I've moved.
I didn't realize how much you can learn about yourself when you move. I didn't realize how settled you feel in a foreign country depends on how at home you feel where you live. I didn't realize how much of a people person I can be, and I didn't realize how much the higher altitude of a fourth floor can really affect you.
I thought I was doing well with living in Kyrgyzstan, with culture, with feeling comfortable here, and then a I moved. It was more stress moving than I have ever experienced before. Questions of will I be able to make this new place feel like home, will I like it, will friends stop by here more often???
Thankfully God can speak to us even when we are worrying. He spoke to me softly this morning by showing me the mountains clearly for the first time, I have the most amazing view ever! Then he spoke to me a little louder be giving a sunny 70 degree day, and a nice walk to the grocery store, where He told me don't worry. If you worry and complain, you'll never like it there, but if you let me I'll help you like it there. Then he gave me friends. I moved partly to be closer to my local friends, and would you know they are the ones who helped me the most as I moved in. A couple of the guys came over and helped carry stuff up, and move furniture, and my cell group came over and unpacked with me, and my other friend came over tonight and helped me hang curtains. It's so cool that when I needed people the most, my local friends where the ones who could help me. I realized that when I'm tired and feeling a little misplaced and not at home, its good to have people around me, because it keeps me from drowning in my thoughts, but hopefully I don't offend anyone when I'm as tired as I'm now, cause when you are tired and unsettled it's really difficult to talk in another language:-)
So the altitude of the fourth floor really isn't any different, but the air out here is cleaner then where I lived before, and it is quieter, and my apartment is lighter, and I can already feel the difference. I feel like life will be a little simpler and more relaxed. I feel like this will be a pretty big change for me, but maybe not, and whatever happens I have a big God who takes care of me and guides me!
Did you know that people get lost here? I never thought about people getting lost until I moved here. But here people just randomly get lost, one week you saw them every day, knew where to find them, how to get in contact with them, and then for a month they get lost. It's like you don't know where you put them, and no matter how much you look, you can't find them, and then they randomly show up again. How does that happen? They even say that in Russian, oh she got lost for a little bit...it's quite a weird feeling to loose someone like that. So currently I have one lost friend, and one formerly lost friend that I just found again, and I'm hoping she doesn't get lost again for a while! Meanwhile many of you might think that I've gotten lost with my lack of communication! But I'm here all the time, 4th floor apartment 17 building 80! So here are a few pictures of my new place...first before I rearranged and then an after, and the view from my window...it's pretty spectacular!
