following the Way

We are excited to share that this summer we started the process of an international adoption from Taiwan! We could not be more grateful for how the Lord has led us in preparing to welcome a child into our family!

So far we have completed most of the paperwork, including our home study, needed to apply for adoption. That means that we are now at the point of waiting to go on a list to be matched with a child. :)

Please join us in celebrating this exciting season in our lives, as well as praying that the Lord would prepare us and the child He would welcome into our family to be joined together one day, hopefully sooner rather than later! :)

So glad to get to share this happy news with you all!

If you want more news along the way, I’ll be blogging about our adoption process and our family’s daily life over at JoyChasers…

Today a friend and I crossed over to the other side to go to some furniture shops in hopes of finding some old treasures that could be fixed up. She and her husband just moved this past week, and we’re getting ready to move, so it was a great time to do some looking around.

As I sat on the ferry crossing from Europe back to Asia, where we live, I thought to myself, “How did I ever get so lucky to live in a city like this?” I, Abby, actually had those very thoughts! And meant them. A year ago, I thought I’d mostly count down the days until we moved out of this crowded urban maze of a city. Now I look around and find beauty surrounding us. It’s hard to imagine wanting to live anywhere else.

Now, that said, I’m sure a trip away for the weekend to a smaller, greener place might quickly change my mind and rekindle my love for the kind of nature that is hard to regularly enjoy in a city this large.

But it just goes to show, that really our Father can lead us into any kind of circumstance, and give us all that we need to not just adapt to that circumstance and be miserable, but to adapt and thrive, with real joy. If I can love living in a city of 15 million people and no longer feel like I might just burst every time someone runs into me on a crowded sidewalk or am sardined in the middle of 15 other people on a bus (though I do confess I prefer the group taxis where everyone gets a seat!), then I really believe, He can do anything in our lives. Nothing is impossible for Him. I never thought I would like living in this city, much less be able to say that I love it, I actually enjoy being here. And yet I do. What amazing grace our Lord gives us. He really wants joy for us. He doesn’t just want to refine us and strip away our sin and idols, He wants to give us joy as the things that hinder us fall to the ground.

Remember this post?

What a long way we have come since then. He said we could trust Him, that we could believe Him for who He is, and we said we wanted to, even though we were afraid of more disappointment. And He has proven Himself trustworthy. He is faithful – to take even the smallest bit of faith and grow it into some greater. What Amazing Grace, to get a glimpse of His real joy and care in our lives. That’s kind of grace and perspective I want to walk in every day!

This picture was taken in July, but even with the grayer fall skies here now, it still makes for a scenic ferry ride!

I spoke with a friend this morning who lives in the region affected deeply by Sunday’s earthquake and asked him about the most critical needs in his area. He’s looking for some structural engineers who would be able to come and do damage assessments on apartments and homes to determine whether or not they are still safely inhabitable.

This is a critical need because winter is fast approaching—actually, it’s already here—and people need to be able to get back in doors. Tent cities are being set up by relief groups, but snow is already on the ground and sanitation issues are multiplying.

Many people can probably already return safely to their homes, but they are terrified to do so, afraid that their homes will betray them in a moment just as their friends’ have them. But an expert approval could move people out of crisis and into a safer and more stable environment for the long-term recovery ahead.

So if you are a structural engineer or you know a structural engineer who might be willing to travel to Turkey and help with this urgent need, let me know and we’ll get you connected with some people who can strategically use your help.

A 7.2 earthquake struck one of the major cities in the eastern part of Turkey this afternoon. (Abby and I live in the western part of the country.) We didn’t feel the quake from so far away, but we’ve been deeply affected by the news coverage of startling devastation there.

We have some expat friends who live in this city, and we’ve been able to speak with them briefly to find out that they are safe and heading out of the quake zone at least for a day or two. Search and rescue teams are being mobilized from all over the country and from several other countries as well (including the US, UK, Greece, Israel and Iran). Some estimates are that the confirmed casualty count could rise as high as 1,000.

Please pray for the families of those who have passed away or are seriously injured. Pray for doctors working to save the lives of those severely injured. Pray for the rescue teams that are racing against the clock to find people trapped under the rubble. And pray for the thousands of people rendered instantly homeless by today’s quake–and for the hundreds of thousands more who are likely terrified by the homes they still have.

Strong aftershocks have continued (at least 17 so far that have registered over 4.0 on the Richter scale). Temperatures are expected to drop to freezing tonight with rain forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday at least. Pray that relief teams would be able to quickly provide the shelter and supplies that survivors need to continue to be healthy and safe in difficult winter conditions in a city a mile above sea level.

