Praises and Requests

Please join us in prayer for the following.

-Christmas break has started! Woo Hoo!

-Co-worker Shannon Hugo came over last night for dinner and brought a copy of White Christmas to watch. We had a lot of fun and Max and E seemed to like it too.

-Shannon and many other teachers are leaving Korea for the break. Tad and Teal are heading for Switzerland to ski, please ask the Lord for travel mercies for all of them.

-Jo Anna is coming from China to visit for Christmas! She is due to arrive on Thursday the 23rd.

-Max has been very two years old lately and is driving us a bit crazy. Please ask that she learn to obey and that we are good parents.

-Elisha is very close to walking. It's great!

-Yesterday, I developed some severe lower-back pain and had to be checked out at the hospital. I am not seriously injured, but the pain is bad and my back is weak. Please pray that it heals quickly and I do not injure it further.


We love you all. Thank you for your prayers.

~Ryan

Korean Jeopardy

For $100: these are the current weather conditions in Korea.

Answer: What is- insanely cold?

For $200: Elisha's current favorite past-time.

Answer: What is- pull everything out of cabinets and shelves as fast as possible, as often as possible.

For $300: this person can take several unassisted steps and stand unsupported for longish periods of time.

Answer; Who is- Elisha?

For$400: Corrie did this the other day, blaming it on her bleeding heart.

Answer: What is- rescued a freezing kitten from a field on the way to Home Plus.

For $500: Corrie then did this with the kitten the following day.

Answer: What is- put it in a box and left it outside a pet store down the road.

Quotable Max Quotes, take 2

Conversation with Max early this morning....

Max: my belly hurt.

Me (Corrie!): your belly hurts? Do you want to sit on the potty?

Max: no. Go see doctor.

Me: your belly hurts so you want to go see the doctor?

Max: yes. Ride school bus, go see doctor.

Ahhhhhh I get it....

Then, it got better.

Max: E-sha's belly hurt. Go see doctor.

Me: E's belly hurts? No, I think he's okay.

Max: my belly hurt. Ride school bus. Go see doctor.

Me: your belly still hurts? Let's go sit on the potty.

Max: no. Ride school bus, see doctor. Eat ice cream.

Yes, folks, she wants to go see the doctor just so she can ride on the "school bus" and eat ice cream. A floor or two below the doctor's office is the pharmacy, and across from the pharmacy is a Baskin Robbins.

Enough said.

Some current prayer requests

I was trying to put prayer requests at the end of each blog post. You see how long that lasted.

Please pray:
- for my mom's side of the family. Her father passed away early Monday morning after a brief hospital stay. He had not been doing well for a long time, so we were all prepared, but still.

- for continued good health for us. Ryan's Christmas break officially starts on Friday, and we all know about the Kolbe family's propensity towards illness during breaks.

- for a great visit with Ryan's sister, Jo Anna, who is coming to spend a week with us over Christmas. We are really excited about her visit! And hoping we don't get sick... see above.

- for wisdom and patience raising the kids.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

I know Thanksgiving is a time for remembering and being thankful. To be perfectly honest, which I can and will be since this is, after all, our blog, I always found it kind of hokey to be all gushy about being particularly thankful around Thanksgiving. I'm not saying it's wrong, I just had a hard time with the whole "let's list lots of things we're thankful for, since it is Thanksgiving today." I'm more all about being spontaneously thankful.

I feel like a Thanksgiving scrooge, though, when everyone is sitting around talking about all the things they're thankful for, and I'm "ummming" and "uhhhing." Yes, I have tons and tons of things to be thankful for, but put some pressure on me and I can't think of any of them. Add to that the stress of wondering what other people are going to think of the things I list off, and I just shut down. "Gee, I forgot to list family. Will they think I'm not thankful for my family? What about my health? Ooooh Mr. So and So just mentioned being thankful for XYZ. How am I going to top that?? Will people think that what I list is stupid?" You get the idea.

So, to those of you out there who HAVE spent a Thanksgiving with me, please know that I, Corrie, am not, in fact a Thanksgiving scrooge. I just hate being put on the spot.

However, without further ado, here are some things I am thankful for RIGHT NOW:
-my husband
-my kids; or, to be more precise, the fact that my kids are currently sleeping, and it is quiet and peaceful and I can blog
-my friends Pam and Renee
-that our water bill is a flat 30,000KRW a month, no matter how much we use
-my comfy comfy bed