Seeking Truth

Yesterday my roommate and I visited a city to see a famous Buddhist temple. Our country is about 95 percent Buddhist, and for many in our country, religion is strongly tied to culture and family. To be part of society is to be Buddhist, and to be accepted in the family means being Buddhist.

Temples are a common sight in our city. They are built at the top of mountains and all along the roads. The ornate structures that glisten and shine are a reminder that people are seeking truth. Pray that they seek the one, true, living God.

In All Things

A piece of advice that has served me well these past couple weeks: Try to find three things to be grateful for every day.

So, I'm not going to write about the day the washing machine didn't work and my bathroom pretty much flooded, or about language class when this Southern girl's accent does NOT prove to be an asset.

And instead of writing about how my body (especially my stomach) has had a hard time adjusting...I thought I'd express gratitude for the things I've found that I CAN eat and my body DOES like :)

Smoothies for less than a buck!

Banana roti-so good

Our version of Panera

Can't go wrong with pizza

Coffee shop near our house has this pretty view

And just for fun, I give thanks that I can go to the grocery store and do NOT have to eat meat from the market:

Plenty of fish swimming around

Happy Easter!

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

So grateful to walk in the promise of an eternal hope and to do so with a Savior whose grace is sufficient.

Someone special gave me this...you know who you are!

Roots

I am praying that while I'm overseas I will embrace the culture, people and, maybe at some point, the food (I'm trying!) But that being said, I'll never forget where I came from and the people and experiences God used to make me who I am today.

So, in that light, here's one of the first decorations that went up on my wall in my new bedroom (who says you can't turn a garden flag into wall art):

Always a Carolina girl!

One at a Time

My first impression of my new country: Hot. Really hot :) They say we will get used to it, so for now we keep the fans running.

We arrived late Saturday night and so did all our bags (yes!) Flights were all on time and all our travel went really well. We went to a local church Sunday morning and then spent the day setting up our phones, shopping for a few things, checking out the Sunday night market, and staying up late to try and get past jet lag (still working on that).

Our house is within walking distance to quite a few shops and restaurants, so yesterday we explored a bit. We went early to the night market via a tuk-tuk (apparently if you go early you get better deals) and found some decorative items to help our new house feel like home.

Tomorrow we will most likely attempt to practice not only driving our stick shift truck, but doing so in some crazy traffic. And I have all of about a couple hours experience driving stick...I forsee an interesting blog post in the near future :)

From learning to drive to learning a new job, to setting up house and learning our way around a new city, the transition can seem overwhelming when I think about it all at once. But during training we were encouraged to take it one day at a time. As a friend reminded me often during training, God doesn't give us tomorrow's grace today; He gives us what we need for every moment when that moment comes. I am thankful to the God of "endurance and encouragement" for His great grace!

Down the road from our house

Setting up for the weekly night market

This place has a great American breakfast!

Noodles and dumplings

Near the Sunday night market

View from my room

Hello Spring!

Since I am headed to a country with seasons described to me as "hot, hotter and unbearable," I thought I'd do a tribute to my current home that does have four seasons - and one of my favorites is finally upon us.

Here's a few pics from a quick overnight trip this week with a friend. A couple other random photos are also thrown in :)

Sand!

How beautiful are the feet...

Love sunrises and sunsets

Look what we spotted!

Hanging in WF!

Card from a friend...

...that says it all! Thanks everyone for your prayers and encouragement. I head out Friday!

More Than You Know

Two weeks from today I'll be stepping off a plane and arriving in a different country. It's been a long process to get to this point and hard to believe it's almost here.

As I think about the friends and family I will see between now and then, and those to whom I've already said "see you later" (friends, co-workers, church and prayer partners, and of course my FPO friends and quad mates), the song "More than you'll ever know" by Watermark comes to mind.

You can listen to the song or read some of the lyrics below:

Something brought you to my mind today
I thought about the funny ways you make me laugh
And yet I feel like it's ok to cry with you

Something about just being with you
When I leave I feel like I've been near God
And that's the way it ought to be

'Cause you've been more than a friend to me
You fight off my enemies
'Cause you've spoken the truth over my life

And you'll never know what it means to me
Just to know you've been on your knees for me
Oh, you have blessed my life

More than you'll ever know

And all the while I'm hoping that I'll 
Do the kind of praying for you that you've done for me
And that's the way it ought to be

'Cause you've been more than a friend to me
You fight off my enemies
'Cause you've spoken the truth over my life

More than you'll ever know