Two Years Outside

On August 20, 2014, after pulling an all-nighter packing our Congo shipment AND our bags for France, we got on an airplane and haven’t been back since.  Today we celebrate two years outside of our passport country.  While half of it was lived in France, where we had many of the same conveniences as in the US, it still wasn’t a familiar place.  The language, money, and culture were all different and we needed to constantly navigate those differences.  Then moving to Congo where it seems almost every piece of “normal” life is different in some way, and, well, we are rather tired.  If you haven’t lived outside of your native country, please know…it is often equal parts enjoyable and exhausting, sometimes in the same moment.  But, the exhaustion does begin to take its toll – rest is a good thing!

That being said, we are very much looking forward to beginning our first break next month!  A few months back in our passport country to rest, see family, and show our kiddos a bit of the culture that they have forgotten (or perhaps have never seen before).  Three of our four kids have spent more time outside of the US than in it, and this blows our minds and makes us want to be sure to give them the opportunity to experience as much as possible while we are stateside.  I mean, not to overwhelm them, as we are going to stick to a rest mode for this trip, in the middle of what we do best: a road trip!  (While we would love to stop everywhere and see everyone, we are sticking to family-based locations on this short trip.)

Two years is just enough time to feel the pull of something familiar and comfortable and miss so many things the most.  MAF changed their furlough policy last year to allow more families rest time and a separate long furlough for visiting supporting churches and families (more like a working time, stateside).  So, we will be back for a report in two more years, but this trip is mostly to re-up our energy and, probably, our cholesterol (because American food is terribly delicious).  So, bring on the amenities central to American life, going places where people speak English, all in the middle of a chaotic election season, and I’m pretty sure when our time stateside is up, we’ll be ready to head home.

24 days until takeoff…