Peace in the midst of chaos. a.k.a. Two years and counting.

 Two years.  Can you believe it?  The Liang family has been physically separated for two years now.  So much has happened within those two years.  Most of it is hard to explain.  But, here we are in spring of 2022 and we keep pushing forward.  Prayers are being answered but definitely not in the way we expected!  Now how am I at a place of peace?  There is so much chaos going on in the world!  I am at peace because I know where my future lies even though I don't know the future.  I am still in a place of waiting for reunion but I know it will happen in God's timing and in God's way.  I can rest in HIM (my relationship with God).  Yes, I can.  So, even though we are living in a time of war (that is not as far away as we think it is) and prices are  increasing (for everything), I know where my hope lies and it is not in anything this world can provide and definitely not myself.  I am finding a balance between hustle and faith/trust.  Boy am I glad my God has patience with me.  I often ruin things because I think I know better than HE does!  Right now my focus is on schoolwork and completing what is before me.  If all goes as planned I will be a licensed teacher by the end of 2022.  Summer plans?  Who knows!  I certainly hope we can meet up together as a family for a vacation but so many uncertainties at the moment we don't know what to do about any of it.  

Lessons are being learned and some of them the hard way.  At the start of 2022 we were hoping to have some kind of family reunion and it has not happened yet a quarter of the way into the year.  What will the future bring?  We can only trust the one who does know and leads us closer to it every day.  The daily grind of work needs to be done and sometimes it is not done well.  O God, please help us!  Hear our prayers!  We must not forget HIS faithfulness and patience.  We are coming up to Easter.  I have a specific prayer as we approach this important season and I pray it gets answered!  But again, it is not about what I want but what HE wants for me and my family.  HIS ways are not mine, and HIS thoughts are not mine either.  That's because HE knows better than I do and HE knows the future.  Preparations are being made to bring us to the place we need to be.  Humility is key and so is repentance.  So, yes, I have peace in the midst of chaos because I know who to trust and it is not myself!  Thank God for that one.  

God's peace in my life (and hope) is the only way I am surviving a two year long distance marriage.  I have hope that we will be reunited and it will be better than anything I could have planned myself!  

                               

18 months and counting.

 Aloha,

       Well still here (in the US) and husband still in China.  It has now been 18 months and we are approaching 19 months.  This week we celebrate his birthday (today) and our 13 year anniversary (Thursday).  Not exactly what we all expected!  

        I am pursuing a Masters in Elementary Education (with licensure) through Western Governors University (WGU).  Yes, I am a Night Owl.  :) 

       School is starting now and another year online.  We still live in Poulsbo, WA.  

        For other unexpected news we are now at 8 months since my father passed away from bladder cancer.  :(   It returned in the fall and really he had no chance of survival.  

        My sister moved here in November so we were all together at Christmas when our dad passed away.  We had his memorial service in July.  

     Need to get back to my schoolwork!  

                                       Blessings,

                              Jennifer Liang

We have moved.

Good morning from Poulsbo.  

 

      Our family no longer lives in Bremerton, WA but have moved to a house in Poulsbo, WA.  We traded our water view (Oyster Bay) for a pond in our backyard (Kevo's Pond).  We are still with the same quarantine pod of four adults, two kids and a dog.  Still missing the doctor though!  

     In future posts I will start on the details of an idea I have been thinking about for the past two weeks. 

                                        Blessings,

                                  Jennifer Liang

Quarantine? What quarantine?

Good morning!

     Here are a few things my children have been doing during this three and a half week not going out of the house except for walks around the neighborhood in nice weather.

1) Watching Veggie Tales (and Larry Boy cartoons) and Mary Poppins Returns among other choices of DVDs we borrowed from the library and don't have to return until the library opens again.

2) Homeschooling using the Internet.

3) Playing with puppets their great-grandmother made in the 1940's.  Their grandmother read the classic stories the puppets represent on her iPhone.

4) Having Dr. Suess books read to them before bed and either my cousin reading it backwards or making up silly names for all the characters.

5) Playing games like Uno, Rummikub, or Spot It, Monopoly Deal, Monopoly Cheaters Edition, or Chess among other games.

6) Walking the dog, Horatio.

7) Helping with baking and cooking and enjoying the things baked (and decorated a carrot cake made for no particular reason).

8) Playing with LEGOs and other toys.

9) Playing the Xbox with my cousin (Lego City Undercover is the most popular).

10) We made a train with boxes for transporting toys around the house.

11) Reading the books we borrowed from the library and other older books we have at my grandmother's home.

12) A large puzzle.

              Only a partial list for now.  We are doing well here with six of us in my grandmother's home.  Just missing one important person we don't know when we will see again.



                   

Not Quite The Start To 2020 We All Expected But We Are Blessed.

Good evening from a place not so far from Seattle.
       Yes, my two children and I are in the US during all this craziness going around the world.  Today we received news that we will not be able to return to China (Guangzhou) even if we wanted!  Our visas are no longer valid.  I don't know if that means they are not valid for now or if we have to get new ones before returning.  We even had more than a year left!
       Our 2020 journey did start in Guangzhou and grew crazy just before the Chinese New Year.  Of course, my dad was about four months into his cancer journey and that is what brought us to the US at this time.  My husband is still working in Guangzhou at his hospital so I guess we will be a two continent family for awhile.
        Tired for tonight from a long day of homeschooling and entertaining our one visitor in three weeks.  I will post more about our journey in the near future.

       So much has happened since my last post and some of that is so unbelievable I can hardly imagine that it is true but it is.

                                                        Good night and God Bless,
                                                    Jennifer Liang

An update a year long in the making

Hi again,
      I really need to keep this updated more frequently.  We have been living in Guangzhou, China for nine months now and I have not said anything about it.  Sorry.
     My daughter is now seven and in the second grade at a local private school.  She is the only native English speaker in her class.
     My son is four and enjoying his second year of preschool.  Sometimes (like this week) I have to carry him screaming to his class but for the most part he is a happy child even if he is not always listening.
    For me, I am in a position to help the teachers with their English language skills and I am learning a lot in the process.  Sometimes, I even mispronounce words!  I hope I have not perpetuated anything I shouldn't.
     Stephen is busy, as always, as a doctor/researcher/teacher/lecturer.  Sometimes I feel like we don't see him as often as we should.  We plan to have a family dinner out tonight so that is a good thing.  We did just finish a week-long-holiday that was well deserved.

      Lunchtime now so I will update later.

                                                        Blessings,
                                                 Jennifer Liang

Back at Yale

Yes.  We are back at Yale.  But that does not mean our days of uncertainty are over just yet.  We have an apartment from mid-April to mid-Oct and still have not decided how long to be here.  We have an idea for the step after next but if we can't stay here longer we will have to decide where to go before we get our more permanent job.

In July, we suffered another, very early, miscarriage and are trying to figure out why.  The kids go to school in September and we are happy with the choices we have made for where to go.  It will be the first time they are both in school and I have the mornings to myself.

This weekend is our anniversary and a road trip for a mini-vacation.  Happy to add to our list of places we have been in the US.

That is all for now and I am doing more writing as I try to improve through Faithwriters Writing Challenges.

                                                                        Blessings,
                                                                  Jennifer Liang