...and we're back!

After a four month hiatus from the blog world, I feel that it is necessary to catch you up on all the latest Chando news since my last entry.  Covering that kind of territory in one post would be  lengthy and exhausting (not to mention time-consuming), so I will try my best to backtrack as far as my memory will take me and include several pictures because let's face it--pictures are just more interesting!

To pick up where I left off, I will begin with May...

This was a difficult month for many reasons, and several of you know why. While we faced some unique challenges living here in Abu Dhabi, Jesse and I were also confronted with some extremely amazing truths and life lessons that have been a blessing to us in our first year of marriage.  Without going into too much detail, here are some highlights:

1.  God is our father, protector, healer, and strength, and He loves us more than anything. We have learned that any challenge in life is an opportunity to rely on a faithful God who ALWAYS provides.  Knowing this truth and living it are quite different.

2. Family is vitally important. We thought we knew this after getting married and celebrating with our families and starting our own unit together. Nothing means more than knowing that you can rely on loving parents and siblings and in-laws and people who care.  We are truly blessed!

3. Our friends are amazing! Not only do we have the most caring and faithful friends in Texas, but we have made some wonderful new friends here among the expat community.  People who know what you need and offer help before you even know to ask are truly special.

4. Taking things for granted. We have learned that personal freedom and security are not universally acknowledged.  Every day we have on this Earth is important and should be celebrated. We are fortunate to have been born in a country where we have rights because some will never ever know how that feels.

5. Wealth and material possessions are not everything.  DUH! Clearly we all know this, but it has never been so painfully obvious than being among people who do not know any different.  We finally did receive our shipping container on May 31st and were humbled greatly by the 3 months without our possessions!

Here are some pictures of the moving "truck" bringing in our shipment from the port.  It took them two trips and about 8 hours to unload all of it! Oh and it was about 105 degrees in the shade :-)  Needless to say we were very careful watching them unload and unpack everything!