We thought we were ready.

How do you prepare enough for a year overseas?

We thought we were ready.  We learned some survival phrases and vocabulary, we bought the homeschooling books, we packed what we thought we couldn’t live without and we prayed.

Be we had no idea!  Everything is different.  Every one of our senses is tingling with change.  The sights were not quite so shocking because we visited; but even so, now it’s all day every day.  (Don’t get me wrong, I still giggle every time we pass “WuMart The Hyperstore.”)  Learning some phrases by a calm, quiet tutor in a slow and deliberate manner is different than being shouted at (they talk rather forcefully here but that’s just their everyday voice).  The food, well again, we like the food, but now it’s not a once-in-a-while treat, it’s daily.  And there is just no preparation for the olfactory assault!

And you know what else?  WE LOVE IT!  The new tastes – they grow on you.  The new sights become familiar and comforting (like when we are on a bus and start recognizing buildings and know we are almost home).  The new smells, well, I was reminded the other day to be thankful for the almost constant reminder that we get to live here.

There was one sense we were not prepared for.  The sense of complete peace and intense joy from the Holy Spirit that reaches bone deep.  The knowing that God has been preparing us for this our whole lives; whether that be 14, 17, _ _ or 45 years.  We are overwhelmed that we “get” to do this.  These children have pain, both emotional and often physical.  But, we get to comfort them and help prepare them for the hope that is in front of them.  The best is yet to come for them.

We pray for you.  If you would like to send us specific prayer requests, it would be our honor to pray about them.  If you would like our email updates, please send your email address to speedfamily@globalinfusion.org.

Lantern Festival