New Year, New Job, New Country

I left you with a rather dramatic blog post back in July about our lock down in Bangladesh. Alpha and I have now been in the US for about 5 months now. But I am getting ahead of myself.

After the attack and being locked in the house for the month of July, Alpha's visa came through the 1st week of August. We packed up, said goodbye to family and flew to Chicago. We had about 24 hours to drop our stuff off with our friends and then fly to Colorado to join in on my family reunion. Nothing like throwing your husband in to meeting 50 family members at once for a week. It was a very special time for me as I had not seen most of my family in over 2 years and none of them had met Alpha yet.

After the reunion and time with my immediate family, Alpha and I headed back to Chicago where I started working at my church. At the end of September we were very blessed to be able to rent my parents house as they are living in Germany. I cannot express how exciting it was to have a place of our own and to get my dog, Ember, back!

Alpha and Ember

In October we got a call from a long time family friend asking if we would like to contract with World Relief Chicago for a month as they were having an exceptionally busy time. So on top of affordable housing God blessed Alpha and I with jobs. We worked in the Refugee Resettlement department help the most vulnerable get on their feet and start new lives in the US (Just like what we were doing ourselves).

Alpha's First Snow!

As the contract ended in November, I was asked to apply for a Case Manager position that was coming available. After a lot of prayer and discussions with Alpha, I applied.

Refugee Job Training

For Thanksgiving Alpha and I drove to Arkansas and Oklahoma to stay with our good friend the Waters family who we worked with at Grace in Bangladesh. We were also able to pick up my brother, Jared, and his roommate to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and family. What another amazing blessing!

Celebrating Christmas in the States

When we got home I had a few interviews and was asked again to contract with World Relief for two more weeks before Christmas. Right before the holiday I was offered a full time position as the new Case Manager. Alpha and I are excited about this position. Alpha has also been blessed with a full time position at Meijer. Please be praying for him as he transitions to this job.

Over all we are doing well, though culture shock is hard. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we try to find our rhythm in this very different world.