from an email to Elaine Bent in Texas.
E: I am glad you have met and are involved with some theatre people - both Chinese and American. You need to have that involvement to feed the special talents God gave you. Are the people in your class Chinese, Americans, or mixture?
K: All Singaporean Chinese. They speak English, but don't have the breadth of vocabulary we use. They've all learned a lot, and so have I. Expectations were a little high. No emerging playwrites out of the bunch, but every person grew creatively, and in their understanding of plays, and were glad to have taken the class. We'll see what develops in the future.
E: They are so lucky to have you to teach them script writing. I wish I could be there for that class, too. When you "go off" to write, do you have something special already in mind?
K: Usually some seed of something...theme, issue, conflict, circumstance. A few times we did helpful "flash writing" exercises. One we did was just like acting improvs. Everyone submitted character ideas, conflict, place, and positive and negative character qualities. Then they drew these slips and had to write a scene. It just got them writing about something. Which was the hardest for them to do - just START.
E: I can't believe BOTH of your boys are in school! They do grow up so quickly. Do they go to schools which are taught in Chinese? (I am assuming that Singaporean use Chinese for their national language. Am I correct? I really don't know.) Do you have to do some teaching of your own at home?
K: My boys schools are in English - and that is the National Language! (The English isn't always completely STANDARD English, but pretty good, just a strong accent, especially their classmates). They each have an hour+ of Chinese each day as part of the curriculum. All children must take Mother Tongue (one of three languages offered in the schools). Tyler says, can't I just call English my Mother Tongue and forget about Chinese? He and Cameron are both doing well. Their verbal skills are better than many of their classmates, and Tyler regularly scores in the high 80's on his exams (many of his classmates fail! - can you imagein faling a subject in 1st and 2nd grade?)
E: Do have a TV?
K: We have cable which offers a few extra stations. Cartoon network, National Geographic, etc. We're pretty well off in what we can get here. I have my mom tape The West Wing for me when she can. We are starved for intelligent conversation and bright friends with bigger vocabulary than most here, so we get our stimulation from having vicarious relationships with this TV President and his liberal staffers.
1/14/2002
Letter: 2 Working moms San Pedro CA and Singapore write...
How I have thought and prayed over your letter these last couple of weeks! I was so sorry to hear about how the economy has affected your financial stability, dreams, and not the least important your faith in God's goodness...
You said,
I LOOK AT PEOPLE LIKE YOU THAT SEEM SO STRONG IN THE LORD AND SO DEVOTED TO HIS PURPOSE AND THEN HAVE TO ASK MYSELF IF MY PROBLEMS ARE BECAUSE I AM TOO CAUGHT UP IN THE WORLD'S VALUES? LIVING IN PALOS VERDES AND BEING SURROUNDED WITH PEOPLE THAT SEEMINGLY HAVE MONEY TO SPARE AND MOMS THAT GET TO STAY HOME WITH THEIR KIDS AND TAKE TENNIS LESSONS.....I HONESTLY STRUGGLE WITH THE SIN OF ENVY AND JEALOUSY.
You are right to say that I don't know you well, but I do know you well enough to observe that you've faithfully been making lemonade for as long as I've known you.
And it doesn't help to live where you do, and have all the tennis moms and PV Homes and school district etc etc to compare yourself too, and what with the Big PRAYER OF JABEZ being all the rage last year...how can you not get depressed when you feel you've been faithful to the Lord, and ask for fish, and get what seems like stones instead...YES! I do understand that.
I knew before we came back on our last visit to USA "home" in June that it would be was the first time I would wrestle with the green-eyed monster.I'd be seeing the lifestyles of my peers, and old friends, and what assortment of things their kids are involved in. I knew because I was experiencing such dissatistfaction with my own circumstances, I knew that the grass of PV would be MUCH greener!
Sitting here at home this month, reading through Christmas newsletters, gives me some of those feelings and doubts again...WHY are we investing our lives like this, when we could have had THIS???? And I revisit with the Lord what is important to HIM, and I feel confirmed in my life's decisions....and then I start wrestling with being judgmental!!! So, see, I'm not such a saint!!