If you’d like to follow more news on this earthquake and its aftermath, I recommend clicking over to TodaysZaman.com (an excellent English language daily here in Turkey).

Today we signed a rent contract to move apartments! It still feels a bit surreal, as we had planned to be out of our current apartment by the end of last month. We could not be more excited about the area we are moving to. It is exactly what we’ve been hoping to find. Plus it doesn’t take us too far from our current neighborhood, which is nice since we would like to stay in touch with the friends we have here.

So grateful for our Father’s provision for us in a place to live – and His answer to many prayers about finding a place that we can settle into a bit. I can hardly believe that we’re really going to move!

It’s hard to believe it’s been 2 months since we last posted!  Here’s some highlights of our last couple of months:

We had an amazing time with my sister and her friend Megan that came! I could not be for grateful for my first family member to visit us overseas. Hopefully they both got a good taste of Turkish culture!

The morning my sister flew out of Turkey, we also took our first trip out of the country since arriving last May. Though, originally we had other reasons for booking the flights that way, it was actually good not to have to go home after taking her to the airport!

We were deeply refreshed by the time we were able to step out of the ever present task of cultural adaptation. We were able to visit a beautiful place and loved spending time with those who challenge and sharpen us in the way we live. Always a good thing!

We came back in time for the second half of Ramazan, and continue to be struck by the mixture of people we find in our city – those who fast out of an earnest yearning to please God, those who refuse to fast just to spite those around them, and everything in between. So grateful that there is abundant grace available to us all – those who want to please God and those who don’t.

We were able to celebrate the holiday that followed with some sweet friends, and I (Abby) was even able to go to the equivalent of a bachelorette party the second night of the holiday. They call it a henna night, and it is a bit different than what we might do, much more traditional in meaning, even having a ceremonial aspect to it. Though there is plenty of dancing!

Since then we have been searching like crazy for the right place to live – the neighborhood and neighbors being key. But we’d also be grateful for a home with less mold problems, thicker walls, and neighbors who do not fight so regularly. I don’t know if we’re going to find it honestly. We’re not quite ready to completely relocate to a different part of the city, and that seems to be limiting our options. We’re hoping and praying the right thing will turn up!

We start our language class again the first week of Oct. It was good to have a break, but now it’s time for the next level. Often times we have people ask us when we’ll finish language learning. At some point we likely will discontinue formal language learning, but as adult learners of a language the opposite of ours in nearly every way, we’ll probably be doing some form of language learning the entire time we’re here – fighting to understand those nuances, so difficult in a second language, that communicate such depth and meaning in every day life. Our desire is not to grow weary, but as we learn more to let that spur us on to wanting more and more.

We have loved having more opportunities this summer for worship with others and to grow in our understanding of worship in the context of the culture here. Right now those times are some of the most exciting times in our week.

And we love that we feel more settled here than we did this time last year or even a few months ago. It is great to feel more and more at home here!

Hopefully we won’t wait so long next time!

As I read the scriptures, I think Jon Bloom‘s response captures the biblical position pretty well:

On the ancient temple mount in Jerusalem there stands a mosque.

Observant Jews see a profaning of their most holy place and plead with YHWH to remove their disgrace. Observant Muslims see Allah’s favor, a sign that the true religion sits in ascendency.

The world sees a centuries-old religious/political drama being played out on the edge of a knife, with diplomats delicately working like a bomb squad to avoid an explosion.

But most miss the real significance of the mosque on the mount.

When the temple stood there it was the very heart of Judaism. It was the place where the presence of God dwelt among his people and sacrifices were offered to atone for sin.

But the Presence remained inside the temple, in the holy of holies, cut off from sinful humans. And no one was allowed to enter there except the high priest, “and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offer[ed] for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people” (Hebrews 9:7).

But that all changed when Messiah appeared, as God had promised in the Law and Prophets.

Messiah “appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26). Having accomplished that, he “entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself. . . to appear in the presence of God” on behalf of all who would believe in him (Hebrews 9:24).

Jesus became the one final sacrifice and the one final undying high priest (Hebrews 7:24). He opened a “new and living way” (Hebrews 10:19-20) into the most holy place in heaven for “all who would draw near to God through him” (Hebrews 7:25). He became the mediator of the new covenant God had promised (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

At this point the presence of God moved out of the temple’s holy place into his people, whom Messiah had made holy. And he began to move his people to take the gospel of the new covenant to all the peoples of the world. The Presence was moving to the peoples.

The age of the temple was over. The “copy and shadow” (Hebrews 8:5) was obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). Therefore Jesus prophesied: “Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:2). This was fulfilled in AD 70.

