And scatter them He did.

"Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth." ~Genesis 11:1-8.


I was thinking about that verse quite a bit over the past few days of traveling through many different airports in different lands, having some extra unexpected long layovers and just observing so many different kinds of people, from different places, speaking in different tongues. The thought struck me that this environment was a lot more representative of what I might see in heaven some day- people from all over the world, all different cultures together again. It started that way... it will end that way. I guess our pride was just a little to large to keep us that way while here on earth. We have all be separated from each other and our language has been confused from each other and now that I'm living out of my own culture where people are like me and understand me (at least a little : ) that fact has been made ever so apparent.





So now I'm here and really glad! The travels were long and trying- one of my flights was cancelled which completely re-routed me to Istanbul and caused me to miss my final flight. But I was able to buy another for a good price and will get my bags tomorrow probably. Today was really fun! We wen out shopping for fruits and vegetables in an open outdoor market called a pzar. I have definitely stepped into a whole new world. We also made pizza and I got to meet four of the kids and they were every bit as cute and fun as I had thought. I love my house mates and this morning we were able to have a great conversation about Turkish culture and things that I should begin to think about and be mindful of. I am quickly realizing that there are many unspoken social etiquettes and expectations to learn on top of the language... but the people seem kind and so far and I haven't had much trouble due to my hair color. I am truly blessed to be here and I can't wait to start learning more!