Monday, September 13, 2010

With Tons of Grace, Life Goes on 17 Hours Away...

My husband, two sons and I have been in Luxembourg for at least 5 months now. It took us around 8 months to get our act together and relocate here then, we hopped on 3 planes that took a total of 17 hours to bring us here.

We've been through tons already -- lived in hotel, a service apartment, now settled in our own aparment (or condo space as it is called in the Philippines); learned to take care of our firstborn on our own, manage our own household, grappled with our home appliances (as we sometimes still do); adjusted to the language (and we still are) and developed our french, german, and luxembourgish basic vocabulary; played host to our first house guest; entertained house guests a couple of times; introduced our firstborn to the Creche' (daycare), dragged him there crying then brought him there with ease and excitement after he got used to it and enjoyed the company of his friends and "teachers"; welcomed our second child, panicked a bit about the new addition to our family (mainly, that's just me. My hormonal changes are the culprit), established a new household rhythm; welcomed my Mom to our house, introduced her to our second child, and got her acquainted with Luxembourg and neighboring Germany and Belgium cities. Whew, I hardly could say that in one breath let alone write it in just one sentence!

Living in a foreign country on our own can be challenging but manageable. I feel the need to stretch my boundaries and expand my comfort zone. Most of the time, slowly, I adapt. I don't do it with ease, though. Usually, it comes with a lot of anxiety and uncertainty but then, grace comes at the right time to pull me forward.


Like when our firstborn begged and cried when we brought him to the Creche' the first few times, I was uncertain if we were doing the right thing or just traumatizing him. With patience and LOTS of prayers, he eventually agreed to go there two times a week for a few hours and eventually enjoyed it. He even asked me to let him stay there longer a number of times and would sing and jump around on our way home from the Creche' -- signs that he was having fun there.


An awkward "stretch" was when I had our second son. I always felt that I was measured and have been found lacking -- with my mother milk supply during the 1st few weeks after giving birth; with my capacity to manage the house with a new baby and take care of our firstborn at the same time. It's really all about grace. It comes when I need it the most and then it gently leads me on, bringing me one step higher in the ladder of motherhood and housewife-dom.