Thailand. 2005.

Hey, remember when we got married?  Wasn’t that a sweet day?  We listened to Nickel Creek as you walked down the aisle in my mom’s yard?  Remember how it was an AWESOME day for weather?  Remember how worried you were that it might rain on our outdoor wedding-parade?  Remember the night before when we were cramming last-minute music into a playlist for the reception?  Remember when we only had money enough to drive 2 hours to Indianapolis for our honeymoon?  Remember how much I wish I could have taken you to the ends of the earth to celebrate our special day finally coming when instead I took to you Buffalo Wild Wings for our first meal together as a married couple?  Hey, remember when we had to cut that sloppy honeymoon short so I could go for a job interview in Wisconsin?

I love so much about you…  …and I definitely don’t tell you this enough…

So, here are the Top Several Things I LOVE About You… (in no particular order… …I mean, it is midnight after all…)

• I love how beautiful you are.  Seriously, you all need to recognize that I am married to flippin’ sexy lady!  Even at 6 AM, with your tattered hair and horrible breath, you still got everything I saw when I first met you….
• I love that you and I, even after months of forgetting our giftedness, can come across a song in which we harmonize, sing together ridiculously, or sing along with an absurd YouTube song…  …I love that you love music just as much as I do…  And I’m not sure anything makes me feel more in love with you than when we are singing together…
• I love that you are soooooooo patient.  I’m pretty sure that when you signed up to be with me forever and ever and ever and ever you would have to be an AMAZING woman, but dang have I put you through the the grinder from time to time; yet, you still are patient with me.  Even as we moved to the other side of the world, you are patient with our situation (even though some times it sucks, hurts, is awful).  You still remain focused on the passion God has given you, the goals He has placed before you, and the purpose we have here…  You’re an inspiration…
• I love your sense of humor.  Anyone spending their day-in and day-out with me has to have one, but you have a sense of humor that sneaks up on me, catches me off guard, and never ceases to bring me a laugh…  …even if it is at my expense…
• I love that you love to cook.  I mean, my Cholesterol doesn’t love the fact that you love to cook anything I desire, but I do love the joy you find in creating new dishes, sharing them with others and opening our home so that others can come, connect, and relate together.  Oh, and the things you can do with food!!!!
• I love that you love old things.  Your perfect vacation would be to go look at old stuff for a week…  …be it houses, boxes from the 1700′s, or just to go to a museum…  you love old things!
• I love that through the last 4 years… … through all the things I have drug us through… …through all the transitions, goodbyes, hellos, aches, pains, joys, etc… …you still trust me.  You still believe in me… …believe in us…  Despite everything around us that at times seem like it may implode, you still are my biggest fan…

You are just as beautiful as the day I met you nearly 8 years ago.  Happy 4th Anniversary, Baby!  Sorry I couldn’t take you to Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate…  I’m sure you understand

Here’s to 10x as many more anniversaries to come!

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We play outside during the Thai water fight holiday, Songkraan

So, it’s pretty obvious that I have been the world’s worst blogger since the first of the year.  For that I am sorry…

I’ve been meaning to get some new content up on here for a while now but, truth be told, I didn’t know how to just jump back into it.  I’ve decided there is no smooth, amazing way other than to just do it.

The past few months have been interesting.  We’ve traveled quite a bit, settled in and out of language learning more than once, continue to make Thai friends and expand our vocabulary and depth of conversations.  At the same time, it has at times been more challenging than we ever had anticipated.  Language learning got old about the first of the year.  6 months into our time here in Lopburi and the daily task of language learning and classes was a really un-sexy thing to wake up to every morning.  Adjustment to the Thai culture and way of life has been more difficult this time around also.  If you follow Sara or I on Twitter or Facebook, you’ll know that our neighborhood can be quite loud most of the time, which means going home to find peace when needed has seldom happened for us.  That’s been tough.  We have also really missed our family and friends.  I’ve struggled with going from feeling like was an integral part to a ministry in the States to being only a decent language student who could barely tell you the story of Jesus walking on water and who is definitely unable to pray for anyone in Thai.  I have two sisters graduating from High School this year and will start their lives a bit more on their own.  Just yesterday, it seems, they were tiny 3 yr olds.

So, yeah, the past few months have been a bit more down than up.  But, at the same time, we’ve seen once again how God provides for us daily.  And yes, not much about being a missionary in Thailand is wonderful and comfortable, but God provides.  He sustains.  We’ve had breakthroughs in conversations with Thai people, I’ve been able to counsel a few of my non-Christian language teachers on family issues, and Sara and I continue to hold onto each other more than we probably ever have.

So, this is my attempt to climb back onto the blog saddle.  We look forward to sharing more about our lives here.  The ups and downs.  The breakthroughs and breakdowns. The little victories and failures.

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There are a few things lately that really miss from home.  The first two months here have gone by amazingly fast and we are loving most of it.

I took some time to edit a few photos that I had taken back in June when we were in Colorado.  As many of you know, photography is a great stress reliever for me.  Sadly, we were/ are so busy I hadn’t had a chance to even pull the photos off of the camera until now!

I like these images on top of that mountain in Colorado.  I like them because I remember how beautiful it was.  I like them because I remember how stinkin’ cold it was at the very top.  I like them because they remind me of a shared experience I had with my wife (I mean, come on, coming from Indiana Sara and I haven’t spent a whole lot of time on mountain tops!).  I like them because I remember how little I felt standing in those trees as the bold, cold wind surrounded us.

I like these images for many reasons.  I also miss home from time-to-time when I see photos from times past and even those happening now.  I have sisters who are at their Homecoming football games of their Senior year in High School.  I have a brother about to his first child with his new wife who also just bought their first house.  I have a father who has season tickets to Purdue football and faithfully goes and cheers them on despite having now lost 5 games in a row!  (Boiler Up!)

Just as we have a lot going on day in and day out here in Thailand, we miss the things we are missing from home.  I miss that cold breeze form the mountain top…  I miss thinking creatively about our Christmas services at Olive Branch…  I miss Fall with family and friends…  And most days I miss knowing what to expect for that day…

God has done some amazing things in our lives to get us to this point!  I mean, come on, we’re 6,000 miles from home and working on learning a language that doesn’t have a western script alphabet!  That’s crazy!

There are these days though where hot apple cider, casseroles, being chilled to the bone, family, friends, and knowing what to expect for tomorrow sounds like the best vacation in the world!

I guess we really do underestimate what we have until it is gone…