times I take a deep breath, look away from the stares, and remind myself that my mission in life is not to blend. Our family is meant to be noticed, to make people think.
If I could sit down for tea with you, I'd do an imperfect job of letting you know what it was like to pass the guarded, concrete walls of Love146's Round Home for the first time--a place I've wanted to see for years.
Like any special, monumental moments, I experienced it all through a surreal clouded haze, one I've been trying to process ever since.
I don't have all the right words or the perfect amount of time, but I've wrangled more thoughts into a post about my visit with Trishna to the Round Home and I'd love for you to come over to Simple Homeschool, take a read, and partner with us.
"You may choose to look the other way,
but you can never again say that you did not know."
~ William Wilberforce
