What's New? - Three Weeks

I reminded myself, well before this big move, that while many changes were ahead of us, certain things would be the same no matter our postal code.  I didn't want to fall victim to the dashing of false romantic ideals trap after all.  Like laundry... ugh!  You mean there aren't laundry fairies in Switzerland who swoop in while I'm sleeping and magically wash, dry, fold and put away the dirty clothes of six people, you ask? No such luck.  And what, after uprooting your children from everything they've known while simultaneously being sucked into a vortex of moving preparations, your kids aren't behaving like little angels? Um...no.  Need I go on?  You get the drift, life is going on, as it would anywhere, and we struggle uniquely, as we always have.  But enough of that, back to the title of my post.

So what's new, you ask? A lot actually, so here you have it.  My muscles are new, yes painfully so, but all for the good.  Every day, we are walking... a LOT, up and down hills a lot, and we're getting in good shape for it.  I'm fairly certain I'm at least nearly back to my college wall-sit level... or I'd like to think so.  Our daily routine is new, walking kids to and from the bus stop, up and down the hill to and from the cafeteria for lunch and dinner, learning the city bus schedule to plan shopping outings, translating papers from school from French to English, all of it new.  And I can't fail to mention the new beauties to behold, oh how beautiful these mountains and valleys are!  God had a lot of fun creating this part of the world, I doubt these sweeping mountain views speckled with chalets can ever get old.  Then there is the silence and and clarity of the stars on these winter nights, it brings back childhood memories of stargazing with my dad on our roof in the country.

New foods, a new language, new cultural ways of doing things, we are still very much babies in this adjustment.  But in just over three weeks here, I can still say that I'm excited to be on this adventure.  My favorite "new" of this whole experience are the new people we are meeting and getting to know.  After sitting around a circle of six women in the living room of our new pastor's wife's home tonight, studying God's Word together, I realized that amidst all of the new (people, places, things, experiences), there is this beautiful sameness that comes from our unchanging God.  His love and presence pursue us to the ends of the earth, and His adoption of those who believe makes us instantly family with one another.

It's been a good three weeks, a crazy, amazing, sometimes hard, sometimes blissful, three weeks.  And on we trek to the month marker, it feels surreal at times.  Pray for us friends!  That we would embrace the changes with grace and good attitudes while clinging to the beautiful constant of His love and leadership in our lives.  My eyelids are heavy, so time to sign off before I stop making sense.  More pictures soon I promise, and check out my new blog design!  Thank you Jenn!