Isn’t it strange to know that you can get on an airplane and find yourself on the opposite side of the world in twenty-four hours? Strange. But awesome.

We arrived in Thailand on Friday evening, and immediately felt like we were a world away from the cold and winter of New York. Our flights went well, as well as fifteen hours on a trans-pacific flight can go. We were actually really lucky and ended up with three seats to ourselves, which made it much easier for stretching out and sleeping. Our connection in South Korea ended up being pretty tight and we had to do a run through the terminal to make it on time. It was a bit of a shock to the body to be sitting for fifteen-plus hours and then suddenly attempting a sprint with bags and luggage weighing us down.

Our only mishap in the whole journey was a lost bag, which of course, ended up being mine (third lost bag in a row…what is up?!). Thankfully I had packed a few sets of clothes in my carry-on so I wasn’t completely without. And thankfully they were able to deliver the bag by church-time on Sunday. I wanted to give the suitcase a hug when I saw it arrive!

We are having so much fun in this country. Running around in the city on the motor bike (my husband’s already got the hang of the local driving), shopping in the markets, spending time with our family here, and soaking up the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of the culture…it’s just fun. There’s something about being in a different country that just feels…good.

We’ve got a lot planned in the next few days…an afternoon bike trip around the mountain, cooking class (excited about this one!), elephant camp, coffee plantation, exploring the city, etc. etc. etc. On trips like these, you just want to make time freeze…you just want it to never end. You just want to soak up everything around you without letting any thing get away. You want to learn and grow and stretch…you want your world to enlarge and your compassions to grow and your heart to feel both joy and sorrow for the realities of others who have life experiences so vastly different than your own. You just want to take in all you can in the time you’ve got, no matter which world you are in.

As they say in Thailand, swat-te-kah…which I really don’t even know what that means, since they seem to use it for saying hello, saying goodbye, or saying anything in between.

What about you: what are the things you like about being in a different country?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

“You are the peace in my troubled sea…”

I need to stop and reflect more on that reality…because it’s far too easy to take the safety and comfort and peace that Jesus gives me for granted. I fail to fully realize it’s benefits. It’s just like any other relationship we experience: it’s far too easy to fall into a state of complacency and expectancy and fail to fully appreciate, realize, and value the good thing we have.

We are blessed. So incredibly blessed.

And sometimes it’s so easy to say that…but not really know it. Sometimes the trials and troubles and battles feel bigger than the blessings, and they hide the goodness of life. So we have to choose: to remember, to reflect, to believe in the goodness of the Lord even when we don’t feel or know it.

Some shots:

One. I was feeling the winter-blues this past week, because it is insanely cold and as much as I have actually had fun with the northern winter thus far, I feel myself just about ready to be done with it. So we splurged on some buy-one-get-one-free strawberries at the store, and it’s a small, indulgent taste of summertime.

Two. And speaking of winter, can you see the snow moving across the lake? Our house sits a little rise so we can see pretty far down the lake, and it’s always neat to watch the storms (both snow and rain) move across the lake.

Three. We broke out the grill in the fourteen degree weather this weekend to cook up some salmon. My master-chef-husband whipped up some amazing stuff! And it just made us even more ready for warm weather because we miss our grill. One of my favorite things about summertime is the grill and supper on the deck. Oh, and flip flops…and fresh garden vegetables…and so many other things.

Some links:

– Still addicted to this one.

– This IG makes me want twins so bad.

– I request that one of the twins be a girl so I can dress her in this.

– Perspective.

– Passage of the week.

– Heading here on Thursday!

– Um, yum.

– Gorgeous photos of some of my pretty friends.

What about you: are you feeling ready for some spring weather? What are your tips for making it through the long winter?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!