God is faithful

This is an interesting time. I have flashes of joy, contentment, and happiness here. Other times I’m stressed, overwhelmed, and downhearted. I know that many of you could say the same in your current situations. The fact that most of what I experience in a day is new and foreign stresses and tires me out. It’s the beginning of what’s labeled culture shock, culture stress, or culture fatigue. I felt exhausted last night and was anticipating getting up really early in the morning. It was not a good feeling. I prayed, admitting my inability and weakness, asking for His help, and Brad prayed for me too. I praise God, because this morning He gave me help, energy, and joy that could not have come from my circumstances! Absolutely could not. So, I have this day as an obvious reminder that, “the Lord is the source of all my righteousness and strength” (Isaiah 45:24). I am weak, so weak, and that’s why I know that it’s only the Lord who is giving me strength.

Settling

Settling in to our house is a gradual process. Before we moved in, the first step was having the walls in the living room painted. So, now instead of dark, lacquered brown walls we have white walls! With a brown ceiling and pink floor, the white walls make such a difference! When that was done, we went on a search for curtain fabric, bought enough for every window, and gave it to a seamstress so she could make the curtains.

Once that was finished and the house cleaned we got to move in our stuff and the few pieces of used furniture we had acquired. Then, we had to order some more furniture from a carpenter, like couches, chairs, and cabinets. Next, we put everything away – kind of. We are having some cabinets built for clothes, dishes, pots, etc. so right now, the mixing bowls are enjoying the freezer and we’re storing assorted spices and cookware in the fridge. We also piled up our clothes on our bookshelf.

Then, our couches and chairs (the wooden frames) were finished by the carpenter, so we got to go search for people to make the cushions and for upholstery fabric to cover the cushions and for someone to sew everything together.

The other day we walked around downtown peeking into every plumbing/electrical shop we could find on the great bathroom fixture expedition. The house we are renting didn’t come with towel racks or a toilet paper dispenser so we hunted for and found those items with the help of a man from the Friends church who is amazing at fixing and building things.

The main thing we still have left to do is to get a stove and then we will be able to cook and eat at our house! Right now, we’re eating at the teacher’s house.

So, things are a little different. No Walmart for buying everything from pre-made curtains to shower shelves. No apartment that comes with a stove and refrigerator. No used couches passed around in a student community or new couches from a furniture store. All these steps seem to take longer than in the U.S., but it’s still exciting to be establishing a home.