Anything But Ordinary: Photos from Turkey

We have been warned that ordinary equates to less than or simply inferior. The truth is, life is full of the ordinary. And, life on the race can be exactly that: LIFE, just in another country and with a bunch of other random fools. 

So, the ordinary moments precisely matter most, not the top-of-the-mountain experiences, but the here and now. 

This month, we chose to let awe & wonder take residence in our hearts, refusing to let the clockwork of daily life rule us, but the joy of the Lord. 

Here’s to the ordinary and the not-so-ordinary moments from this month in Turkey. 

Note: this is a *fun photo blog*, so I made you a worship playlist to listen to while you enjoy the pretty pictures (or for my LA friends on your morning commute). Come pull up a chair, make some coffee, get comfy & enjoy!

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To be blunt, I fell in love with Turkey. Okay, I know I say that every month, but bear with me. 

We spent a couple days in Istanbul, parading around the city, bright eyed and bushy tailed. In all honesty, traveling can be enervating and leave us drained. This is month 6 (HOW?!) and we are not rookies anymore; we can navigate foreign transportation with a myriad of languages, currencies, and time tables. 

We’ve seen cities, villages, mountains & oceans; and as I pray to see the world from the Father’s perspective, these things never grow old. 

Even the bustling markets full of “same, same but different” get me excited every time. This perspective shift has made me feel like the world is so beautiful I can barely stand it. I want to be everywhere at once.

And here’s why: we get to choose to live like it’s Heaven on earth.

We get to wander through the parks, as frigid as they are, knowing that the Creator of the universe delights in us and we get to bask in His Creation.

So, we get to go to the extravagant mosques that left my jaw agape and heart enamored, like the famous Blue Mosque, utterly in awe of the Father.

We get to see the interior that left me speechless (my teammates will tell you, that’s an accomplishment), and I see His fingerprints all over it.

And then, we get to see my all time fave mosque, the Süleymaniye Mosque.

I mean SERIOUSLY, people. This life is anything but ordinary when we choose to look up and see Him.

There is radical simplicity to the evidence of His love that is around us, like the charm of Istanbul at night.

And more obvious ways to experience the Lord’s goodness: DESSERT. Duh. 

After a couple days in Istanbul, we were off (4 hours west by bus) to Gelibolu – the lil town we stayed in for the month. 

Team Cartographers is still alive & thriving (plus Jewel & Austin, the honoraries), and of course, Hannah, who I’ve been lucky enough to spend the entire race with thus far (we’re the only two still together on the race! … even our married couple was split for gender month!). 

Gelibolu is cute & quaint – I can count how many people speak English on my hand and it’s definitely the smallest town I’ve ever stayed in.

Yet somehow, I never became bored with this quirky place – it’s a hodge-podge of hipster and classic, young and old, always with some new area to explore, somewhere else the Lord’s delight leads me.

But, we all know it’s the sight of the sea that keeps my heart giddy.

Gelibolu is a cute lil port town whose claim to fame is WWI. But don’t be fooled – the water was ice cold and none of these boats left the docks.  

AND YET – our boys were crazy enough to find and jump off a random diving board (but why??) INTO the ocean – then presumably sprint through the village streets, soaking wet, in 35° weather. I am still in utter dismay that none of them became sick. 

Life around here is simply ordinary. Things as plain as dogs still get us excited, and we were greeted by sweet pups EVERYWHERE (& all the tips at our favorite coffee shop go towards doggy food for the street pups).

We drink a whole lot of Turkish coffee, which comes with a Turkish delight treat (back at it again with the sweets, be still my heart). 

And, quite possibly my favorite part of Gelibolu, the Saturday farmer’s market. Fresh veggies, fruits, cheese, bread, honey, eggs, EVERYTHING. Plus, the cheese vender luved us so much he let us “volunteer” at his stand, which looked more like sampling all his cheeses and olives than providing any tangible help.

Our ministry host was in Çanakkale, a ferry ride (from our Europe side to their Asia side #middleeast) and an hour drive away. 

Which made for a bi-weekly gloomy commute (and really just reminded me of home sweet home in Seattle)

Çanakkale is a much bigger city & I was shocked to hear they even have a Starbucks and a McDonald’s. 

We got lost in bookstores (some shelves in English?!?), Mexican food (unheard of?!), and were appalled to see women out & about (shouldn’t they stay in the home?) and stoplights (societal organization?!). 

Life in a village really does a number on ya. 

But, most things on the Race aren’t wildly different; they are ordinary except they just happen to be in another country. I still get to watch the Packers game in bed (#gopackgo), it just happens to be streaming at 2am in Turkey (and I simply need a VPN + everyone else in the house OFF the wifi).

This was also my CRIB for the week I was QUARANTINED for the flu. ‘Twas my first international hospital visit, shot in the bum (to which I fainted and retched #drama), but I managed to read three books because I could feel myself deteriorating and I wasn’t having any of it. 

Of course, our schedules (& hearts) are still set on spreading love + making Heaven crowded. For instance, our team helped create online theology lessons, raise funds to provide blankets for those displaced by the 6.8 magnitude earthquake earlier in January, and encourage the church body of locals and Iranians (see some of their stories here & here, as brilliantly told by my squadmate Sarah).

We spent a lot of time in our lil bungalow, hosting and serving our friends and neighbors (re: on feasting & fasting). We even hosted the first church service in Gelibolu in 70 years (and YUUUP I got to lead the worship).

The team started each morning with worship to claim back Holy Ground in Gelibolu, intercession for unreached people groups (thx, Joshua Project) and those in our squad/lives/community, reading a book of testimonies together (thx, World Race), and learning bits of Turkish (thx, Google Translate).

Then, we’d set out for the day seeking the Father’s will for us. 

And in the process, we made a few really good friends in Gelibolu – one of which being the owner of our favorite coffee shop who spoke some English! 

She invited us to a cooking class and we learned how to make pogaca and kisir salad (you bet I saved the recipes).

At the end of our time in Gelibolu, we passed out New Testaments to our new friends, and we continue to hold them tightly in our prayers, praying they see and reflect the Father’s love for them here on earth. 

We have big love for Turkey, and are sending big love from Turkey (from the girls). 

And the boyz.

This month felt ordinary, and yet I know living like it’s Heaven on earth is anything but ordinary. Thank you, Turkey, for everything: your inviting people, your rich history, your alluring architecture, and your big love. 

But now, we’re off to GEORGIA (the country!) for two weeks, then the whole squad is back together again (yep, it’s as chaotic as you can imagine) and then our PARENTS are coming! 

Join me in prayer: Father, thank you that a life shaped by the cross is anything but ordinary. Continue to mark us with your glory, your truth and your love and let us reflect your character with reckless abandon as citizens here on earth. When we see things as ordinary, renew our minds with your presence. And Lord, protect our parents as they travel to come see us (!!!).