Mongolian Evening

We are finally here! After over a year of planing, working, and waiting we have arived in the country of Mongolia. We boarded a plane in Nashville, TN 6 pm Friday evening. About 27 hours later we landed at the Chengis Khan airport (yes, it really is Chengis not Ghengis). Local time was 10 am Sunday (9 pm CST Saturday night). Our flights were good, and we were able to rest some. Our bags did not make it with us, but all four came in today without issue. As you can imagine, we were both tired but going to bed was not an option for several hours. Since we are now 13 hours ahead of the time zone we were used to, we want to get used to our time here as soon as possible. We met our team leaders, and they showed us to our apartment and the area around our new home. UB is a bustling city. The sounds of urbin life surround our apartment. Many of you may have thought that we were stepping off the face of the planet, but in reallity we have done nothing of the sort. There are many ammenities availible within easy walking distance of our apartment. In fact, we have already visited a major supermarket and purchased a few things. Things are made a bit more difficult by the fact that neither of us know any Mongolian. However, we will begin our study of the language in a short amount of time. Right now we are just trying to adjust to our new environment.

We are very thankful for what has been provided. Our apartment is very nice! It has three rooms, a small kitchen, and a bathroom. In fact, it is actually bigger than the one we left in TN. We have a nice clothes washer and plenty of furniture for having guests over.

As we are settling in we can't help but think of all those who have made it possible for us to be here. We have been blessed with such great friends and supporters! Most of all we have such a wonderful Father who has brought us to this point.

So as not to make this a novel, I will end for now. Updates on our adventure will be added as often as possible, so keep checking for new posts!

Up, Up, and Away!!

It is hard to believe that tomorrow we will get on a plane and fly to the other side of the planet. Many people I know talk about going to Outer Mongolia as the furthest place in the world to go. In fact, one cannot travel much farther from the US than to Mongolia. But the reality is that we will be the outsiders. We are going to be learners. Our systems are going to be overloaded with information that we are not yet familier with. With all this having been said, we are excited about leaving. It is hard saying "goodbye" to our family, but we are excited about the new friends we will make during the next 10 months. Many of you reading this may still be thinking that we are nuts. We are confident that this is what we need to do! Keep us in your thoughts. We will keep you all updated once we get there.

Visiting Family

We are having a good time with family in MO. It has been nice to visit before heading to Mongolia. We have also had a ton of great food!! Just trying to get in as much of the good American comfort foods that we are used to. We will be driving to IL on Thursday to visit more family. Planning on stopping in St. Louis on the way. Go Cardinals!! Unfortunately, they are not in town or else we would try to catch a ball game while there.

What is This!?

We are almost finished with our orientation in CO. This past week has been a busy but wonderful time. We have been able to connect with some wonderful people who, like us, are preparing to move to Asia to teach English. We all come from different backgrounds but have many like passions, teaching English being one of them. Mongolia seems very close but still so far away. The past couple of weeks have seemed very unreal. It is hard to believe that we are finally at this point in life. The word "excited" really doesn't describe our emotions right now. We are certainly thrilled about this but scared all at the same time. We do not know much about where we are moving to or what we will be doing once we get there. This situation can be unnerving just moving in the US, a context that most of us are familiar with. However, we are preparing to transfer our lives to the other side of the planet into a culture that we are very unfamiliar with. We will go in as willing learners, but that does not mean things will be easy. Right now we are leaning on each other, our friends and family, and our Father. We know that we are right where we need to be. That in and of itself is a very encouraging thought.

The Final Stretch

We are only two weeks (14 days) away from orientation in CO! This is an exciting but busy time. We have begun the packing process as we prepare to move all of our belongings into storage. It has been difficult! Life has been very stressful. But we know that we are in the final stretch before reaching Mongolia and the next phase in our life. Thank you to all of you who have supported us along the way! We could not have made it this far without your help. Continue to lift us up during this time of transition!

Beautiful East Tennessee

This past weekend we traveled to Limestone/Greeneville in northeast Tennessee. The drive there was beautiful except for a couple "pop-up" showers in which I couldn't even see the road. Oh well, you always have to take the bad/difficult with the good. Upon arrival Saturday we visited the David Crocket Birthplace State Park. Crocket was a man of great convictions and courage. His life is a testiment to the state of Tennessee and an example for all of us. It is easy to back down from what we are unfamilier with or cave when our convictions are challenged. We know we have a purpose in life and are unafraid of what that might mean. Even though right now it means traveling to the other side of the world! May you too consider the purpose of our life and seek after it with all of your might.

We had a wonderful time among great friends and family while we were there!! They were very generous to us and encouraged us along our way. We are now fully funded for our first year teaching in Mongolia!! It is very exciting to be to this point!! We are very tired but thankful for the people we have in our life and the great support that they have been so far!

Along the Road

We are a constantly moving people, and I am not talking about just us. Here in the United States it seems like we are constantly rushing to get somewhere, but how often do we consider the journey? Life is not always about the final destination but how one gets there! I rediscovered this fact as we traveled home from Tupelo, MS this past weekend. We decided to drive on the Natchez Trace from Tupelo up to Nashville. The speed limit is a set 50 miles per hour almost all the way. Needless to say, this makes for a slower more leasuraly trip, despite the speed demons who kept flying around me like I was setting still. The reason for the lower speed limit is to allow people to enjoy the beauty of nature. While we could have made the trip in about 4 hours, we took our time and enjoyed our Father's creation! It would have been easy for us to charge home at mach speed, but we would have missed so much. Many of us know what our ultimate Destination is. It is important that we never loose sight of the Finishline, but let us not forget about the journey that we are on right now. Don't get so caught up in where you are heading that you miss out on opportunities afforded by the trip there.

Along with our drive, we had a wonderful time in Tupelo meeting with more of our extended Family. We were able to build new relationships and share in what our Father is doing here, there, and around the world! Now we are back to work at home and then off to East TN this coming weekend. I also want to mention where we are at financially. Currently we need about $340 in monthly support to be at 100% for this upcoming year!! We are sooo close!! We are thankful for our generous Father and for all of you supporting us!!