Progress
We are making progress, but there sure is a lot to get used to. I keep talking to the kids about grace and being able to adapt - pretty much every few hours.
Some of the differences are striking and frustrating. Things seem super inefficient to us, but I suppose maybe that's the famous "First world problems" comment rearing its head. None of the bills can be paid via web or phone like I have been doing for years; we have to physically go to the bank where the landlord has an account, deposit the rent into her account, and then take a picture of the receipt and forward that to the property manager. The water and electric bills have to be paid at different banks, again in person, using a code for each (I suppose like an account number). Nothing is actually in our names with any utility. The cell phone bill we still haven't figured out how to pay. I guess when the service cuts off we will figure that out! I won't even get into what it's like to buy large/expensive items at the store and how long that takes.
But those are things that are not important in the grand scheme of things. I still am struggling with some things - homesickness for the places and people I love and had to leave behind. Colby jack cheese, Chick-Fil-A, Aldi, etc...these are hard things for me to be without 😏
But we are all healthy, Paige and Eli both got bikes in the last 2 days, we have met some amazing people here, and we have 4 bakeries/pastry shops within 2 blocks of us where we can get a basket full of goodies for $2. And we are experiencing some pretty cool things as a family. The rest will come, I am sure. And I know that God is good and He has us in His hands. We are looking forward to settling in and finding somewhere to serve. We have been to 4 different churches since we have been here, and there are things we liked about each of them. We may still try a few more, but your prayers for God to make it clear where He wants us are appreciated. Signing off for now...
Some of the differences are striking and frustrating. Things seem super inefficient to us, but I suppose maybe that's the famous "First world problems" comment rearing its head. None of the bills can be paid via web or phone like I have been doing for years; we have to physically go to the bank where the landlord has an account, deposit the rent into her account, and then take a picture of the receipt and forward that to the property manager. The water and electric bills have to be paid at different banks, again in person, using a code for each (I suppose like an account number). Nothing is actually in our names with any utility. The cell phone bill we still haven't figured out how to pay. I guess when the service cuts off we will figure that out! I won't even get into what it's like to buy large/expensive items at the store and how long that takes.
But those are things that are not important in the grand scheme of things. I still am struggling with some things - homesickness for the places and people I love and had to leave behind. Colby jack cheese, Chick-Fil-A, Aldi, etc...these are hard things for me to be without 😏
But we are all healthy, Paige and Eli both got bikes in the last 2 days, we have met some amazing people here, and we have 4 bakeries/pastry shops within 2 blocks of us where we can get a basket full of goodies for $2. And we are experiencing some pretty cool things as a family. The rest will come, I am sure. And I know that God is good and He has us in His hands. We are looking forward to settling in and finding somewhere to serve. We have been to 4 different churches since we have been here, and there are things we liked about each of them. We may still try a few more, but your prayers for God to make it clear where He wants us are appreciated. Signing off for now...
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