Now that we are back in the states for a few months for furlough, we deliberately carved out some time with our immediate family and for rest as we had just concluded a pretty challenging season of training as a family. December was our "down time" month. We borrowed winter clothes, then went to see the Zoo Lights (amazing!), we went to the aquarium, we played with cousins, Dan went to I-Fly (a skydiving simulator) with his Dad and brothers, Janell went out with her sisters, and we made some fun memories with family over the Christmas holidays.
Now, since January, we have been moving at a pretty fast clip. We've met with a bunch of life groups, we were in FL for 10 days of missions conference and staff retreat with Overland Missions, we have done meals with approximately 35 families, and shared with 3 different churches. It has been a delight and the conversations have been full of meaningful connections, but I have to admit, some of it is becoming a bit of a blur too! It is truly a miracle that we have done decent at recalling the names of our supporters and friends. Ha ha!! (you have to decide if we are truly on "vacation")
All the transitions are sometimes challenging, but I think there is a GRACE from God that covers that too and we also have had pockets of rest along the way. Our kids have done super great with all the time driving in the car with us and with meeting with a million new friends. We are so thankful for them.
What I have learned along the way...
America is still "home" and is my "home culture" but I like the many ways that God has taken us down a slightly different path during our time living in Africa. There is much about my thinking now that is "African" just below the surface. I have to THINK all the time...as I am driving, I have to think carefully about which side of the road to pull into (we drive on the opposite side in Africa) and I often turn on the windshield/windscreen wipers since the blinker/indicator on our truck/bakkie in Africa is on the opposite side of the steering wheel. As you can see from the last sentence, in Africa, we say things slightly differently too and especially when we first got back to the states, I'd have to process which way to say what I was thinking.
We have different priorities now and see life through a different set of experiences after living in Africa. One simple one - we were expecting to see American families struggling more with the downturn in the economy, but honestly when we compare American families who are struggling to African families who are struggling...well, "struggling" has a vastly different definition to us now. "Comfort" has a new definition, "Holy Spirit" has a new definition after seeing God move in new and different ways than we had grown up understanding, "Thunderstorm" means something different to us after living in Johannesburg, "Hot" has a new definition after living in a tent in Zambia during a heat wave that had us between 100F-131F for most of the month...you get the idea.
This isn't a criticism, more of an observation about how my own ways of seeing the world have changed. Americans are still the most generous people on the planet and we are so grateful to so many of you for giving so faithfully to make sure that we can continue to live and work in Africa.
Our family is exceedingly blessed to be surrounded by such a generous group of friends, both in the states and in Africa. We've been blessed with clothes, with financial gifts, with an awesome truck/bakkie to borrow the whole time we are home, with meals, with encouragement and counsel from mentors, and Dan even won a season pass for snowboarding to Soldier Mt. (Too bad we are only in Idaho for 10 days!) We are so grateful for you all!
We are in the states through the last week of March and look forward to connecting with many more of you along the way.
We are sharing at Fairfield Community Church (Idaho) this Sunday the 12th, and at Summit View Church's Felida Campus (Vancouver, WA) on the 19th. Please contact us if you are interested in details for the times/locations. We'd love to see you!
