Contentment: the Lifetime Lesson

God has really been challenging me (Liz) to trust Him in the details of living here. I tearfully told Matt the other day, “I don’t know how to live here yet.” Not only are the language and culture foreign, but the little details of how daily living works are also new to me. It forces me to let go of my expectations of having the “simple stuff” figured out and the household completely in order, and to be content. It’s not easy, but in the midst of this cultural stress, God is wanting to teach me to put my hope completely in Him, and not in material things or my comfortable, familiar routine.

For an example of a daily living challenge, shopping here is different.We go to a grocery store that is a 5-minute walk from our apartment, which is nice. But it doesn’t take much shopping before the 2-3 bag carrying limit is reached. Gone are the days of buying a week’s worth of groceries in one shot. We have to keep in mind that we’ll be carrying whatever we buy back to the apartment and up four flights of stairs. There’s no Wal-mart to drive to in order to “stock up”; no car to get there
even if there was.

Finding items that we are looking for in certain stores is also hit-or-miss. We found a coffee store in the mall, so we went in looking for a coffee grinder (because we’re that serious about good coffee). What we found in the store was
a small shelf with about 5 coffee makers on it, along with a store-full of pajamas, travel accessories, and other random items. Matt ended up discovering a coffee grinder for sale at a grocery store in that same mall a week later. A small victory! Another example: we found our broom and dustpan in an office supply store, along with a strainer for the kitchen.

It can be frustrating, but also an adventure to find the next item on the list. Hmmm….what store could possibly have a sponge-type mop? Stayed tuned to discover where it ends up waiting for us…maybe in a pajama store?