Restless

Suddenly this morning I was broadsided by my own thoughts. "Regular life is boring" is what I thought. What?! It's not that I don't understand why I think that - I totally understand it. But the timing bothers me. We just moved SIX WEEKS AGO! The kids last day of school was YESTERDAY! And I thought I was looking forward to summer vacation.

So why now do I suddenly feel bored? It could be the combination of these two facts: 1) Yesterday as I looked through Anna's school work I found a writing assignment. She wrote about her favorite place in the world. For some reason I was surprised by the fact that her favorite place in the world is Taipei. She wrote wonderful things about the weather (!?) and the color of the grass. She mentioned the bugs, but they were not enough to leave her with a negative impression. 2) This morning, before my shocking thought but for reasons unknown to me, I read a blog I haven't read since leaving Taiwan. It is all about the best places to eat in Taipei and it was my expatriate Bible. Today I didn't care what she said about food, I hungrily buzzed through the photographs searching for the pictures of the front of each restaurant, hoping I would recognize some of them. It caused a surge of nostalgia which led to my brain practically screaming "REGULAR LIFE IS BORING!!!"

Wow. What am I to do with this? A Bible verse has crossed my mind: "Godliness with contentment is great gain." I don't think contentment is in my vocabulary. Well, obviously it is not. I even prayed about these thoughts. Honestly, I have no desire for contentment. I have a desire for excitement! Any wise counsel?

So, in the spirit of my nostalgic wanderlust, I dug up some photos of Taipei. These are literally some of the first pictures I took. They were all taken from the window of the taxi that took us from the airport to our new "home". For myself I have to note: I have exactly 7 photos which were taken while I was ecstatic in my excitement over our grand adventure. After those initial 7 photos I received the phone call telling me Mom was in the hospital. That colored the experience and tempered my excitement, to say the least. So these pictures, while not good quality, are hugely important to me because when I look at them I remember the intense excitement I felt for that brief time.

The Grand Hotel.  The kids and I were so excited by the Chinese architecture.  Ethan chose to spend his birthday here.

Taipei 101 through the early morning fog. 

At 5:30 a.m. the streets were almost deserted.  I was quite amused by this man on a bike, with his Chinese hat.

I can only hope God has a purpose for this restlessness I feel. If not in my life, then in the lives of my children. Honestly, I hope they have inherited it. But I hope they recognize it at a young age and are able to channel it appropriately. I hope in their lives they travel all over the world, because staying in one place is just boring. (And hey, if they move all around the world, I can visit them!)