A conversation with Lucas

Last night as I was putting Lucas to bed, we got into a long conversation.  He was being very sweet and telling me how much he loved me, and that I was "nice" to him.  He proceeded to tell me that in China they were not nice to him and that sometimes if he was naughty they didn't let him eat food.  I reassured him that would never happen here.  I may say "no candy before dinner" (although I don't even really say that to him because it's not much of an issue).  But, I would NEVER withold breakfast, lunch or dinner from him as a consequence.  He got a little choked up by that.

The conversation went on and we talked about all sorts of things including how he would like to travel back to China someday.  But, the reason he wants to is to be able to give them a drubbing I think.  lol  He wants to go back after he becomes a police officer so he can let them know he is in charge.  hmmmm how would that go over do you think???  He did talk about taking his police gun along.  hmmmmmm...I told him that those army guys in China probably would frown upon that.  He seemed surprised.  I think he figures if they can carry guns so can he.  (don't worry I don't think the child is a psycopath)

On another less intense subject...we talked about the friend we made with someone that was from the US who lives there.  She was able to go into the orphanage a few times and I think this is the first time he realized who I've talked about in the past.  He asked..."was she wearing the black shirt?"...I've never met her face to face and obviously I have no clue what color her shirt was.  But, when I said she was the one who helped him talk on the phone to us when we were there, the lightbulb went on!  He was so excited to remember her.   He was also excited to know she knows Jesus!

The conversation continued about how many people in China don't know Jesus.  That makes him very sad.  And he particularly wants his one friend who he calls his "brother" to know Jesus.  We've talked about him before. He is one year older than Lucas.  And Lucas wants us to bring him "home".  He is the one person Lucas talks about with fondness and wants to see again.  So hard to not be able to do that right now.  Wish I could be on a plane tomorrow to get him.

He also asked about "who is in charge" of America?  I explained that our president is, but that we don't agree with everything he does and that soon we will be able to vote and see what happens with that.  He really was listening and trying to understand what I meant by the freedom to vote and how important that is.  Also we talked about how in China, there is not that freedom.  He asked who the leader there was and he attempted to come up with the name "Mao".  Unfortunately, being the "dumb American" I am I couldn't come up with the name Hu Jintao-the real leader.  I told him that "Mao" was an important man in China many years ago and that he made a lot of decisions about how China would be ruled and that they don't have the same freedom we do to do certain things.  I kept it pretty basic, but he listened.  


So why the post about all of this?...
because he has not had the patience and/or understanding to have these kinds of conversations before.  When I've tried to explain things, he would take it for a short time and then check out.  He is really beginning to grasp some more of the finer details and I'm beginning to have hope that this school year could be full of some rich and fun stuff.

Last year I was a bit stunned by how slowly we moved.  Peter would always say "think about what he has been through and has accomplished over the past several months".  I heard that, but it seemed something was missing.  I would say we did mostly preschool and kindergarten work last year.  I'm saying he is in 2nd grade this year--even though age wise he should be in 3rd.

After this conversation last night, I'm almost certain we are going to take some serious leaps and bounds forward with his education this year.  We might actually learn something about history and science in a more formal sense of the word.  Hold on....it's gonna be a crazy ride.  Especially since Isaac will also be home for his senior year. (after having tried public school for 2 1/2 years) PRAY FOR ME!