I’m sitting on Adele’s lap, my head cocked at an obscure angle to avoid the car roof. There are 7 of us crammed into Tamira’s little Nissan when I realize we are five days and 86 Mongolian words into our assignment phase and we can say “camel”, “whatever” and “eyebrow” but have no idea how to say “washroom” or ask for a price.

I grin. The adventures have begun!

Our time this week has been full of A LOT of introductions, arrival paperwork, exploring the city  (learning the bus system, grocery stores, etc); visiting some foster homes, the homeschool co-op, and the international church; trying our first Mongolian meal, and helping put on a day camp for some youth our hosts have been working with in the ger* district across town.

During our different outings this week, I’ve been reminded  of two things:

First, I love to laugh. And it’s good to laugh. It’s good to laugh with others, it’s good to laugh at yourself, and it’s good to laugh often. If you can’t laugh, then at least smile. A smile goes a long ways and I need to practice that more.

Second, God delights. God is a Father who delights in us and wants to share his joy. He cares about details. Whether we experience this delight by spending time with a durn-cute 2 year old or nearly running into some reindeer while turning the street corner, it has been fun finding God in unexpected places.

P.S. ~ This morning I told Adele during our prayer time that I wanted to see God’s work more clearly around me. I wanted to see what he was doing and not miss a thing. This evening as I wrote that last paragraph I had to drastically edit out the list of examples where I have seen evidence of God this week. God answers prayer, people! I didn’t realize he had opened my eyes to this already until just now. That’s kinda cool…