Monday, June 09, 2008

"A Camping we have gone..."


Have you ever lain awake at night, eyes fixed beyond the confines of the ceiling wondering "what on earth am I doing here?" That was this past weekend as Rachel and I accompanied a group of international students on a camping trip. We drove an hour+ down the coast to a place near the ruins of Olympos and setup our tents in a mulberry patch. (which now are stuck all over the bottom of my shoes!) So, that first night I lay awake in a stifflingly hot tent that was too short for my legs to strech out and wondered...


Rachel and I have been in Turkey for 5 days now and only this morning did we both finally feel adjusted in body, mind, and spirit. Body: it's hot and humid here in Antalya; someone mentioned that God must have made it so beautiful here so that people can endure the summer! As we learn to shop and cook for ourselves, it feels like we're relearning everything, the most basic realities of life. And amid this I'm continuing my marathon training and we're looking for a way that Rachel can swim (it's all cliffs near our apartment so we need to find a way down to the sea). Mind: english, turkish, english, turkish, erkish, tuglish, ahhhh! I'm definately rusty and Rachel is making a valient effort as she works in the cafe. Lord willing my tutoring students will help me as much as I help them and Rachel is making a list every morning of words to practice thoughout the day. Spirit: being displaced and unsettled is very draining and makes us cling to the Word all the more. Getting on a schedule is helping but at this time we're learning what it is to "cry out to God". He is very good!


So, back to Olympos...we setup camp and headed to the beach (rock, pebble, and gravel). The boys enjoyed when I would launch them into the sea, taught them to skip stones, and then they began chasing "rubbish" up and down the surf. (I ended up carrying it back to the waste bin!) Then football/soccer, 3 on 1 (I was the 1), while the ladies worked on dinner, we did the dishes. Then a night hike up to see the sacred flames that come out of the mountain (methane gas reserves; did I mention all of this is in flip-flop sandals). The next day we explored the Olympos ruins and spent the whole day in the sun as the boys played. Rachel and I are still wearing some of the sun...ouch!



Well, we're expecting the unexpected and living each day for what God has in store. Thank you for your continued encouragement, we'll write again soon.