I'm not going to be quick to say "Oh NO you're not too caught up in the world's values!" because I don't know what God's purposes are in bringing you two through this current valley. But I do know that an antidote is to get your eyes and heart off those who (seem to) have more, turn off the TV (with the ads), even go media free for a week or so, so that you don't get bombarded with what you don't have, or aren't like...and it that isn't weird or extreme enough, dedicate yourselves to praying this month for the poor, the destitute, the oppressed, the persecuted.God will use it to bring perspective to your current situation! In those years at RHCC as our friends nearly all bought houses, and we stayed in our apartment/condo, it always helped me to have friends and connections with people who had much less than I did!
There are so many more of these kinds of humans in this world than there are the kind who live in the neighborhoods just above you on the hill...that's such a minute percentage of these "haves" in the world. AND God's promises and love is just as profound and real to the rest of the world's population as it is to Americans, even the blessed welfare recipients in the USA who at least know there will be SOME money coming in. I feel like I'm lucky to have a relationship with the peasant mother of our babysitter in China; she rarely have more that potatoes to eat all year long (if that) and RADIATES the love of Christ, and is confident (most of the time) in his goodness to her. It is SUCH a matter of perspective isn't it? Ah, now I'm rambling... Bless you and keep faithful as you wrestle with these things.
You said,
I LOOK AT PEOPLE LIKE YOU THAT SEEM SO STRONG IN THE LORD AND SO DEVOTED TO HIS PURPOSE AND THEN HAVE TO ASK MYSELF IF MY PROBLEMS ARE BECAUSE I AM TOO CAUGHT UP IN THE WORLD'S VALUES? LIVING IN PALOS VERDES AND BEING SURROUNDED WITH PEOPLE THAT SEEMINGLY HAVE MONEY TO SPARE AND MOMS THAT GET TO STAY HOME WITH THEIR KIDS AND TAKE TENNIS LESSONS.....I HONESTLY STRUGGLE WITH THE SIN OF ENVY AND JEALOUSY.
You are right to say that I don't know you well, but I do know you well enough to observe that you've faithfully been making lemonade for as long as I've known you.
And it doesn't help to live where you do, and have all the tennis moms and PV Homes and school district etc etc to compare yourself too, and what with the Big PRAYER OF JABEZ being all the rage last year...how can you not get depressed when you feel you've been faithful to the Lord, and ask for fish, and get what seems like stones instead...YES! I do understand that.
I knew before we came back on our last visit to USA "home" in June that it would be was the first time I would wrestle with the green-eyed monster.I'd be seeing the lifestyles of my peers, and old friends, and what assortment of things their kids are involved in. I knew because I was experiencing such dissatistfaction with my own circumstances, I knew that the grass of PV would be MUCH greener!
Sitting here at home this month, reading through Christmas newsletters, gives me some of those feelings and doubts again...WHY are we investing our lives like this, when we could have had THIS???? And I revisit with the Lord what is important to HIM, and I feel confirmed in my life's decisions....and then I start wrestling with being judgmental!!! So, see, I'm not such a saint!!
I'm not going to be quick to say "Oh NO you're not too caught up in the world's values!" because I don't know what God's purposes are in bringing you two through this current valley. But I do know that an antidote is to get your eyes and heart off those who (seem to) have more, turn off the TV (with the ads), even go media free for a week or so, so that you don't get bombarded with what you don't have, or aren't like...and it that isn't weird or extreme enough, dedicate yourselves to praying this month for the poor, the destitute, the oppressed, the persecuted.God will use it to bring perspective to your current situation! In those years at RHCC as our friends nearly all bought houses, and we stayed in our apartment/condo, it always helped me to have friends and connections with people who had much less than I did!
There are so many more of these kinds of humans in this world than there are the kind who live in the neighborhoods just above you on the hill...that's such a minute percentage of these "haves" in the world. AND God's promises and love is just as profound and real to the rest of the world's population as it is to Americans, even the blessed welfare recipients in the USA who at least know there will be SOME money coming in. I feel like I'm lucky to have a relationship with the peasant mother of our babysitter in China; she rarely have more that potatoes to eat all year long (if that) and RADIATES the love of Christ, and is confident (most of the time) in his goodness to her. It is SUCH a matter of perspective isn't it? Ah, now I'm rambling... Bless you and keep faithful as you wrestle with these things.
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