Wearing Out Your Welcome

When I was growing up, my mom would tell me before I went over to a friend's house to play, "Don't wear out your welcome." In other words, don't make your presence taxing to your hosts. Some people get this feeling when they've had house guests for an extended period of time. Its difficult to be "hospitable" over time. Why is that?

Kristina has only been here four and a half days and yet I find myself growing weary of being hospitable. "What!" you say, "Shocking!" But this state doesn't really have anything to do with her. My day in and day out routine has been interrupted. My comfortable way of life has been altered. As much as I want to provide for this child, it is a struggle to do so. Her very presence forces me to examine my mothering skills. After many years with my own children, I don't find myself questioning why I do the things I do with them. But with Kristina, I must look at where my weaknesses are as a mother and as a womanly example. And so I am weary of being hospitable. Its much easier to do things the way I have always done them. But my "house guest" has caused me to look at the relationships in my life. That's a painful process.

For those of you who are checking in to hear about Kristina's experience, I apologize for the running commentary. Let's get on to what you're really here for! Today is Sunday and we went to church or "Jesus' house" as Kristina called it. I used the online translatr to explain where we were going and what to expect. I asked her if she knew who Jesus is. She typed her response in Russian and cliked the translate button. The screen said, "Son of God. The divine one." Kristina has been particularly blessed to have a number of Christians in her life. People like Galina, Larisa, Olya, and Lela have faithfully ministed the gospel to the children in her class. We attended early service at St. Andrews and then to Orangewood for a quick visit. It must be difficult to not carry on a full conversation for several days and so I wanted her to be able to see Alex and chat a bit. She did fine at both places. I had forgotten how easily she gets cold. She is not accustomed to air conditioning. By the time the offering came aroud, her hands were like ice and she was shivering so we slipped out of the Orangewood service. We headed home and enjoyed just vegging for the afternoon. We had plans to swim at Patti's house again until I got a call from camp and learned that Joshua had hurt his hand and was going in for an X-ray. You'd be proud of me! I didn't go into a tail spin at all! We waited for the return call to learn that he had fractured a finger but would be fine. Later in the evening Sasha called to invite me to movie night, a long running tradition with these girls. Kristina and I headed over to the Torrez home and had a wonderful time. She is becoming more and more at ease with the people in our life. She instantly took to Gabby (I think the two of them are a lot alike :). After several loud card games, pizza, and endless Torrez puppy kisses later, we left for home to keep from wearing out our welcome. I think we will take Kristina bowling tomorrow. I'll take new pics and post them soon!