Living in the Current Season

We’ve been here for a couple of weeks now, which isn’t very much, so I don’t feel like I can say much as to whether or not it’s what we expected, what the greatest challenges are, what are our favorite parts about being here, because it really is too soon to tell. I’m not sure if things have really set in yet, I’m not even sure what our typical day will look like in a few weeks, as we are still trying to figure out our routine, but what I can say is that we have been blessed abundantly by our heavenly father. 

So far we have been learning our responsibilities and trying to help where we can. We see how much people are carrying and want to share the load, right now I think our biggest challenge is simply not knowing what to do. Thankfully, we have been working with Katelyn who is being so patient with us, taking time to show us things and explain how things work, answer our never-ending questions and showing grace despite the stress I know she must feel. Kelsi has been an immense blessing as well, spending some of what little free time she has to talk with us and help us when we need it. There are hard things as well, everyone knows or can probably imagine that it’s not easy to come to a new culture, be surrounded by a new language, new people and not be sure how you even fit in. Anxiety creeps in about making friends, wondering if people actually like me or even want to build relationships with us, missing my friends from home. I often need to remind myself, or need to be reminded from God that He is and will continue to take care of me, he has put the people in my life who are meant to be there, He has good plans for me and will not abandon me. Already I have seen how the Lord has brought people into my life to speak truth and give encouragement. 

Right now I think the Lord is teaching me to trust his plans and not worry about tomorrow. Help where I can today, give grace today, be patient today, spend time with Him today, and simply focus on today, and tomorrow I will focus on tomorrow. Of course this isn’t easy as I like to stay ahead of things and plan in advance, and it’s good to plan, of course, I’m not saying I’m abandoning my lovely planner from target and won’t schedule meetings, but what I am saying is that I’m trying to give up worrying about the future, mostly, give up worrying about things I can’t control. I often think about “what if” scenarios in my head and think of every worst possible outcome for everything, but will having thought of the worst prevent it from happening? No. 

It’s easy to spiral when I begin to think about the teams coming soon, and worry that I will only create more work for others instead of lightening the load, I so badly don’t want to be an inconvenience to anyone, so much that it’s often my greatest worry, but the reality is that it takes time to learn, and I’m probably going to feel like I’m in the way a lot, but hopefully soon I can relieve some stress and burdens from the rest of the team. As for right now, I’m going to do what I’m called to do today, and live in this current season, even as it is changing.

During my quiet time this month I’ve been studying the book of Ezekiel (as I continue to make my way through the Old Testament) and this morning I read chapter 37, where God makes dry bones come alive, and I dove deeper into this study I just kept being pointed back to God’s goodness, how he keeps his promises and doesn’t leave us. If God can breathe life into dry bones, not just recently deceased bodies, but bones that were dry because they sat there for so long, what can He do for my heart? Ezekiel is a prophetic book, much of it talks about destruction and punishment, but then it promises restoration, and it’s comforting to know that no matter what, no matter where my heart is, all I have to do is ask and the Holy Spirit will breath life into my soul and revive my heart. I look back on all the times I faced burnout, depression, anxiety, and see how God has revived my heart and turned me into someone ready to walk the path he has planned for me and I know I don’t have to fear the future. 

Most things have gone according to our plans for getting here, but the big thing that didn’t is having to leave our cats behind.  A lot of people don’t understand our attachment and love for them, and that’s okay, but it has been hard being away from them. We didn’t know we wouldn’t be taking them until about two days before we left, when we found out that their health certificate, which is required for them to fly and enter the country, would not be approved on time. We got it back about two hours after getting on our first flight, which as you can imagine was so frustrating, especially when we were told that we submitted the application in plenty of time. It’s one of those things that I know if it was meant to be, God would have made a way, but this way was for the best, as it’s probably better for us to get settled in without them and get things figured out without the added stress that there would have been if they came. I know they are in good hands and are being well taken care of by our family, and I don’t worry for their health or safety at all, but I still cry if I think about it too much because of how dearly I miss them, and how going to sleep at night just isn’t the same without my orange fur ball nestled between us as he so often does. It’s also frustrating knowing how much money we spent on getting them ready to go, and while I’ve been able to get some of it refunded, there’s a lot I just can’t get back. We plan on still getting them here at some point, I’m not yet sure when that will happen, but if the Lord wills it, it will be. 

