The plane has landed.

We have arrived in our new home and are attempting to settle in. We are doing so much better than I anticipated. Traveling with a restless three year tested my faith. (Three hours into the 13 hour flight he started to state very loudly, “I all done with the plane. Let me off!” Kinda funny. Kinda painful.) We didn’t sleep much during the flights, so when we arrived we were grateful for the beds that were waiting for us. The kids slept through the night and have been going nonstop since.

I have been especially thankful for how Soccer Dude has jumped right back into life here. His best buddy and his family invited us over for dinner our first evening and gave him the waveboard he had left behind when we moved to the States three years ago. The old friendship that was rekindled and his renewed passion for skateboarding have helped him deeply. Sunday morning he was out with the kids in our neighborhood chatting away and sharing his waveboard. That felt miraculous to this mom who has worried way to much about all the transitions our children are going through.

I am not saying the transitions have all been easy. The city has changed drastically over the last three years and it is like starting over in many ways. Most of our energy has been spent running around trying to get our lives set up — getting internet, buying a stove, getting bunk beds and dressers for the kids, unpacking suitcases…exhausting. But we feel encouraged as we mark things off of our list.

Tonight, I was feeling proud of myself as I cooked our first meal in our apartment. That is until I realized we hadn’t bought a can opener (Bryan pried it open with a meat cleaver). I blew a fuse in the apartment by using the new oven, and burnt the garlic bread because I misread the chinese characters on the stove top. Sigh. It will take us a while to be truly settled in I am sure until then all we can do is laugh!

Thank you so much for thinking of us as we traveled. We have a peace that goes beyond reason – we know where that is coming from and are blessed to have so many friends lifting us up. We are grateful.