a good day...

today was a really good day. no particular reason really...just a good day.

went to church...spoke a little mongolian (THAT was encouraging)...saw my kids loved on by our church family...afterward went to look at a building we're going to rent for some future ministry opportunities...but not before we were invited in for some salty milk tea and sour yogurt chunks (i somehow avoided those...chris was not so lucky).

so nothing special really...just my life...as a missionary...living in mongolia...drinking salty milk...speaking another language...and realizing i'm seriously the most BLESSED person in the world to be living it!!

i needed a day like today...because for some reason...for the last week or so...i've felt a little intimidated by the very things that today were such a blessing...

so...i don't know why me...but thanks God!

merry christmas!!

i sat wrapping gifts last night...picturing my kids' faces as they opened them...and i couldn't WAIT for christmas morning! i'm not sure which is better really...BEING a kid at christmas...or HAVING kids at christmas!

hope you all have a wonderful and merry merry christmas day!

we just moved in...AGAIN!!

friday...after five very LONG months of waiting...our crates FINALLY CAME!!!!!! almost everything in them was old...but still it was like christmas before christmas! abby and cj have been playing with their "new" toys non-stop and i'm thinking...why am i getting them christmas presents again!??

even though our apartment looks like we just moved in...AGAIN! (THAT part i could do without!!)...we can't stop talking about how amazing it is to have familiar things surrounding us. from picture frames to old storybooks...we now feel an even deeper sense of comfort in our new home .

saturday we went sledding in the countryside...today started a two week winter break from school...tomorrow we can finally decorate for christmas...and i'm thanking God for the little things!

finding her way...

for about a month now, abby has been going to kids' church with chris on saturday mornings...to hang out with some of the mongolian kids in our church. at first she was incredibly intimidated...usually all the kids would get all excited and surround her...speaking a mile a minute in mongolian and playing with her hair...needless to say she spent most of the time with her head buried in our shoulder.

THIS saturday...however...was a breakthrough. suddenly...for whatever reason...she opened up and participated. she sat with the kids...sang the songs...danced and played. at one point she looked at chris and said, "i'm so lucky to have all these friends!" that just makes my heart SOAR!!!!!! i can't TELL you how excited i am that she is FINALLY feeling a part of things here.

guess we're ALL finding our way and making mongolia "home".

overwhelmed

i have been almost overcome this week...thinking about how incredibly blessed i am...

i have the greatest...most patient...most incredibly helpful husband a drama queen like myself could ever ask for...God has truly given me a pillar of strength in my soulmate! i love you chris...

my kids are seriously awesome...there's just no other way to say it. abby is so full of life...and even though that life brings the occasional "challenge" in raising her (God only knows why He gave such a huge job to someone like ME!)...it's so worth it for every minute of hilarity, every witty remark, every sparkle of joy she brings into our lives and the lives of every person who has ever met her.

and cj is the happiest kid in the world...except when he has four molars coming in...which would be now...but i've never met a one-year-old who loves to laugh more or have more crazy fun! and he has the most contagious smile! my kids are unspeakably precious little gifts from above!

and as we face the cold of winter here...i'm reminded of how much i am blessed materially. there are people around me who can't afford the skyrocketing price of coal and therefore struggle to heat their homes at night...when it's -20* with an even more devastating wind chill. when i think of the material blessings i have...food to eat...a warm apartment...running water (MOST of the time)...not to mention all the comforts beside...it's with a certain sense of unworthiness and urgent need to give back...in some way...however small...every day. do i always?...no...but i guess that's the reason for the post...to remind myself...and those who read it...to be thankful for all we have...whatever we have...

forecast

check out our forecast for tomorrow night...seriously... -50* wind chill!???! i mean...doesn't it get to a point where you stop measuring and just say it's STINKING COLD OUTSIDE!!!??!!!

lazy winter

this morning we woke up to snow on the ground...which was beautiful...but i realize it's the SAME snow we will be looking at until...mmm...april maybe!??!

something about the winter here settles in my very soul and makes me want to do nothing but sit in my apartment and drink hot chai...all day...every day...until spring...seriously! and from the looks of it...it's affecting the whole family this way.

so what's a mongolian missionary to do? apparently fight lethargic tendencies for the next six months...because i'm pretty sure i didn't move all the way across the globe to perfect my chai consumption technique. might as well start by doing my mongolian grammar homework....

now...where's my mug....

picture update...

i decided this blog was WAY too wordy...so here are some pictures...


i honestly don't know how he carries those cheeks AROUND all day!!!...he must be exhausted!

abby playing the "ankle bone" game (made possible by the countless mutton meals eaten by our mongolian friends and neighbors)

abby and her hat...gotta love her!

cj...halfway through the process of preparing to head out into the cold!!

home...

ok...this is getting ridiculous! for WEEKS now i've been thinking...i have GOT to blog...

