First Weeks in LA

We started this blog to keep in touch with our friends and family who we care about oh so much and vice versa! Hopefully even though we won't see each other on a regular basis, we can still feel connected to each other's lives this way!

It has been an eventful July. The first week I (Ann) was out here, we celebrated fourth of july with one of my best friends Grace and her husband Peter, and their baby girl Abigail. Finished off the evening by watching fireworks going off at the Rose Bowl from our bedroom window! I spent two precious weeks back in Houston training my replacement. That was a humbling experience to literally hand over all my responsibilities, knowing that they would function well (if not better) without me.  The Lord was good in reminding me of His truths, esp. how my worth is not tied to my work or my paycheck.

Saying goodbye to my family was the hardest (especially the little ones!) and I tear up sometimes when I think about Maddie, Olivia, and Gabriel. Thankfully Steffy, Dan, and Tina send me pics and videos so I get my baby fix. I feel like just when I got adjusted to LA, it was time to go back to Houston. Just when I got adjusted to Houston, it was time to go back to LA (for good).

 Maddie - 4.5, Olivia 2.5, Gabriel 3 mos.

The Leung family at the FINAL farewell dinner :)

Update on Justin's Arm: We are on week 7 of the healing process. You can see that the bone has started fusing back together (not 100% straight, but the doctor said he won't be able to tell the difference). This hasn't kept Justin from assembling all the electronics in the apartment :) God really provided a great doctor (only took 3 tries!) who is giving him sound treatment. Thankfully his arm is healing well and he is in significantly less pain. That was a whole ordeal. But I learned just a taste of serving sacrficially, giving me no time to mourn the fact that I was not in Houston anymore. Justin is always in good spirits, even though he has been working a ton of hours at World Vision. Budgeting season ends September 19th, so we are just looking forward to that time when things will calm down.

Justin's arm 12 days ago

When asked: "How do you like your job at World Vision", Justin would say that it's good. It's easy to get into the weeds, like any other job, on a day-to-day basis. But when he steps back to see what he's doing all this for, he has a greater sense of purpose than he ever did with his previous jobs, which their end goal was to just make as much money as possible.Justin has been out here for 3 months already, so before he broke his arm, he was enjoying snowboarding in Mammoth, farmer's markets, and exploring LA (fave spot: Little Tokyo for obvious reasons).

Have we found a church yet? Justin and I have only visited 3 churches so far: Mosaic, Christian Assembly, and Pacific Crossroads Church (Redeemer plant). There are things we like and dislike about each one. What's weird is to be the "shopper". I hate that mentality of consumerism within the church, but it is a necessary temporary evil for the short term. I think one way to get a better feel for a church is to just serve right away. There are tons of ways the churches serve the city of LA (good sign), so we might just jump in that way. We will keep you posted though. We love you all!

Prayer Requests:

• Praise God that Justin's arm is healing well and he is sleeping through the night!
• Pray that God would be in the midst of Justin's work at Vision Fund
• Pray that Ann can discern the best way to use her time here in LA 
• Pray that God would protect Justin and Ann's marriage during this adjustment

Enjoying dinner at the Santa Monica Promenade with some friends from Texas!