tiny update!

we still don't have internet! so at various times i am at a place that has free wifi and then i immediately jump on my internet banking, lots of websites to help me figure out life, email, then maybe some facebook (which i can now get on my smart phone!!). so i really wanted to be good about posting - but so far it's just been so difficult! i have however been keeping lists of random things i want to tell you all about this great land down under. so eventually when i have more time (i.e. home internet - installed feb 9!), i will post lots more!

but, in a nutshell, everything in the past few weeks has been, in one word: challenging.

i have really had to lean on the Lord - even more than i expected - pray tons, admit failure, just get over it, and constantly count my blessings! which of course there are tons. but things are definitely challenging. it's just hard learning a new culture, having everything take forever, etc. but more than that, i have had to lay down my pride of just knowing how to do things well. everything seems to work differently here, mainly in setting up life. one example of this was getting cell phones ("mobiles"): we got to the store at 9:30 am when it opened, and we left at 3:30, with no phones in hand, and only one phone line for me set up (jordan was denied as well as Lori and other members of our team for reasons we still don't understand). of course we were incredibly frustrated but just decided we'd figure it out. thankfully, sweet shamsia, this lovely indian girl, kept working on it for us and now jordan and i BOTH have phones!! and they are smart phones! weirdly it was cheaper to get a smart phone on a business plan than it would have been to get regular phones on a residential plan. i'll take it!! :)

some other praises are: we came here with full one-time support! God totally provided for us in ways we definitely didn't expect. and we have an apartment!! we got it 4 days after arrival. it's a one bedroom in brunswick west. it needed some serious cleaning and love but now it looks awful cute and we even have pink carpet! haha. that was definitely a selling point for jordan. other praises - i understand the tram/train/bus system!! not perfectly but we can usually get from point a to point b with minimal stress and sometimes fun. :) other ones - we got to go to the beach and a cricket game this weekend! Nexus - a conference for all the Aussie staff - was super refreshing and was a great time for us to connect with the Lord.

there are definitely more - like a supportive, wonderful team and great weather - i could mention but i should go for now. more updates soon!! thanks for all the comments and messages you guys have left. it makes the world feel smaller.

love,

jessamyn

...

i think our blog title, the story of two nomads, finally fits our lifestyle now. leaving the airport, struggling to carry our 4 loaded suitcases with our whole lives tucked inside, i just couldn't help but be surprised that we actually made it and amazed at how God has provided for every little detail of this whole process. the finances, the housing until we left, the airport/flying process, the team, the mental capacity to follow through with a decision this big. it all just feels surreal right now.

so we live in melbourne, australia now. it's our home for the year. i keep walking into shops where people look at me funny for not talking right and realtors offices where i explain to them that we just got here yesterday and just feel a bit odd. out of place. which really, i am. but no worries. ;) i keep freaking out a bit when we turn into "oncoming traffic" in the left lane which really is just normal now. but just now i started to try to think of all the things i've noticed that seem weird to me being american, but strangely so many of those things already feel normal after two days that i can't even think of them.

we live in a hostel. it's in the city centre, it's under construction, there are people from every country probably staying in it. at least that is how i felt in the communal kitchen this morning trying to fix breakfast without utensils or plates or anything (we dipped our croissants into the jelly and skipped the yogurt we had bought). everyone was speaking a different language and we just kept gesturing to each other to communicate. it was amusing. our hostel is nice. we have our own room (jordan and i do) with a queen size bed, a desk, and a little "robe" (closet) for our things. our bathroom is across the hall and we have to keep watch for when it is actually vacant. but the hostel has a movie room, a little gym, and it's very modern. hopefully we won't be there for long though since that would mean we can't find an apartment.

searching for an apartment has been very different. the previous tenants were not required to clean before they moved out. so it's mostly just nasty. and i really have to remember often how Jesus surrendered his rights to HEAVEN for dirty, smelly, broken earth. and how i will have to give up my rights to a clean apartment upon move-in and probably things like a fridge and walls without holes. we'll see what God provides for us in the next few days though. maybe it will be nice!

now we're going to take the tram back to the hostel (from the shepski's/weimer's) and go to bed around 9:30, because we just can't stay up any later until we adjust to this time zone! i'll post again soon and i'll try to take more pictures. since so far i've only taken ones of the apartments we've looked at. oops.

Peace

In the midst of packing and preparations to leave the big, beautiful America on Saturday, I anticipated feeling stressed, guilty, overwhelmed, and unsure of myself. Reality is very different! I feel so much more at peace about this whole process then I ever imagined I could feel. Thanks Jesus for the provision and protection and guidance you give us - and just the grace to relax and trust you in the midst of HUGE, life-altering, crazy changes in life. You are such a big God and I truly feel so calm. Believing you for the big things in the next few weeks and over the course of this year feels so much easier when I look at what you've done in my heart and in our circumstances in the past few months. Your plans and my plans often do not match up. But I am beginning to be more and more okay with that fact, because you prove yourself over and over again. You are so kind and faithful. When you allow hard things to come into my life, I am given opportunities to learn about your character and grow as a person in ways I couldn't if life were always easy. You never said it was going to be anyway. Just that you'd be there with us. My prayer is that I would learn to walk continuously without worry, fear, or uncertainty...because I know who my God is and that I'll spend eternity with Him. What could be better than that?