Well, again, I've been foiled in my attempts to post on here! The power has been out all day yesterday AND today. They do turn it on in time for eating dinner, though. Ugh! It is times like these that I get pretty darned frustrated and need to take a step back and try to find the positive things in my situation!

So, I will dig way down deep, and try to list the things that I am grateful for here on the Steppe.

1) The culture we live in is very hospitible! When invited to a home, you are treated to the very best your host has to offer; food, entertainment, conversation, the works!

2) Life is slower and simpler here on the steppe. We are not encumbered by the temptations of shop, shop, shop; eat, eat, eat, busy, busy, busy, sport this, club that. We are HOME, most of the time, and a night out to friend's house is truly a special time out.

3) We have been able to put a little (I do emphasize a little) money away for our retirement, which we probably wouldn't be able to do living in the US. There is nothing extraneous to spend our money on, so any extra gets put away.

4) Our children are having an amazing childhood learning how to adapt to other worldviews, learning a second language fluently, and how one must rely on our Father for all kinds of circumstances.

5) We have a vastly enriched view of who God is, and many portions of Scripture have come to light with a whole new twist. When Jesus tells us that He is the Good Shepherd, we KNOW what that means. We see good shepherds all the time!!

6) We have learned to be self-reliant in many circumstances; we get along as a family, relying on each other for comfort and companionship, probably more so than most families in the US. We have skills like baking bread, butchering turkeys (I'll tell THAT story sometime :) ) , plastering a wall, and digging a cistern, that most of our friends back home don't have a clue about.

Please don't think I'm bragging!! Just am REALLY in need of finding some good things about being here. I do go through these cycles of feeling good here, and feeling quite lousy.

7) We've gotten to travel to some amazing places while being here- Thailand, all over central Asia, Turkey, and soon Dubai! Ouch, that's really sneaking up on us, isn't it??!!

8) I've had time to play with some hobbies that I wouldn't have started like quilting and reading classic books, watching old movies, and finding new and creative ways to cook a tasty meal with 5 ingredients or less. Seriously, life in the States is so distracting, that it seems very few people find time to do what they might not otherwise because they are so busy!

Well, this is certainly not an exhaustive list by any means, but it gives a good idea of how many ways we, as a family, are blessed!

Next time, I want to share a photo of that applique quilt I am working on. All 4 blocks are done, and I've started appliquing the border. Doing the border like this added about a month more of work, but I really think this will end up being one of the nicest pieces I've ever done. I LOVE IT so far!!

Hope you are feeling good about where you are, and are counting all your blessings!

Your SteppeSister