Abe, Jill, and Easton Sobczak

Weekend in Luang Prabang

Last weekend we had meetings in Luang Prabang, which is about 8 hours north of us.  It is the old capitol of Laos, and considered to be the spiritual capitol of the country today.  We loaded up at 5:30am to make the big drive north!   We h...

When we first started planning to move to Laos quite honestly, my heart was filled with many more concerns than faith. I suppose this doesn’t speak so highly of me but it’s the truth. My biggest concern was for Easton. I spent MUCH time praying for his adjustment here to culture, food and people. Everyone assured me that he would be just fine. I believed them but still had the typical concerns of a mother. What if the two languages total...

     “So what’s life like there?” This question comes up in just about every conversation with people from home. Every time without fail, I’m a bit at a loss for words. Trying to articulate day to day life here is in many ways like trying to describe a roller coaster ride to someone who has never ridden one before - it’s most definitely FULL of ups and downs! To really understand it, you just have to experience for yourself. But one thing is f...

     Right now, our life is all about Lao Language 101! The language has 26 consonants, 50 vowels and five tones. Needless to say it is a challenge. We attend classes Monday through Friday from 1:30 – 4:45pm. We have found that we MUST study at least 3 hours between each daily class or we are pretty much just drowning. The first few weeks weren’t too bad. We were learning basic greeting phrases and the alphabet. Now we are way passed the basics and in full ti...

“Jesus I believe in You and I would go to the ends of the Earth, the ends of the Earth.” Those lyrics sound familiar? It was a popular song from Hillsong a few years ago. Every time I sang it, I thought about Battambang, Cambodia, where Abe and I served a year as interns. I had always considered it my “ends of the Earth,” until this week . . .

Yes, we are alive and doing GREAT! I was blown away yesterday when I realized that we arrived in Laos almost exactly a month ago. We have been working hard to get settled here and obviously, time has flown by! I know there have been several blog-worthy experiences along the way . . .

Like at the park one day, a Lao grandmother decided to just TAKE Easton out of his stroller. She couldn’t figure out the buckle so she had her ten family members come help her. Aft...

The countdown has begun! On Feb. 26, we board a plane headed for Southeast Asia. About 35 hours later, we will arrive in Laos, our new home. Which means that just 5 weeks from today, we’ll be in the land of tuk-tuks, open-air markets, and noodle soup.
 

This Christmas was an extra special one for us as we welcomed our little baby boy, Easton, into the family. December 19th will be a day we never forget. Words can not describe the feeling of holding him in our arms for the very first time. Time seemed to stand still as we looked into the eyes of our precious gift from God. Our lives will never be the same and we are so blessed.