• We got to spend time with a lot of close friends and family the week leading up to us leaving, much of that involved everyone offering to take us out to dinner at our favorite restaurants we’d be sure to miss. We are glad to have gotten to spend more time with our friends, our church family, our grandparents, and our immediate family. 
• We had our last night with the kids from our Friday night bible study that we’ve spent the last year and a half doing, it was bittersweet, the kids themselves said a lot of sweet words and prayed over us, some of their sweet prayers even made both of us tear up a little, as did saying goodbye at the end of the night. They even signed a photo of our whole group that is now hanging up in our room. It was also a really nice opportunity to share how God has worked in our lives as they had questions about why we were leaving and how does one even know what God is calling them to. We’ve gotten to know these kids so much and already miss them dearly, but we hope to stay in touch and plan on seeing them the next time we visit home. 
• We left Ohio and arrived at the DR safely on December 8th. 
• We attended the staff Christmas party and got to see the Christmas lights in San Juan. We had so much fun getting to dress up with everyone and enjoy a delicious meal. 
• We went shopping for a few things to put in our room, a few practical things like laundry baskets and storage, but also fun purchases like an adorable butterfly lamp to make our room feel more like home. 
• We’ve eaten some great food, I have enjoyed so much avocado and pineapple since being here and can’t complain about that one bit. 
• The weather has been a significant change, we’ve enjoyed some 80 degree sunny days which quite contrasts the 20 degrees with snow we were having in Ohio right before leaving.
• I’ve been loving pointing out the little geckos we see everywhere. I know they are so common here but I think these little critters are so cute and silly, they are genuinely one of my favorite things about this place. I am very entertained by watching them, especially when we find them in our room and I get to watch Christian chase it around. I probably won’t get tired of them, just like I never get tired of seeing the little critters in our  backyard in Ohio, always pointing out every squirrel as if I didn’t see them every single day. 
• We’ve been trying to get out and try things while we’re here, so we’ve been going for walks, trying to explore the town, and seeing the different restaurants to see what we like here. This has also been great for us to practice our Spanish!
• We had a very low key Christmas, which was nice, as the holidays often feel busy and rushed, it was a lovely change of pace where we got to spend it just the two of us. On Christmas eve we ordered pizza for dinner and on Christmas day we baked cookies (Cheesecake sugar cookies, they were delicious) and made pasta for dinner. I tried to plan something nice but it didn’t work out the way I planned, we didn’t dress up or anything, but I still wouldn’t change it, I cherish the quiet moments we have together, there are seasons where they seem rare with all the busyness of life. We ended the evening by watching the new Stranger Things episodes, and enjoyed those. 
• We had some friends from Santo Domingo stay with use for a night and did some more exploring of San Juan. We got lunch, spent the afternoon playing various card games, and enjoyed dinner and getting to know each other better. The next morning we drove to a Mennonite farm stand that we were all interested in seeing, and ended up buying some cinnamon roles, milk, and h0ney, the roles were abs0lutely delicious, we will be going back at some point for more. 
• We also had a couple from church take us out for dinner and ice cream so we went to one of their favorite restaurants to try some traditional Dominican food we hadn’t yet tried, we both got mofongo and enjoyed it a lot. 
• We’ve gone to church here twice now, and both times we have enjoyed the message and worship, which reminds us of church at home quite a bit, and the people there are so welcoming and sweet, taking time to welcome us and get to know us. 

• For the strength to surrender all fears to the Lord
• For building new relationships in our community
• For continued peace in our families back in the States
• Physical and mental health for both of us
• Ease with learning Spanish
• There would be a way to get our cats sooner than later and for peace with being away from them for the time being
• Praises: 
  • God’s provision for us financially
  • Arriving safely
  • Being able to have each other to lean on and encourage each other in our marriage