Once upon a time in April about 22 years ago (was it really that long ago) a very young (I had to be very young because I am still young) girl boarded a plane in the first class (I think that was the last time that I ever flew first class) for a long flight to Asia (I can’t count how many times I have been back and forth since that first flight). Let me back up and tell a bit more about that story and that memory.

After graduating from university and working for 3 1/2 years, I was asked if I would go to Asia and help do some training of the office staff. That was in December then international travel was halted for the company I was working for so I continued working in the US until April 1. It wasn’t an April Fool’s joke when I was asked if I could leave in two weeks. So in two weeks, I packed my apartment, stored my things in my parents’ basement, shopped for some luggage, packed two suitcases and set off on a journey that would change my life. That was my first trip to Asia.

It was all so new, living in a city and living in Asia. I remember for lunch the first day going to a Chinese restaurant down the alley from the office and that night I wrote in my journal that I ate at a “real Chinese restaurant.” I loved living in the city. My apartment was within walking distance to the office, I learned to ride the bus, take a taxi, order my meals all without speaking much Chinese.

That began my love affair with the Chinese people. Since then, I have lived in three different countries in Asia and traveled to numerous others. God used that experience 22 years ago to move me where he wanted me to be and to have me ready and willing to serve him. It was also in April about 7 years later when I was back in Asia that a certain young man moved there. We meet soon after he arrived but it took five years till we decided to get married.

So this week I am remembering just a bit of that first experience in Asia. My pictures from those early years are in storage. It would be fun to go back and remember the good times.