Life Latey

Well, I did it again…it has almost been a year since my last post. I definitely wish I was more active on this blog. Truly, one of my goals each month is to write a post, but somehow it always gets the boot. There’s so much to say, yet sometimes I have a hard time finding the words to express it all to you. If that even makes any sense?! So, here’s to progress & hoping i’ll find the words to keep this thing alive!! 

A lot has happened since I shared what “a typical day” looks like for us. Although our days are still filled with lots of language study, we do have some changes on the horizon and exciting updates to share.

First of all…we are expecting!! There just aren’t enough emojis and praise hands to accurately express the amount of excitement and joy that we feel! We are so grateful for this sweet little one, who will be gracing us with his/her presence in late September! Some of you may know, but we had been praying, hoping & believing God for this baby for quite a while and it’s still hard to wrap my mind around the fact that this is actually happening. Pregnancy is truly a wild experience (in the best way possible)! Whether you’ve been waiting for one month, several years, or even if the baby is a sweet surprise, nothing can accurately depict how crazy miraculous it is to grow a tiny human (especially once you begin to feel those baby kicks & movements)!! Although we still have several more months before baby C arrives, we have already experienced quite a bit of change around here (cue all the pregnancy sickness, hormones, exhaustion, appetite changes and the list goes on :)). Thankfully, we have now reached the half-way point and i'm feeling pretty good!  

Speaking of change, we will also be moving again here soon! We have finished our language requirements & once we officially pass, we will be moving to a smaller city North West from where we are now. Although we will miss our current city, along with all of our friends & community, we are looking forward to getting settled into our new home and figuring out what our new “normal” will be there…until the baby comes, that is ;). 

Currently, we are in Thailand for a few weeks (hallelujah) for J to take some modular classes & a little bit of vacation time. We are so grateful for the opportunity to have time away to relax and refuel before all the change & transition ahead of us. I’m not too sure how much rest J will get once his classes start, but we are so grateful for the Lord’s provisions over his education. 

As I reflect over the last year and a half, and look forward to where we are headed, I’m so grateful for all the ways this season of life has not only prepared us for change & transition, but is cultivating in us a flexible heart & attitude. We sure have our moments when our hearts struggle to accept change and attitudes that don’t always want to be flexible, but forever grateful for God’s continual work of grace in our lives. He is so kind and ever so patient. Amen?! In what ways do you see God’s kindness & patience displayed in your life?!

Well, I think that pretty much covers all the updates for now! Hopefully another year won't go by before I update the good 'ole blog again ;).

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A Typical Day

Life here in East Asia is always an adventure! It is also quite different from the life we were used to in the States. Then again, I guess that was a given! However, it is not only different for obvious reasons like, culture and food, but also because our day-to-day life looks totally different from our day-to-day life in good 'ole Texas. I am sure some of you may wonder, "What in the world do y'all do all day, every day?!" So, I thought I would share what a typical day looks like for us. Currently, our main focus is learning the language, so you will see that the majority of our day is spent in language study!

We usually wake up around 6:30, but depending on the day, we may wake up earlier to go on a run or some other form of exercise. After waking up, we have our quite time and take our Piper girl outside. Piper is our golden retriever who we are pretty crazy about! It is a little tricky not having a yard of our own, but we are thankful to live across the street from an awesome park that we take her to  throughout the day. Then, around 9:00am we hit the books and begin our "self-study" time. We study for about 3 1/2 hours in the morning, on our own, before we each have class at 1:00. Around 12:00 or 12:30 we eat lunch, which is either left overs, whipping together a PB & J or running down the street to grab a quick bite to eat. Also, between lunch and class, I will usually run to the market (conveniently located right behind our building :)) to grab what I need to make dinner that night.

We have class from 1:00-4:30pm every day, Monday through Friday. We are extremely thankful to each have our own tutors who work with us every day. Bless them, they are so patient with us. Not only are they our teachers, but they have also become dear friends.

After we finish studying with our tutors at 4:30, our evenings just vary depending on what we have going on. It is our desire to spend our evenings with local friends we have made, so a good 3-4 nights a week, that is what we are doing! Once a week we also go out on a date night! Can I get a hallelujah?!  Back in the States, this was usually every Tuesday night, but now we just pick a day at the beginning of the week. On the days we are not hanging out with friends or going out on date night, we try to intentionally set aside an evening or two to rest and take it easy! We typically go to bed around 11:00 or so and then wake up and do it all over again! :)

There you have it, that is what a typical day looks like for us. As you can see, our life is a simple one and not very glamorous. In a lot of ways, our life looks a lot different than what we had originally pictured. Once we knew we were moving, we immediately began to picture what we thought our life would look like. You know, all the exciting things we would do each day, the people we would meet and all the lives that would be changed. So, in the midst of all the dreaming, we rarely considered all the hard work (all the grunt work, so to speak) that it would take to actually be able to do what we are called to do. Our new reality has definitely been a humbling process for us. Yet, a process we are so thankful for. We deeply desire to be faithful in all we do, especially in the small things, knowing that when we are faithful with little, we can be trusted with more (Luke 16:10). So, in this season, faithfulness looks like learning the local language and getting out there to make friends! And to be honest? Some days, that can be a daunting task! But, we aim to work hard with joy, knowing this season is equipping us for the work He is calling us to do.
And the best part? Our current season, although a little different than expected, is filled with exciting things each day, has given us incredible opportunities to meet so many new friends and we are more than confident because we know that, even though we may not always see obvious fruit right away, Jesus really is changing lives, mainly our own!