307 & Beyond

Urban landscape

“Juxtaposition”

I have shot this little scene literally thousands of this (time lapse) over the past 3 years and yet I am always drawn back to it (granted there is a great breakfast place in the area).

The combination of old and new just really captures all the change (good and bad) that Mongolia is undergoing right now.

“bird’s nest” - Incheon train station South Korea. I just want to say that South Korean’s are the nicest people. It’s like the Canada of Asia.

Originally this posted was started when I was a little bit more in the deep of it. So unfortunately time has taken some of the thunder out of this post (but at the same time it is a living testament to the Lord’s care).

Two weeks ago (two weeks before I am supposed to leave for Mongolia), I am told that it is going to be “very difficult to get me my money”. What money? My money; money I earned by writing a grant and had entrusted to Yale (well more like ‘had’ to entrust to Yale). This money is money I earned like nine months ago and money they knew was going to be used to fund my research. But evidently a month was not enough of a heads up to get me my money and at the two week mark I was told that it would be very difficult to get me my money. Did I STRESS out? No.

At the same time my colleague and good friend told me that a shipment of every piece of equipment we own was delayed in transport to Mongolia. Get this, we put this stuff on a boat in Febuary and were told that it would be there in April. Well as it turns out it won’t be there until May 25th. We are supposed to leave for the field on the 28th.

So I get blasted with all this at once. So now the question maybe; was I not just Stress but SUPER stressed? No, nope, not really, not at all.

Okay maybe for a minute but did it last - no. Why? Because right away I was reminded “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28 NKJV)”. Trust in the Lord and he will provide. I think the photo helps exhibit that.

Thanks to the hard work of kind people in my department and the favor of the Lord, the Yale bureaucracy moved in a expedited fashion and I can now pay and feed all the great people who will join me this year in Mongolia. Now will they have tools to work with? The Lord will provide as he see’s fit.

Joetastic

Low stoke on hard problem = very little progression. At least the rock isn’t going anywhere

Amazingly good

Domestic control of foreign oil

The road is narrow

Late night projects.