September 10, 2014

Touch Down - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia


So this is what feels like to be on the other side. Not just the other side of the world, but the other side of a decision becoming an everyday reality. This is what it feels like to uproot the life you've created for years, move, and start over halfway across the world because you felt the pull in your spirit to do it. To step out on nothing but faith, and a word from God that it was time to follow our dreams.
It feels good.



The second we boarded the plane it was super intense and so clear that our life forever shifted. There are choices that we make everyday, always a left or right. But this was definitely a big fork in our road as a family. And when you literally fly off to the left instead of staying to the right, you know it's the best thing you've ever done when you have nothing but peace about it. You obviously have the normal thoughts that pass through your mind like: "Wait, everything here is going good for us...are we messing our life or Luna's life up?" or  "Omg, I just quit my job with no other job lined up, what the hell is wrong with me?" And on the flight over it crossed my mind that we just boarded a plane to move to a place we had never actually been to, and we could land somewhere we hated. But, we knew we prayed about it and this was where we felt led to go, and how we felt led to do it. The peace just pushed aside those thoughts and reassured us that it was part of a plan bigger than we even understand right now. 

Last week was the culmination of a year of planning, and to say our last month was stressful is an understatement, but having stress about getting to make a move like this in itself is an answered prayer. We said see you later to our home, our friends and family, sold our dream cars, gave up my dog Suzie, quit our jobs and put all our favorite essential things in 4 big pieces of luggages, and 2 carry on bags. It took 3 flights, 23 hours of flying and 10 hours of layovers to get here. We were seriously shocked that Luna never cried once. She's 18 months so we prepared ourselves for a little drama, but she was so chill and really into all of it. Once we got here and caught up on rest, our focus was establishing some sort of normal routine for ourselves and especially for Luna. Instead of heading straight to the tourist spots, we were exchanging money, finding a grocery store, locating the nearest bank, figuring out the train system, seeing how much diapers cost... the real life normal things, and it was relaxing in it's own way. We feel like we have been placed on a very unconventional path, and we love it. But we also already understand that in that comes a lot of responsibility in maintaining a balanced rhythm that remains no matter where we are, for us and for her.

So far here's what we've experienced our first week.

Our Home
Home is a more fluid concept for us in this season. It will be serviced apartments until we decide otherwise. A serviced apartment just means they are very similar to a hotel in that they are furnished and you have access to amenities like wifi, a fitness center,  breakfast, pool...etc. It works for us because it's month to month so we can stay for as long or as little as we like, and it's one bill for everything. We love where we are staying this month. The views are amazing!

Language
We thought we were going to be immersed in another language and we were totally ready to challenge ourselves and learn it... but they speak so much English here! Literally everyone speaks English and almost all the signs are in Malay and English. 

Money
Our USD money is worth 3.19 times more than 1 Malaysian Ringgit (RM) . So whatever the prices is here, you just basically divide it by three and that's how much it will cost us in US money. We exchanged money the first day we got here and it goes a long way since everything is a little cheaper to begin with, especially food. 

The Vibe
It's definitely a major city. There are Starbucks, 7-11's, and plenty of other familiar American brands and shops. You have modern skyscrapers, mountains, tropical trees, luxury, poverty, and lots of ancient eastern influence all in one place which creates a really cool mix of inspiration. It's fast paced but in a different way. People are out and about but everyone moves a little slower. It's diverse in that you see a ton of cultures, but you don't really see a lot of white or black Americans. Everyone you come across is super friendly and helpful, and oh my goodness do they love children. Luna is becoming more and more social by the day and she has definitely become an icebreaker and opened up lots of cool conversations since we've been here. 

Now I know the question we get a lot is: "ok, sounds awesome... but how are you guys doing all this?" No, I did not get a job here, and Kevin did not get a job here.  It can feel like a vacation at times only because we haven't had one in forever, and for the first two or three days we did just let ourselves rest from all the stress of planning and the hours of travel, but to us, this is not just a fairy tale whim to escape the world. It's a gift of space and time to work on the visions God placed in us to pursue. We have a little seed money that we were blessed with before we came between savings and loved ones, and we continue to encounter grace concerning our expenses. If we need to get a job here, either one of us can, but we know that this is a time to give ourselves a chance to create something that will create our own income. 

Why Not?

This is truly our great adventure and we appreciate all the love, support, time, thoughtfulness, generosity, patience, help, and prayers from family and friends before we came and since we've been here. You have no idea what it means to us. 

If you look to left it's skyscrapers, if you look to the right, you see mountains.
            View from the rooftop. It has a pool, gym, office/lounge area, and children's pool.
The children's pool... aka Luna's new favorite place in the world.
Jaya Grocery is the closest grocery store to us. It's adorable to me. 
Getting to spend even more time with her now is THE best.
 Subang Jaya District.
 Subang Jaya District
Central Market. near Chinatown.
Bukit Bintang...aka MY new favorite place in the world, haha. 
Monorail Station, Bukit Bintang
The Wilson's. I couldn't have done this with anyone else by my side. I love him.



3 comments:

  1. Beautiful copy and photographs! TFS! -CW

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am so proud of you guys. Welcome to the other side! Can't wait to see how it will all unfold :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I miss you guys so much! Kenny and I cannot wait to visit! Yaaayyy!!! We will be talking to you soon. Love you guys! And we are so proud of you for stepping out on faith! It's the best way to live!!

    ReplyDelete