The first three months: lots of learning!

It's been awhile since we've posted something here. We've been in Chiang Mai for close to three months now! We've completed the first two levels of our Thai language course, which focused on vocabulary and basic conversation, and we've just started on level three. From here on the focus will be on reading and writing. We've heard that this is where it starts getting challenging, but we're still excited to keep learning and making progress.

We're slowly building confidence in little things like ordering food and running errands. In the early days of being here, we would mainly order food by pointing out what we wanted on the menus, but now we've started attempting to order in Thai. Recently, we also managed to renew the car registration on our own. Gabe's sister, Autumn, kindly walked us through what we had to do the night before and taught us the keywords we needed to know. It was actually a really simple process that didn't require us to say very much, but even managing to do that brought such a sense of achievement! The goal is to slowly become more and more independent, and to not feel like there're places we can't go or things we can't do because of the language barrier. We really thank God for the grace He's given us in this season to learn a new language, and for all the people who've gone out of their way to help us out.

Daphne trying really hard to read the order chit

Something else we've been learning a lot about is how to navigate working together as a married couple. The dynamics of a romantic relationship and a working relationship are so different. In our marriage, we prioritise being loving and supportive towards each other, but as work and ministry partners, there're often times where we need to put aside our personal emotions and be more objective. Our work styles are also very different, and this has inevitably caused some friction between us. In the spirit of being honest and vulnerable, we will say that the process of working through all of this hasn't been easy, but we're certain that we'll find our groove soon!

We've been asking God for wisdom and grace to navigate this well, and He has been good to us. There have been a lot more good days than bad days, and even the so-called bad days God has used to refine us and to strengthen both our marriage and our ministry. We believe with all our hearts that He will equip us with what we need to serve Him here in Thailand:

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. - Hebrews 13: 20-21