Picking a pace
The last couple of days have been a blur, and I'm thankful it's Saturday. I only wish that it was Saturday at 9:00am rather than Saturday at 5:00am, but I haven't completely kicked this jetlag.
I knew before coming on this trip that my family would not be able to sustain the 16-hour-a-day pace I've set for myself on previous trips, and I fully expected to limit the time I play in the hot, hot sun. I didn't, however, expect my kids to be so absolutely enthralled by the kids here that they would be the ones pushing us to stay longer, to play more, to go, go, go.
I guess I can't blame them -- it's gratifying (albeit overwhelming, especially for an introvert like my wife) as an adult to be the most popular person at the party. It's intoxicating for my children. There's really no rest for them at all, either at the school or at the orphan homes. From the time they step out of the car, 20 or 30 kids swoop in and whisk them off to play soccer, wiffle ball, tag or some other activity probably best experienced in significantly cooler weather.
Yesterday, at about 6:00pm, just as we were sitting down to eat at Prek Eng 2 Orphan Home, Pak's body said, "enough!" and he threw up breakfast, lunch and snack. As we watched our little guy flush his gut, we realized we'd better pick a different pace. A full day of school and a full evening of orphan homes just isn't going to cut it.
Thank God for Saturdays.
We're going to rest this morning and save up our energy -- we have a dance party to attend with a hundred or so kids tonight, and I preach on Sunday.
