2 years today!!!

So 2 years ago TODAY on a Saturday morning, Jen and I arrived into a very hot city of Chiang Mai Thailand.
That first day we went shopping for mattresses, pillows and we bought a motorbike (our great friend Mark Owings generously donated the funds for that bike!). And then we went out for Thai food at a place we call The Shack. And we were quite tired that day and went to bed around 8pm.

So crazy that it's been 2 years already!

Some pics from our first day 2 years ago:

Leaving Dallas on the long trip ahead, we were so excited!!


Last leg- Bangkok to Chiang Mai


Trying to get some ZZZZ's


This was from the LONG one to Tokyo


One of our first sights- a chicken and her babies just chillin' on the sidewalk of the city


At Sunday Market


In the neighborhood


Practicing w/ a neighbor's bike first around the block a few times


This is the Yamaha Mio we bought


Jen testing it out


Everything is in Thai!!


Carrefour (pronounced Car-Four. We asked a French person just to be sure!). This is like a Wal-mart and where we got 99% of our needs our first 6 months here.


And a video:



Wow, what an amazing 2 years it has been!
It has been at times, the hardest thing I've ever done. It has been frustrating, exhilarating, eye opening, amazing, difficult, a dream come true, challenging, overwhelming . . . a chance of a lifetime for sure!!

Jen and I are confident that THIS is right where God wants us right now. And these past 2 years we have grown closer and more in love with Him than we could have ever imagined. We've also done a lot of questioning directed towards Him and He is always faithful to answer us with Grace.

I feel like I'm a different person than I was 2 years ago. A better person inside. But I also feel exactly like the same person I always have been.

I feel like I've seen things and learned things I would have never known any other way than being here.

I've gone through very fiery trials and tests & some I've passed with flying colors and some I didnt do so well with. But through all of them I learned something.

I've picked up new skills and interests. I've slacked on things that I wish I was more obedient in.

I've met people from all over the world & have heard stories that would make you laugh out loud, and stories that would make you want to shut yourself in your house and cry forever.

I've met amazing people who inspire me and motivate me. And I've met some real a$$-holes along the way.

I've missed my family and think about them all the time. I think about what a "sacrifice" I have to make to be away from them. And I forget that they are sacrificing too. Except they didn't really get a choice about it. And I'm thankful for their support and unending love.

And I think about what it really means to love God. And what He calls us ALL to do. And I think that I'm no different here than I would be anywhere else in the world. And that in God's eyes, none of us are different. And none of us having a different "calling" when it comes to loving people for His Name's sake.

And I wish that I was better at loving people. And I'm thankful for this time in my life when loving people is something I really get to focus on.

And I wouldn't trade these past 2 years, the good and the bad, for anything.

And I couldn't be more thankful to have the most amazing person in the world to get to share this experience with. These past 9 years of friendship with Jen has taken us all over the world together, put us in very stressed circumstances, gave us opportunities of a lifetime, tested our friendship over and over again, given us countless reasons to fall on our faces before God and just thank Him for His goodness, and taught us each areas in our lives that we need to grow in.
Jennifer is an amazing individual and I'm so honored to get to do this with her!


So those are my thoughts on this 2 year anniversary of living in Thailand and serving with a Thai church who has a heart for discipleship and church planting.

What will our 3rd year hold? What tests will we be given? Which ones will we fail and which ones will be pass on the first try?
What places will we go? Who will we meet? What does God have in store for us this year that will change the REST of our lives??

Looking forward to this new year with God and whatever has already passed through His hands for me to join Him on.
And can't wait to share all that with YOU on here!! =) Thanks for following along with us in this journey and just in life!