I’m currently sitting at a favorite coffe shop of mine run by a team of wokers. I walked here from my house. The skies are sunny and the air is warm. I can tell we are in for some hot and humid months ahead.
I ran this morning with one of my teammates and I woke up at 5:45AM to do it!
Seven months ago today I arrived in Turkey. One year ago I was taking finals, running my last collegiate race and graduating. In two weeks and two days I will see my family for the first time since September.
What an interesting time of life. In many ways I really do love it here. Cities don’t get much more intercultural than this. It’s amazing to be surrounded by people from many nations who speak many different tongues. My team might be mostly American, but when I look around my church or around one of our programs my heart is so satisfied seeing just a tiny glimpse of what the Kingdom of God truly is like! I am so thankful to have friends from all over the world. I especially appreciate those who come from the areas and the cultures of the world I am most ignorant about. I couldn’t imagine not being surrounded in this intercultural context!
I love the warmth here. What it means to be hospitable, to invite someone in, to never return a dish empty, to develop a relationship with someone and not just make everything so business oriented.
Getting everywhere by foot or public transportation is both enjoyable and exhausting.I love not having a car to deal with and living in a context where walking is both normal and necessary.
I appreciate the love people here have for each other- children, each other, you name it … people care about each other as a culture and it’s beautiful.
I’ve never felt so satisfied living among a body of believers like those I live with here. To care so much for each other and for the work we are here for, to want to know Him more and more, to pray with genuine and believing hearts, to be real and raw about our sin, struggles and fallen nature.
I am so thankful for the opportunity to connect with refugees… to build friendships with them. I love getting to visit refugee families in their homes. To make a genuine connection, to listen to them and show we care for them. I want to be better at it and become a better story teller of His Word.
I also LOVE getting to be a language teacher. This I certainly want to grow in my ability to do. To connect with someone through teaching is something I love to do. I want to help people accomplish their goals, to see their potential and enable it to become a reality.
As I reflect on my first seven months here there have been ups and downs, but today I wanted to take time to reflect on the many things I am thankful for as I have listed above. Thank you for walking this journey with me as He is faithful to us all!