Choices...

My daughter recently came home from school and was clearly upset. She almost always has a smile on her face and is truly a happy kid. So...we talked. It turns out she had a made a decision at school that she feared would cost her some friendships that are so very important to her. She was wishing with all her heart that she could take back her actions. The problem is, is that she told the truth and because of that, consequences were felt by those involved. My heart was breaking because on one hand I totally felt her pain and regret and the fear of being rejected by her good friends because of something she had done. She felt it was completely her fault that they got in trouble. And had she known that their consequences would be so harsh, she wouldn't have intentionally got them in trouble. On the other hand, she made a choice that she has to live with.

As it just so happens, my in-laws during their visit here in Hong Kong had picked up the Portals of Prayer for April-June and left it with me. Now, I have to be honest and admit that I have only picked it up very sporadically to see what each day's message was. Well, at the start of that particular day, I chose to pick it up and the message was about Choices. The message talked about Nicodemus having choices and that telling the truth isn't necessarily the easy and rewarded choice to make. So, I chose to read this message to her and I know it couldn't erase the sadness she was feeling for fear of losing her friends but my hope was that she realized that the consequences her friends were facing were not due to her actions, but theirs.

I can't say enough about how proud I am of her. Although it is a painful experience, I can only hope she will continue to make the right choices, even when they are difficult...no matter how big or small the choices may seem.

Heifer International

Each year at HKIS, the school participates in a Read to Feed program where the kids do some fundraising and they receive pledges from people for every book they read. This year as part of the presentation of the money raised by the school, Tyson's class presented a play illustrating the premise behind the charity group, Heifer International. He was one of the narrators of the play and he had a great deal of fun being involved in it.

The "To Shek Cup"

I'm feeling a little bad that I forgot to post this (it is from March) but at the end of the regular Hong Kong Little League season, all the boys have the option to play in a tournament - The To Shek Cup (To Shek is the name of the field where all the games are played - pronounced like "toe") where they mix up the players from all the different teams that choose to participate and make several mixed teams. They get the opportunity to play with the Chinese and Japanese players that they have been playing against all season. Trey decided to participate in it this year and had great fun. His team ended up winning the gold medal.

Kyra's Bangkok Swim Meet

A small group from the Hong Kong Island Stingrays Swim Club competed in a swim meet in Bangkok, Thailand in March. It was Kyra's last international swim meet outside of Hong Kong.