Verity's Budding Curiosity

Since we couldn't find our camera for a few weeks, we don't have too many (recent) photos to share. (The photo to the right is from one of our dates sometime in April.) What we can share, however, are a few interesting questions from Verity, turning 5 this summer.

QUESTION #1
Last weekend, while Verity was in the midst of her rapid-fire update of the day's events ("I saw some tadpoles today! I picked these flowers for you!") she paused, looked at me and asked, "Mommy, what is YOUR life like?"

I started to open my mouth to answer her ... when I realized that this is a complicated question with a complicated answer.

Recently (in my inbox), I found a quote from a woman working in the Philippines, "The day I stepped onto foreign soil was the day I lost myself ... and when I began to find out who I really am." This resonates with me. I do feel that adjusting to life in a new country has given me new insight into my strengths and weaknesses, my passions and my dislikes, my giftings and my growth areas.

What IS my life like here? Some things are getting easier than when we first moved here ... and some things still remain difficult (like missing loved ones back home). I can't remember if I gave Verity a satisfactory answer or not. I just knew it got me thinking about how my life has changed, how my family's lives have changed ... and how God has met us every step of the way.

QUESTION #2
The next day, she was spinning the mini-globe in Moriah's room and asked, "Where on this globe is [our country name]?" This reminded me that we will always have a somewhat "complicated" answer to the question, "So, where are you from?"

Verity continued to spin it and said, "Well, we're from California. Here's Tennessee (her other favorite state). But we live here now. And this summer, we'll be here in Korea (for a conference in late June)." For her (and the rest of our family), many different spots around the globe will hold a special place in our hearts.

QUESTION #3
Later that night as I was tucking her into bed, she asked me, "Am I Korean?" David and I both began to explain how God decided that she (along with her sisters) would not be given just one ethnicity, but two! We want our girls to see that as a special treat, not as a liability! So she asked about David's ethnicity.

"I'm Caucasian," David answered.

"What's a Caucasian?" Verity wondered. And so back and forth it went like this until she was satisfied that she was both Korean and Caucasian and that she can enjoy two cultures at the same time.

We know more questions will follow but this is one of our simple joys ... answering our children's complicated questions.