The Beginning of the Lasts

Dear A,

It's still June, and we don't leave the states for three more months (Mid-Sept), but already I'm in the mode of counting lasts.  "This is the last time I'll buy dishwasher pods at Costco" or "I've already worn this coat for the last time--I can pack it away for 18 months"...

Not very exciting as an update.  Thanks for tuning in and linking with us as Janet and I head ourselves into the move to Vietnam.

~Tim

(PS. The TRUE YOU weekend was a success.  One strategy I really appreciated was that they focused on "unearthing" or "discovering" elements of a person's God-given identity.  There was also time, and lots of it, set aside for tuning in to God's gentle voice to hear who He says I am.  But more than that there was the sense that we are archeologists carefully brushing compacted sand away from precious things buried inside.  It was good, healing, forward-facing.  I'd like to offer a weekend like that sometime, as a facilitator!)

Housing Offer/Discussion/Decision

Dear A,

An exciting offer came out of the blue this week.  A friend of a friend contacted us via Facebook (Facebook is a principal means of communicating) and said (I paraphrase) "Hi Tim and Janet, we heard through the expat grapevine that you're coming September-April to Danang.  Is this true?  Because we have an amazing 4 bedroom house next to the university campus complex south of town, and we're going to be stateside from August to May.  We could rent to you and you could have our house for your time here."

The routes in blue go from Vincom shopping center in the north down the coast to the house that they're offering.  Vincom is a little north of central but it's the vicinity of our old house and near so many things we appreciate about the city, including being close and available to our friends

Those 23 minutes becomes longer on hot days when you need to drive slower (yeah, that's a thing. remind me to tell you about motorbiking at speed in extreme heat) or on rainy nights in the dark.  It's never less than 11 hours of dark per day this close to the equator, so there's a fair amount of nighttime driving.

Anyhow, we asked God for wisdom and we asked 40 or so friends (former students, Danang-locals) for their opinions.  Should we take the great house down south or wait and see if another place opens up for us closer in?

The friends weren't completely unanimous, but there was a clear message: "we'll come spend time at your house no matter where you live, but it would be more convenient if you were closer in ..."  and we felt God's peace to be able to tell the Facebook friends that we wanted to pass on their generous offer.

We have contacted a rentals agency, and they think we can get into an apartment or house that will allow us to be hospitable in the ways we want to be.  It's a bit of a tricky thing, finding that "just right" house in Danang.  Most houses and apartments may be lovely inside but just aren't made to accommodate groups of friends coming for game nights and cooking together and whatnot.

https://houserentaldanang.com/houses/son-tra/  --Not all the ones you see on these sites are actually available.  Some of them are always there as bait to get your inquiry.

We're excited.  Increasingly excited.  It feels lovely to be wanted by our Danang friends.  Looking forward to keeping an extra chair at the table for new friends, too.

Love,

T

True You Identity Intensive

Hi A,

I feel ... pretty crummy.  Not physically, I mean, but crazy-grumpy.  One of those "I hate everything and everyone" times.

Janet is nice enough about it.  She says that it's all the soul things getting ready to get dealt with at a 3-day identity retreat/intensive I'm heading to in Portland tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to it  ... about as much as people look forward to having the handyman come to demo out a sink that's had a hidden drip going for about 8 years and the wood is all gross and basically decayed to blackened pulp, and then the guys fix the leak and dry it all out and rebuild with new white pine and put in fluffy insulation and patch it all up again.  You feel better afterwards, but the mucking out the gross part is the thing that's got me triggered.  Bah.

So.  Not feeling great right now. 

~Tim

Chili Oil Popcorn

Dear A,

We think often about going to Vietnam these days.  I wonder what sort of house or apartment we'll be renting, I wonder who our time will be invested in, I wonder how we'll use our house in Bend during the seven months we'll be abroad.  

On the weekend Janet and I watched a show and I cooked popcorn using an unusual-for-us chili oil.  For several years we've been using Lao Gan Ma chili oil to season our popcorn, and we prefer popcorn to be deliciously spicy.

But this time when I reached for the chili oil I brought out a Vietnamese chili sauce instead.

The bottle was nearly used up from making noodle dishes, so I swished 1/4 cup of avocado oil in the jar and sizzled our popcorn in it, just to see how it would taste.  And ... wow.  I don't know how much of the flavor is special because it's JUST THAT GOOD, or maybe it tastes like Vietnam to me and I'm responding to the nostalgia.  But wow. We have enough jars (3) to get us through to September, and I expect we'll be bringing more of this local (it's specific to our region of Vietnam) chili paste home with us.  Let us know if you want a jar of it--so good!  

~Tim

Seth's Blog pre-empts chili oil

Dear A,

So, I was ready to write to you about our chili oil, and I'd already taken the pictures and been mentally composing the letter ... and then today Seth Godin sent out an email that I thought particularly apropos.

In his post, he recommends against speaking to a crowd.  In my case, that's EXACTLY what I'm doing when I chose you to write to.  I'm still going to write about chili oil, but tomorrow.

Love,
Tim

PS. It's been an exciting couple of weeks since I posted on Facebook about returning to live in Vietnam.  Former students have been reaching out to me and getting reconnected.  It's what we hoped would happen, and it's happening sooner than it might have.  Super gratified that one of the girls that we made a good connection with 10 years ago (but whom we haven't seen or heard from in the interim) has reached out and is looking forward to reconnecting.

 

View Online

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The 1:1 method The reason that most memos, speeches and edicts fall flat is simple: we get stuck on the idea that we’re talking to a crowd. When we’re speaking or writing, the crowd is just an illusion. What’s actually happening is that there is one person over there, another over there, repeated again and again until it’s easier to imagine it’s a mass audience. The alternative method is simple: find one person, exactly one, and write to them, allowing the others to listen in. Embrace the tone of voice, body posture, breathing style and punctuation you’d use on just one person. You and me, here and now. If it’s not going to work for one person, why do think it will work on a crowd?          • Email to a friend •

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Facebook Post (anniversary/games-prep)

Dear Friend,

I don't think we see each other on Facebook. Actually I know that's true because I seldom post anything and equally seldom read about the lives of my friends. (I do actively use FB Messenger, by the way, and I'd be glad to be your FB friend for that purpose.)

Anyhow, I did post something at www.facebook.com/timchase.impact yesterday and I thought you'd want to see it:

This photo represents two milestones.

First, it's our anniversary. Thirty years ago we gathered in a church in Tulsa with our Lord and 240 family and friends to create together a new entity: a marriage. Today the three of us (Tim, Janet, and our Marriage) are healthy and optimistic about the future.

 
So we're on an anniversary getaway at a sweet Bed and Breakfast. That's the building in the background.

 
In the foreground are games we bought today. They're anniversary presents to ourselves (we hope some of you will also want to play with us...) but they're ALSO important because they are some of the early preparations we're making in order to move to Vietnam this fall. On our anniversary trip we bought several games to take with us--very exciting.

 
Many of you were our friends already when we first moved to Vietnam 10 years ago. We lived in Danang, a coastal city in the center of the country, and that's where we'll return for next school year.