Japan 2015

Well.....Considering it's been 5 YEARS since I have written a blog and The Shields have had quite a lot going on lately, I thought I would finally get to answer everyone's question to me, "So, how's Japan???"

First of all, this is a long one. With the move, birthdays, traveling, refreshing and refining moments with my God....it's all exploding out in this one, peeps. 

For those of you who do not know, Thomas' job moved us to Nagoya, Japan for one year. We arrived January 6th and will return home the same time next year. The first three months of our time here brought birthdays to all my sweet babies! 

While we were still recovering from jet lag, culture shock, and just plain exhaustion our baby, Scarlet Hosanna, turned the big ONE.

We were so out of it and had no idea where to get anything fun for her birthday. Thankfully, Thomas found a sweets shop just down the road from out apartment. We couldn't decide on just one or two things, because EVERYTHING in there looked so yummy. We had a sweet family moment celebrating her and watching her dig into her first bit of sugary sweetness. 

I still look at her and have no idea who she looks like. I think she is probably a mix of several family members. Her hair color throws me for a loop every time I look at it. She has this red, strawberry blondish hair. What!! 

She has been our "surprise" baby in more ways that one. From the moment Thomas had to deliver her in our living room, to her doing everything in her own time, very differently from her siblings, she has kept us on our toes.  Honest moment...I cried when I saw the words "pregnant" on the pregnancy test with her. I don't think I have ever been more shocked as I was that day. Life had been really busy the few weeks before. I attended 5 births as a doula within a two week span of time, I had been traveling, and didn't realize I was "late" until I was "really late." I knew I wasn't pregnant. There was NO WAY I was pregnant. I took the test only because I needed to see the words "not pregnant." After I took the test, I actually forgot about it. I was downstairs playing in the basement with the kids, when I finally remembered. I ran upstairs, and it was like I had the vision of an eagle when I walked into the bathroom. I was standing at the bathroom doorway, the test was on the window seal, and I saw those tiny little letters across the room. I just stood there with my mouth open. 

"What! We were so careful."

"Not another surprise pregnancy."

"This is not my timing."

"How did this happen! (obviously, we know how it happened.)

"I'm not ready to be throwing up for the test three months."

"Shepherd just turned 3 and we ALREADY are pregnant again."

I immediately called Thomas and was crying so hard I could barely speak. Thomas thought me and the kids had been in a car wreck and that there was a tragedy. THAT'S how bad I was crying. I told him the news and he was like, "that's why you're crying. This is a good thing!" 

I tell all of this because, the timing of my pregnancy was God's, not mine. MY plan was to possibly start trying for another baby the Fall of that same year. However, it was Fall of that year that Thomas sprung the big news to me. "So, how would you feel about moving to Japan the end of next year??" At that moment, I was so thankful to be pregnant with our third baby. Because, here's the thing, if Thomas would have told me about Japan and we had been thinking about trying at that time, WE WOULDN'T HAVE. I would have probably said, "no way are we having two kids and a newborn in Japan." I know I would have been stubborn. I know I would have put off another baby for a long time. So Scarlet is my present from the Lord. God "squeezed in" another baby for us before we left. She is the perfect addition to our family. If someone would have told me, "Hey, you are going to have 3 kids back to back." I would have laughed and politely replied, "that's not my plan." So that's the common denominator here: God's timing is perfect. His timing is what is best for us, even when we don't see that at the time. 

"A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps." Proverbs 16:9

Having Scarlet has made me submit to HIS timing in a much sweeter and easy way. Always thinking "Lord not my will buy Your's." 

"You know best and I want to trust You with all that I am."

Olivia Mai is just a hoot. She turned 3 the end of January. Last year when she turned two, she was sad because she said, "I don't want to be 2, I want to be 3." And of course this year, she says she wants to be 4!! She is constantly falling down. Only because she is always trying to keep up with Shepherd. Most the time, before a fall, you'll hear the words, "Shepherd, wait for me!" Then CRASH!. I know having to keep up with her older bother is going to make her a strong and independent, young lady. She loves being with Shepherd and loves family. She prefers for daddy to be home from work so we can all be together. I see the gift of discernment in her already. She is fearless! She runs towards danger! Makes me nervous. She has a little obsession with "treats." Sweet tooth, like her daddy. I think she is just beautiful. 

Olivia means "olive tree." Before we had children, me and Thomas took a trip to Israel with our church. We had a sweet time of worship and communion in the garden where Jesus was praying before he was arrested and crucified. We sat under an olive tree praying for our future children. It brings tears to my eyes thinking about those moments of talking to the Lord as one and offering our hopes and dreams of a family up to God. We prayed that we would lay solid foundations for our children to KNOW Jesus and know they are loved by Him with an unconditional love. We prayed for God to help us as parents to seek wisdom and cling to His Word in raising our children.

This kid is the coolest kid I know. He is obsessed with wrestling matches with Thomas, he loves ninjas, he is in constant motion. Always running, jumping, karate chopping...he's the most agile kid I have ever seen.  I don't know how he has as much energy as he does. He just turned 5 which is crazy. Time flies when you're having fun. He has had a teenage mutant ninja turtle obsession for quite some time now. He loves to be around other kids and makes friends quickly and easily. I don't know if he is a natural leader, but kids are drawn to him and want to be around him. I'm excited to see how that will play out when he is older.

