Ready to Go?

Surely I must be forgetting something.

We have our bags packed and are working on weighing them so they are just under our 50 pound allotment.  We're making sure they're labeled and that there are extra zip ties inside just in case they get search and need to be re-sealed.

But I must be forgetting something.

We leave tomorrow (lord-willing!!) and will spend today saying goodbye to family.  We spent a good portion of this past week traveling around and saying goodbyes to friends, but we're thankful to have almost all of our closest family here in town to visit and to say goodbye tomorrow.

But I still can't shake this nagging feeling that I'm forgetting something.

Our goal was to have some well-protected margin in our last two weeks here in St Louis.  We packed for 4-5 days straight and got a majority of it all done.  These past few days have just been finalizing the details, packing our hand baggage, etc.  It feels strange to have leftover time.  I think they call it "margin," but it's such a new concept to a type A person like me that it feels odd-- like I'm always forgetting something!  Once I'm able to shake this feeling, I'm confident that I will like this approach much better than the rush-around-like-a-chicken-with-my-head-cut-off approach... yeah, that wasn't working for me. :)

But what am I forgetting??

-JLR

Building a RAFT

If you've been around the world of missions for long, you've probably heard the term RAFT in connection with healthy transitions.  We first heard this term in our orientation and were really able to understand it more in reading Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds by David C. Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken, published by Intercultural Press. The book is an amazing resource if you have TCKs and haven't already read and memorized everything in it!

We've been using the RAFT model during this transition.  RAFT stands for:

Reconciliation

Affirmation

Farewells

Think Destination

I can summarize on my own, but since my own copy of TCK is currently packed in a box in our garage awaiting our journey back to Missouri, I will instead point to this great blog from another Member Care worker in Japan who summarizes each step very well.  

As we've been working through RAFT for this transition, I was most confused by the "Think Destination" step.  I understand that we're leaving Canada and that we need to tie up loose ends here.  But it's hard to think about whether we're preparing ourselves for Missouri or for Tanzania.  Will our RAFT last through 3 (or so) months of transitions?  Or do we build two (or more!) different RAFTs?  We've done a bit of both, but I expect that may be more confusing than it needs to be.  Surely this isn't an uncommon thing, so if anyone has any ideas, we're very open to them!  

Maybe I need to develop a HOUSE-BOAT model...

-JLR

Real Canadian?

The Canucks won the conference semi-finals today!  Woohoo!  We got to watch the game with some good friends and even learned a new bit of hockey strategy.  It was a play that doesn't come up all that often and I know I won't be able to explain it well, but it has to do with the time between when a penalty is called and when the whistle is blown to stop play.  Anyway, that's not important right now.

What would it take to become Canadian?  Apart from a Canadian passport, of course.  See, I would really love to become Canadian.  I love it here!  And I hope we get the opportunity to return to BC sometime in the future.  But even after living here for two years, I still struggle to understand what makes Canadians culturally Canadian.  Surely there's more than just being 'nice' and eating lots of back bacon and maple syrup, right?  (which I've yet to actually eat in the company of a real Canadian, by the way...)  In my mind I'm trying to pinpoint the things that make Canadians unique on a slightly deeper level than what we eat. 

My first real clue is in regard to hockey.  There is something to this sport that is so Canadian in my mind. Kids play hockey with their dads on the street in the same way American kids/dads play catch in the backyard.  Hockey is the Canadian past-time in the same way that Baseball seems to be the American past-time.

Much to think about and now a poll to anyone who reads this... what do you think makes a Canadian a Canadian?  (feel free to specify a particular province, too-- I expect there's a lot of differences according to region!  Both E/W and N/S might have many differences!)

-JLR

Diarrhea of the Mouth

Have you ever felt this way? Like any and all attempts to hold in your words were absolutely futile? I've been feeling like that a lot the past few weeks. Typically it is in relation to culture. I can't for some reason talk about the differences between cultures without imposing judgment and negativity on one side or the other... take Halloween candy, for example. Last year we were completely thrown off-guard that Halloween candy was so different here in BC. It turns out that there is more influence from the UK, so there are more Cadbury products (and other companies, maybe??) and "weird" things like CoffeeCrisp, CrispyCrunch, Wonderbar, Aero, Caramilk and Smarties (the chocolate M&M-esque kind). They're not our favorites, but not because they are inherently BAD... they're just DIFFERENT from what we grew up with. Our tastes are more accustomed to Reeses, KitKat (even the KitKats here taste different bc they are from a different chocolate company), Snickers, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, M&Ms, Hershey's, etc, etc, etc.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make (and maybe not succeeding at...) is that I don't know how to process those and other differences without imposing judgment. Most of the time I just keep it in or talk about them with a few select people who know about my lack of a filter when I'm processing externally. But is that really better? James 3 talks about the tongue as a rudder and how it directs us to where we will go. It also says that it is impossible to tame the tongue. That's probably because the tongue only exposes what is already in our hearts. Matthew 12:34-36 is pretty clear about how it is because of what is in our hearts that we say what we say. But doesn't the Sermon on the Mount take all of those things to a heart level? If we hold them in our hearts but never speak on them, is it any better? Won't they come out in some way or another? The truth is, I think part of me resents the fact that I'm always the one caught between cultures. It's hard being a cross-cultural worker and always having to fit in with the host culture. Especially when every time I give up a bit of my own culture, I fit in less in the US when we're back! Why is it always me that has to change? If I keep changing, how will I ever know who the real ME is?? It's pretty draining. But if we're going to keep living the nomadic lifestyle we're living (Canada, Tanzania, wherever), I'm going to have to get at the roots of what is causing me to have diarrhea of the mouth... and for some reason stopping it up (think verbal Immodium) is not really going to fix the real problem. :)

