Visiting Husband’s Friends – Cross-cultural Marriage – Many Blessings

I am awake a little early, so I have a few moments to write. This trip has been amazing. Sure San Francisco is wonderful, but we have had a special blessing on this trip, we’ve spent time with Shah’s family friends.

For two years we have lived in my world, with my family, friends, culture and language. This trip is our first visit into a little of his world. San Francisco is new to both of us, but the people we have stayed with and visited are old family friends of his, and the celebrations we have taken part of are from his culture, not mine.

I’m shocked to realize that I married someone without ever seeing them interact with their friends. It’s been so fun to see him laugh and smile and relax in a deep way that you can’t truly due outside your own culture.

I’ve lived abroad a few times and traveled abroad even more. I love the added challenge of a new situation. Interacting in a foreign language, can make even a boring conversation interesting. But I also know that feeling of complete mental release when you realize you don’t have to think to communicate at all, and you can just be and let your words and actions flow.

The best photos of him in his element are on my camera so I won’t be able to add them til we get home, but his smile… gosh I love his smile.

So this trip has been about 50-50 vacation and visiting, but it feels like it’s been 100-100. We have had time for everything, even sleep.

We’ve been blessed. We had a free place to stay, many generous friends provided meals, and we had enough AmEx points for tickets. San Francisco is still expensive, but no matter the cost, you cannot put a price on this trip. We have new shared memories, we have new communication skills, we have new character as we’ve learned to adjust to each others speed of life, and now I know him so much better.

When we were making the decision to take this trip, I heard His voice say Go, not audibly but just as clear. As I learned on last year’s anniversary trip, sometimes, God can only bless us when we are willing to let go of our miserly control ways and take a step and accept a blessing.

It’s a good lesson to learn and I hope I never forget it.