Moving and Getting Settled
Brian
So I'm behind on blog posts. I'll try to be a little bit better about that going forward. Over the past month we've said our goodbyes, flown about 22 hours, been on three different continents, spent two weeks in hotels, and moved into a house. It has been a little crazy.
The great thing is that we're starting to get settled here in South East Asia and things are starting to feel (more) normal. There's still tons to do, ranging from learning how to navigate the market, find our way around town, learn the language and figure out how we are able to do sustainable ministry here. Even things like finding a kitchen table have been a big task (which if you've ever had a 9 month old, you understand the benefit of a table and highchair). People have asked me how things are going with the coffee here, and honestly, we've been so much in getting settled mode over the last two weeks that I haven't had time to look at it. It'll be a task Luv-Luv and I will start to tackle in the coming weeks.
In many ways being here is overwhelming. Realizing how much there is to do and figure out feels like trying to drink from a firehose. It is easy to lose focus with so much going on around me that I don't understand or know how to do.
This morning I was reading in Matthew 14. There's a story of the disciples out on a boat in a storm. In the middle of the night Jesus walks out to them on the water. Peter (being Peter) decides he wants to be bold and go out to Jesus on the water. It was a great thing to do, but he probably didn't think it all the way through. Once he gets out there he takes his eyes off Jesus, sees the storm around him, realizes his situation and decides maybe it wasn't the best idea. Jesus then saves him and tells him that he had no reason to doubt.
The story hits home out here. Although there's no storm (yet) there's so much swirling around us that it can seem like we're sinking. The key has been keeping focus on what has brought us this far. When the focus is on Christ, all the chaos around us no longer seems like a storm but instead it allows us to see the power, creativity and diversity of God.