Our first post as Strangers in Singapore

We made it. We arrived in Singapore at 11:30pm on Wednesday night after 26 hours of airports and plan rides. As for the flights, they were not bad at all. We bought economy tix, but we received a blessing (this was a great reminder that God is in the little things) on the Dulles to Tokyo (13 hour) leg as we were reassigned to economy plus which meant I had 5 extra inches of foot room. Let me tell you, those extra 5 inches really make a difference to someone who is over 6 feet tall. It was so awesome that I paid to upgrade our Tokyo to Singapore tix to economy plus.

Upon arrival we were given one of the teacher’s “flats” to use as our home while we search for an place to call home. Let’s just say this “flat” is cozy. Very small and simple, but I am grateful to have somewhere to stay while we look for a place to call our own. It is nice to know we can spend our time really looking at different places so we can find the place that fits us best. So far we have checked out 7 places and they have been all over the spectrum. Two are really nice but one of them is about a 40 minute commute and the other is kinda pricey. The rest are fixer uppers (some are expensive, some not so much). The problem is everything is a rental so a fixer upper means someone else is going to benefit from my hard work and money. The best part of the searching happened tonight as we walked through the 2^nd “flat,” where we discovered a squatty potty (see picture on right). Even our Singapore realtor was taken back by this. I really want the last “flat” we viewed tonight, but the cost is just outside of what we budgeted so we are going to have to negotiate with the landlord – hopefully we can come to an accord in this matter. Something to be in prayer about.

In addition to house searching, we are battling some major jetlag. We have been here a little more than 48 hours and jetlag is kicking Holly and Noah’s booties. I have traveled enough and have enough sleep problems that I am pretty good at adjusting to the new time zone. The same cannot be said for Holly and Noah however. Noah’s poor little body is trying hard to sleep on American time which means he is begging to take naps and once he is out, there is no waking him. Yesterday we made him cry by refusing him sleep (no we aren’t bad parents, forcing him to sleep according to Singapore hours is the only way to combat jetlag). Finally we had to give him a shower and then we went to the playground, which woke him up for at least a couple of hours. All the while, Holly was dozing off but I am proud of her, because she managed not to take a nap today, which helped her sleep tonight. The problem is Noah is still waking up several times a night so our sleep is interrupted. I am praying that God will give Holly and Noah a great night’s rest tonight which will help renew them for tomorrow.

I had some pictures to post of Noah playing on the playground, riding his first train, him and Holly dozing off and such, but I had a slight situation this evening and I ended up deleting the pictures. It appears that when we took Noah to the playground we double locked our door. This means that we activated the deadbolt twice (I know it doesn’t make since, but the dead bolt locks as you turn the key, but if you keep turning the key, the lock will lock one more time). Anyway, I was trying to get in and I was convinced that the slide lock has somehow locked when we shut the door. As a result I had to pry the window open and slide the camera in to get a picture so I could see what was going on. Of course the slide bolt was not locked and I was left scratching my head. To make matters worse, the realtor was coming to pick us up. All this was really trying my patience (being tired really didn’t help), but I walked away, took a breath, and asked God for some help. When I went back to the door, I turned the key and I noticed that it would keep turning. And tada it opened, crisis adverted.

As I close this posting, I was finally able to rig the portable DVD player up to the TV and power outlet so we can watch TV and use the computer as a computer. It is amazing how when you live in a foreign culture you are thankful for the small things. It is really helping me to be thankful for all that God provides.

Strangers

Singapore update coming soon

Just wanted to let everyone know we are in Singapore. I will be posing some information tomorrow along with some pictures, if I can manage not to delete them again.

thanks for your prayers and support as we begin our ministry here in Singapore. Talk with you soon.

It is time to say good-bye

I can't believe we are actually moving to Singapore tomorrow. Just think, 5 months ago, becoming missionaries was just something I was thinking about doing. Now it is a reality. Time has flown by and July has been a very hectic month between finishing up at work, packing up the house, trying to say good-bye to everyone, and packing our lives into 7 suitcases. I knew this process was going to be difficult, but it has almost been overwhelming at times. But finally the leaving stage is coming to an end. Tomorrow morning at 10:08am we board our plane at RDU and begin our 26 hour journey to Singapore.

Now we are going to enter the transition stage. The next few months are going to be filled new experiences - new living conditions, not having a car, new jobs, not having family close by, having to make new friends, etc... The question we have to answer is what attitude to we take with us. Do we go expecting to have all of our needs taken care of, or do we go as empty vessels who will allow God to move and work. My deepest desire is that Holly and I arrive in Singapore empty, that we leave all of our perceived needs, wants and expectations at RDU. I don't want our wants and desires to get in the way of what God is going to show us and do for us. We aren't taking America to Singapore, our hope is that while we will be strangers in Singapore, it can become home for us. Because we won't be able to accomplish anything for God if we are constantly worrying about having our expectations meet. Please pray that we go empty.

As I am typing this I have come to the realization that I am optimistic about becoming missionaries. I can't believe I just said that. Those of you who know me, know that "optimistic" is not an adjective which describes me. But I am very optimistic about this move and opportunity. I have no doubt that we are going to have an awesome experience in our new ministry because I know that God is in this. I know our transition will be difficult at times (see I am still a pessimist at heart) but these difficulties are going to make us stronger and if we allow them to, they will draw us closer together as a family and with God. So for the first time in a long time I can actually say "bring own the challenge."

I wish we could take some of you with us, but this is our calling not yours. As such we must say good-bye for now. Don't be sad, and please don't forget about us. We will need your prayers and your encouragement, so please keep in touch. We leave for Singapore on Tuesday morning at 10:08am and will land 26 hours later at 12am Thursday morning (Singapore time). This will be my last stateside blog. I don't know when we will have access to the internet again (one of the many things we have to get setup after we find a home in Singapore) so I don't know when my next post will be, but hopefully it will come from foreign soil sometime in the next week.

Please be praying for us and don't forget that God has called us to be strangers in this world. This is not our home, heaven is so we need to live like it.

- Strangers

PFO is over

Praise God, we survived our two week pre-field orientation in Mississippi and are back in Richmond. It was an awesome experience and we met some great people who will be heading around the world over the next few weeks. It was truly amazing to spend 12 days with ~180 men and women who, like us, are willing to sacrifice their lives here in the states in order to carry God's love to the corners of the world (South America, Africa, Asia, Europe). But I am glad to be home and looking forward to sleeping in my king size bed tonight.

Over the next 3 weeks many things have to come to completion. My time at Panera will come to an end which I am really sad about because I work with some awesome people. Holly will hopefully have her replacement trained at her job. We have to get all of our stuff put into storage - thanks so much to Daniel and Amanda, and the small bit of our lives that is going with us will be packed into suitcases and rubbermaid tubs. To be honest this is the most excited and scared I have ever been at any point in my 33 years on earth. I have done some amazing and crazy things, but all of that fails to compare to this. But it is a good fear as it is causing me to think more about who God is and how He is working through this opportunity. I am super excited to see what God is going to do in Singapore and in our lives. Please continue to pray for Holly, Noah and me as we try to get everything finalized on our end before we head overseas.