i think i've been waiting for some great epiphany or amazing lesson learned...buuuuuut...i got nothing!

it's not that God hasn't BEEN amazing over the last month and a half...or that i'm not incredibly excited about the ministry opportunities He has brought our way...

maybe it's that living here has just become second nature...just life...so i don't feel like there's anything interesting to share. i mean...not that it isn't PAINFULLY obvious how foreign we are when we are stared at on the streets, or every time we open our mouths and attempt to communicate in mongolian. but i can honestly say the adventures and challenges of living here are so everyday to me now. i think it's good...because it means i'm more at "home" than ever.

i no longer feel "homesick" really...instead i find myself wishing we could transport all our friends and family HERE. i'm not homesick...because i AM home...and so thankful because of it.

one little candle to light the darkness

so here it was...my son's very first birthday...one of the biggest milestones (and photo ops) in all his little life...but all i could think about was the fact that we were stuck all alone in the middle of mongolia. there would be no big party, no huge group of friends or family to join in the celebration. cj would forever be mentally scarred because of the lackluster party to celebrate the very first anniversary of his birth!

i planned a little weekend get together...and...less than satisfied...headed to bible study. we sang...i walked around with the kids to keep from disrupting the lesson...and afterward we returned to our seats. there was an awkward silence...who missed their cue? everything became clear when the pastor's wife grabbed cj and some other church members met him up front with his very first birthday cake. i believe it's the first time the "happy birthday" song has brought tears to my eyes. it's amazing how one little candle can light such a sad, dark spirit.

thank You, Lord...for mongolian friends that refuse to let us feel alone...so far from everything and everyone familiar.

i am a goat

yesterday in language class...i looked my teacher straight in the face and said "I am a goat!" no...it's NOT what i MEANT to say! ;] she was rolling with laughter, and even though i felt incredibly stupid, i had to smile and laugh at myself too! i was glad to hear that, on the same day, chris called me his cow and told his teacher his cow had a new bag! nothing like learning a new language to completely humble (or humiliate) you. at least these things are happening in the classroom and not on the street...that would be even funnier!

that being said, our language study is actually going well. as i sit in class i'm so discouraged by the fact it takes me several minutes to get a simple sentence out of my mouth...only to have it corrected most of the time. but when i get out and am able to communicate simple thoughts or ask where something is at the store...i'm excited and encouraged to press on!

so i guess i have to say that, today, i'll gladly be a goat, or a cow with a new bag, if it means that "tomorrow" i'll be able to carry on an intelligent conversation with the friends i am making here every day.

every tribe, every tongue, every nation

today we went to church...which is always strange when i can't understand a WORD that is being said. although today...i think i picked out three or four! guess my language is getting a LITTLE better.

but today something amazing happened, and it wasn't the first time, just the first time i've written about it.

i've always loved the worship service, there is so much excitement in the people here as they sing, they can't help but express the joy the Lord has put in their hearts and i absolutely LOVE observing it! but today, i actually understood a couple phrases in a couple songs, and went from observing to participating. it was the most incredible thing i've ever experienced as i sang in a language so foreign to my own, with people so very different from me, and yet as we praised the same Creator, the same Savior, we were more alike than we will ever be at any other time. what an amazing unity God brings!! it makes me so excited for the day when i will experience the same thing, on a hugely higher level, in heaven, when i stand together with people from EVERY tribe and EVERY tongue and EVERY nation and praise our unspeakably amazing Savior Jesus Christ!

suddenly...eternity doesn't seem long enough!

a b c's and 1 2 3's

today was my first day of language school. we worked on reading the alphabet...and i was totally botching the whole thing. i couldn't remember how to write half the letters and got all the vowels mixed up. it was like being a three-year-old in pre-school...seriously...a really DELAYED three-year-old! i thought i was on top of things because i can read the signs around town...but come to find out that handwriting is like a totally new alphabet...it looks nothing like the print...and a lot of the lower case letters look the same to me!! wow...do i have a long way to go!!

i kept asking my teacher if everyone is this stupid the first day...she just smiled and said...basically...yes! :] but i know it will come...slowly but surely...and one day...i will laugh at not even being able to say my "a b c's" and "1 2 3's"

can i really do this?

so here i am...starting my own blog...as if i didn't have enough to keep track of already. but i'll do my best to keep the world updated on the latest in my life...if it interests them.

we moved to mongolia a little over three weeks ago and...WOW...have those three weeks been the fullest of any weeks in my life. sometimes i look outside my apartment and think...WOAH...i live in mongolia!

though the first days and weeks have been rough, i can honestly say i feel a little more at home every day. it took a change in perspective really, from looking at all the things and people and familiarities that AREN'T here, to seeing all the amazing opportunities that are. God is doing unbelievable things in the lives of these people halfway around the world...and i am SO excited to watch Him reveal my part in it...one step at a time!