 I love this picture of Shepherd so much.(click on it for a close up) He is running with everything he has. He loves to run! It makes him so happy to just let loose in wide open spaces. 

"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it." 1 Corinthians 9:24

Run! Run! Run, my son!! 

He loves having sisters, but he wants brothers too. He asks me all the time when we are going to have another baby. He has always been so sweet and gentle with Scarlet. She loves him and he makes her laugh. I felt the Lord speak to me with a specific characteristic and gift Shepherd would have when he was just a baby. Encouragement. It has been such a blessing to see the Lord confirm that through others. Parents tell me all the time, "He is such an encourager." He doesn't like for kids to feel left out, so he is quick to make other kids feel welcome and comfortable. He is very tender-hearted. I'm just crazy about him!

A few interesting things about Japan...

-The elder kick bootay here. Always walking, biking, exercising. I'm always impressed to see an 80 year old lady walking to the grocery store and carrying all her groceries home.

-The blood alcohol level here is ZERO. If you get pulled over and have ANY alcohol in your system..automatic DUI. (Also, you automatically get fired from Thomas's company if you get a DUI) They don't mess around!

-Japanese people are tiny. I'm in XL leggings here and they are high waters!

We have grown very close as a family. Less busy here and less distractions. It has been good to regain my focus on marriage and raising children. The first few weeks here were rough. Everyone had jet lag and trying to get 5 people on a new schedule took a while. I had a lot of wife and mommy failures for sure. I remember one day I tried to find a karate class I had signed the kids up for and I got lost big time (while still learning how to drive on the opposite side of the road.) We didn't make it to class and I felt like I had let the kids down because they were so excited about it. It seemed like every time I tried to go somewhere fun with the kids, I would get lost. My most glamorous moment came one day when I had just had enough. I didn't know how to cook anything here, no oven, no dryer, no dishwasher, I had almost burnt our apartment down twice, getting lost everywhere I went. Thomas came home that night, and I was like "I'm done" and I slammed the door to our bedroom and had a pity party. Real mature, I know.

But I have been humbled and I am being refined. The refining of gold is a long, HOT process. It has to be heated up enough for the dross (impurities) to float to the top and then the dross is scoped off. That's how the gold is made beautiful!! 

Zechariah 13:9

 " I will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon My name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'This is My people, and they will say,'The Lord is my God."

I've got a long way to go. But my cry to everyone who feels like things are "getting a little toasty"...STAY IN THE POT! DON'T GET OUT! It is a necessary process that far too few choose to endure. We are a people of bailing out when things get hard. But there is such beauty in the end. I'm already seeing life differently, my kids and husband in a new way. 

Thomas started reading through the book of Job to me at night before bed. One thing that hit me like a ton of bricks was that Job rose every morning to pray for each of his kids by name. And he had A LOT of kids. Ten I think.

Job 1:5 "...and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt sacrifices according to the number of them all.."

How can we not rise early every morning and pray for our kids?!

The day before Thomas read that particular scripture to me, I had had one of "those mornings." Nothing was going well, the kids were insane, and I seriously kept having to clean up spill after spill. At one moment, Olivia spilled the biggest class of milk onto the floor and I swear that milk spilled from sea to shining sea! I was down on my knees cleaning up the ocean of milk on the floor and totally stewing with frustration. The Lord  gently spoke to my heart, " Start your mornings on your knees. It will make the times you have to get down on your knees to clean and pick up toys easy and joyful. " I can't believe He loves me so much to instruct me on how to survive this journey of motherhood. I'm not super spiritual by any means. I just ask (more like cry out half the time) for help and he loving gives it. So I'm trying to start my days on my knees in prayer for my family. 

Being a mom is like totally hard! But worth it. Our house is filled with so much laughter and fun. Most days are far from glamorous. There are days that the most in depth, philosophical  conversation I have is how eating boogers is really bad for you and gross. I'm like "seriously ya'll, why are you questioning me on that! I have a nursing degree from UT!" I fail all the time. I have to ask for my kids forgiveness all the time. I've found when you're having a bad day sometimes you just need to have a tickle match or see who can make the loudest fart noises with your hands. 

Life is hard, but so good. I am thankful for what God has given me and feel very content. 

A few random thoughts....

The Parks here are seriously AWESOME!! Me and Thomas are always like, "there's no way people would build this in the States."

An Evening at a Cherry Blossom Festival

Sometimes people ask what I do for "school." 

Nothing, really until they are older. I started a level 1 pre-school curriculum that takes up like 30 minutes, when Shepherd was 3 1/2 years. Before that, it was just play, puzzles, flash cards, and lots of time spent reading to him.

I love love love this Pre-school curriculum. EVERYTHING comes in the box. All if have to do is go to the library and get the weekly book. Shepherd is doing the Level 2 Pre-school kit now and Olivia is doing level 1. 

http://readymadepreschool.com/

I also, started teaching Shepherd to read last Fall with All About Reading. 

http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/all-about-reading/

And...this mama just had her 34th birthday!!

"Never in my wildest dreams..."