-JLR

Back Home

I struggle with the idea of home. There are very familiar places that feel familiar, but is that the same thing as "home"? A couple weeks ago I set out for a Member Care course that was being offered in Pennsylvania. Thanks to a busy schedule and the start of classes for Tim at TWU/CanIL, my family (Tim and Micaiah) wasn't able to come with me. So I set out by myself. The course was amazing and I learned a ton, but I missed my family. When we were finally reunited two days ago at SeaTac Airport, I couldn't have been happier! Home for me is definitely wherever those two are!

Since arriving back at our house here in Canada (we are fortunate enough to be renting the same house two years in a row!), I also feel more "at home". It is difficult to live in transition all the time, so maybe one aspect of "home" is stability and feeling like it is a place to settle and put down some roots.

The past few days have been a whirlwind for us as a family! I arrived at Seattle on Sunday and we spent the afternoon driving back to Langley and doing some shopping. My family did a good job of eating decent food while I was away, but I could tell Tim was anxious to give back the burden of meal planning and food prep. :) I'm happy to have it back, honestly, and I'm looking forward to trying some of the new recipes I've collected... not to mention the three new cookbooks I will be working through this year! Yay for More With Less, Simply in Season, and Extending the Table!!! I can't WAIT to try all the recipes!!!

In other news, we also officially started our Homeschool Kindergarten year on Monday. We're two days in and loving it! It is going so well, and I think being able to create a "desk space" for Micaiah is helping her get into it as well. She has a calendar and a schedule on the wall by her desk and I made a name sheet for the top of her desk... you know, the kind with your name printed neatly on the lined sheet with decor on the edges?? She lit up when she saw it. She was still very sad that she wouldn't get to ride a bus to school. But even if she went to a school here she wouldn't ride a bus since the elementary school is within walking distance.

Micaiah is getting so big! I know I keep saying this, but it is really hitting me hard. To make things even more real, she lost her very first tooth this afternoon. My how time flies. I remember when she got that tooth (at four months, mind you!) and I couldn't believe how fast my BABY was growing up... so much to be nostalgic about. :)

Anyway, that's about it for now. I have a few more things to blog about in the near future, so hopefully it won't be so long between posts. :)

-JLR

Camping Trip

I've been really bad about posting pictures in the past few months. Here are a few from our camping trip to Johnson's Shut-Ins State Park in SE Missouri. Micaiah was an awesome helper as we set up our tent. We went with my sister/brother-in-law and a bunch of friends, so there were plenty of friends for Micaiah to play with! The park had been flooded a few years ago and just opened up this spring. We could still see where the flash flood had gone through and destroyed so much of the beautiful landscape. If you're not sure what Shut-Ins are, it's basically a part of the river where the water gets trapped. There are lots of huge rocks with water flowing over them and pouring into small waterfalls and pools... it's basically a naturally formed waterpark! On the way home we stopped by Elephant Rocks State Park. It's very close to Johnson's Shut-Ins and is basically the large rocks without water. So much fun to climb and explore! I think this is the famous "fatman's squeeze"... fortunately we all made it though just fine. :)
Thankfully Micaiah has a little superwoman in her blood... she held up these boulders, no problem!

-JLR

Patriotism

I went to a very disturbing 4th of July church service this year. There was almost a cult-ish feel for a good portion of the service as we (well, those around us anyway) sang songs that had nothing at all to do with God. In fact until about 3/4 of the way through the service I don't even know that I heard God mentioned specifically. Thankfully the final 1/4 of the service was more God-centered and we (all of us this time) sung songs of thanksgiving to God. Before you start to think I am being unfair or unnecessarily harsh, you should know that my in-laws felt similarly uncomfortable about much of the service, and it's their church.

One of the good things about such a disturbing service is that it has had me searching Scripture, praying and thinking about what true patriotism is. How can I thank God in a way that isn't idol worship or country worship? I spend a good portion of my year(s) outside of US borders, which makes it difficult to hold the same sort of national pride as my friends and family here. But I am thankful for my country. I'm thankful for those who have served and who continue to serve today in all levels of government and military.

Have you thought of these things? How do you maintain a healthy national pride without it crossing the line into unhealthy territory? (and that does NOT only apply to Americans!!!) Tim also found this LINK from Relevant Magazine that is very insightful.

-JLR

ps... I can't wait to see the rest of the World Cup games even though the US is out... go Netherlands!!!