For the past 13 centuries a mosque has occupied the temple’s former site. It is not a sign of God’s endorsement on Islam. Rather, it is an unwitting guardian of the new covenant reality. God wants the temple gone, not because Judaism is destroyed, but because in Jesus it is fulfilled.

So when you see the Al Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock, pray for both Jews and Muslims, that they will hear and believe the new covenant. For “the hour [has come] when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will [they] worship the Father” (John 4:21).

Could not be more excited to have my sister here!

This has been one busy summer!

So far we have:

Been able to spend time with some of the friends we made on our trip in May!

Said goodbye to three families who have each spent a minimum of 17 years living and working in this country! We are grateful to have been able to learn from their wisdom and experience this past year.

We attended and helped host goodbye parties, put together memory books, and had people in our home as they transitioned out of their apartment to their home country.

We’ve been able to reconnect with some dear friends passing through our city onto other destinations (it really feels like our city is Grand Central Station for this part of the world!). We are blessed to get to see friends and be encouraged by their faith and walks, that we ordinarily wouldn’t be able to see while here.

We said goodbye to our fellowship group from this past year. We have really grown to love each of these families, and could not be more grateful for our Father’s provision for us in this area that would have been sorely lacking without them!

We have begun attending a local fellowship here on the weekend, and during the week for meetings as well. We are truly excited about what we are learning in this process, and feel like it is for just a time as this that we are still in this particular city. Can’t wait to see how our Father continues to grow and shape us through this new source of fellowship and discipleship in our lives. We really believe we are being equipped for what is ahead, as well as the present!

We’ve had a chance to meet some folks who are considering moving to Turkey and share a little about our experience in being here. Always a good thing to get to meet people like this!

We’ve been to the Turkish Olympics (a competition for international students competing through song, dance, and poetry in Turkish!).

We celebrated July 4th on the 4th with some sweet American friends living here. We (well not this part of we) grilled burgers and chicken on their terrace that overlooks the city.

The next day some sweet friends here, knowing that we had a special holiday, invited us to their company’s summer home and also grilled burgers! We had an amazing view of the Bosporus  and great conversation!

These same friends are having their third son next week. We can’t wait to meet this little guy. Would you pray for a safe and healthy delivery for the mom and baby?

Just a couple of days after the fourth we got to welcome Scott’s aunt and uncle, Robin and Kirk, as well as their friends to Istanbul! We had an amazing couple of days with them, soaking up every minute of getting to see family here, and possibly touring them til they were ready to fall over! We might have been a little ambitious while showing off this city we’ve grown to love… :)

We’re loving feeling like we’re slowly settling more into life here, finding more friends, and figuring out where our niche is. It’s nice to have some normalcy after so much transition!

And we’re especially grateful that while it is HOT here, this summer has been MUCH milder than last summer – when we were scouring the city trying to figure out where to live! I have thanked the Lord many times this summer that we are in a home and not searching for one on the hot streets of Istanbul this year!

On top of all of this my sister and her friend arrive in two days! This will be the first time I’ve had someone from my family come to a place where we’ve lived overseas. I could not be more excited to get to show her around and let her see our daily lives! I’m certain that once she goes back and shares her experience, everyone else will quickly follow. :)

As my sister leaves we’ll also leave the country for the first time since arriving last May for a few days of vacation and some meetings. It will be good to get away right at the heat climax for a bit!

Well this long list should catch us up a bit for now! If there weren’t a ton of things I’m trying to get done before Andrea (my sister) arrives, I’d post pictures to go with some of these fun events. But they’ll have to wait for another time!

Thanks for sticking with us through this blogging drought!

We couldn’t have asked for a better end to our 10 days together! The previous few days had involved lots of travel, and everyone was pretty worn out. Our last two days were spent in Istanbul, a little more restful, and included some of the more insightful lessons we had as well as a day of fasting (waking for a 4am breakfast and breaking the fast with a traditional iftar dinner).

On Sunday we took cable cars up to a place called Pierre Lotti, named after a French author who literally fell in love with this part of Istanbul. It’s not hard to see why!

Pierre Lotti

On our last day we learned about a kind of art called Ebru. You paint inside of water and at the end lay a piece of paper on top of the water. It is shocking what comes up when the paper is taken out of the water.

This was our group effort painting. I did the flower and heart on the right. There is actually a great analogy about this style of art and the way we are dependent on God to do everything, even painting a picture. I think this was one of Scott’s favorite parts of our trip (though only the girls did this painting), so he’ll have to explain more about it sometime!

Of course the trip would not be complete without a trip to the bazar!

And a chance to eat and buy Turkish Delight! This picture was taken in a shop just before we headed back to the lodge to eat a late lunch and pack up.