What were you doing...

ONE year ago today?  Well, I was boarding an airplane ready to begin a new season of life- expat living.  Well, about 10am I was sitting on the hard floor of an international airport hoping and praying for 3 additional seats so my two daughters and I could board with my hubby and start this adventure together.  Guess what?  We got the last 3 seats (and our names weren't called to right before boarding- SO typical of my stand-by travel!).  What a sigh of relief is was to hear our names called, walk down that jet bridge, swap seats with some kind lady so I could sit by at least one of my daughters, and finally get all all cozied up into my coach seat.  Yes, David and I had Plan B, Plan C, Plan D and so on if we didn't get on that flight with him (his ticket was confirmed thankfully!).  I knew in my heart of hearts we'd get on that flight.  I felt confident that God hadn't led us this far as a family them dump us at the gate and not be able to make the journey together as a family of four.

I can't even begin to tell you the stress prior to us leaving!   We said "yes" to this new opportunity, wrapped up loose ends with the girls' school, basically "moved out" of certain rooms in our house so someone else could move in, sold a car, flew back to our home state to tell family goodbye, coordinate bills/insurance/cell phones/etc, had a HUGE yard sale, packed 9 suitcases and 4 backpacks, hosted a Christmas party (I know...CRAZY!), and threw my back out of whack (and I'm talking flat-on-my-back-couldn't move-friends-had-to-help-me-pack-and-get-my-house-in-order-out-of-whack!!), and boarded a plane for a foreign country....all in 28 days!!  I think I lost about 15 pounds due to the stress and just not having TIME to eat!  I don't recommend that type of weight loss plan either!  That little bitty airplane seat never looked so inviting!  Seriously.

I truly cannot believe it's been a year.  WOW. WOW. WOW.   What an interesting year it's been.  There's been very little about this year that I thought would happen- that's for sure.  David took the girls and I out to dinner last night and we began talking as a family about our year.  I just teared up.  They were happy tears and sad tears.  First, I just had to smile that we were sitting with American born and Chinese born daughters in an Asian country eating Indian food...how funny is that!?  I can't begin to tell you how rich the experiences have been for all of us, and how humorous the experiences have been for all of us.  Abigail started naming off all the different types of authentic foods we've had in this country, and I think we counted about 11 types.  We've not been able to do so much of what we had hoped and planned for, but other plans were in the mix.  Yes, we've gone to some awesome places, met fabulous people, experienced things that we've always dreamed of, but this entire "health twist" put a kink in OUR plans.  For whatever the reason, God had a much different plan for our expat living that we did.  I'm so glad He doesn't show us (sometimes!) what the next month or year will look like because in my flesh I would have said, "NO WAY, Hosea, am I going to live in a foreign country, get sick and be in the bed for months, be hospitalized twice in yet ANOTHER country! No thanks."

I truly believe this year has been so much about "be still and know"" and "trust me" more that anything else.  I think there are reasons and fruit we may never know.  It's been a stretch for us.  It's been a stretch for our families not understanding why this happened and desiring us to be back at "home".  I've said this before in a post, but being where God places you doesn't always mean it's an easy place.  I can say that with 100% confidence!  Sometimes the only comfort I had this year was just that....HE placed us here so He's going to take care of us.  Some cannot understand that and I don't expect that either.  I have had some glorious times with my family and all alone this year.  I have some of the darkest times of my entire life with my family and all alone this year, too.  I think I've experienced just about every emotion one could possibly experience these past 12 months! 

How grateful I am though..lessons learned (and still learning!), new friends made, adventures experienced, memories made and culture abounding.  "Great is Thy Faithulness.  Morning by MORNING new mercies I see.  All I have needed thy hand hath provided.  Great is the faithfulness."

waiting for our ride to the airport in our rather stripped down version of our living room...

already absorbing the culture!

The girls learning to entertain themselves in the hotel while David's in class and I'm trying to recover from jet lag!

Learning to eat like the locals...

Quick medical update in case you were wondering:  Today, I completed my "5 day trial run" with the traditional eastern meds.  I am very pleased to report that I've had no adverse side effects, was able to drop the steroid to the lowest I've been on thus far (YAY!), and was able to stomach that nasty concoction 3x/day!  I'm a tad stronger, but my I'm still having issues with my ears.  I return to the hospital on Monday with one of my clinic doctors. After that, I'll be on my own due to her leaving the country, but am looking for someone who can go with me the next time in order to translate.  So, if you think about, say a pray for that...

 Here's to 12 months in a foreign land!!!!!