It's been here almost a month. This is really happening.
We are really setting up a new life on the other side of the globe. Again.
In some ways this has been one of the hardest things I have ever done. And in other ways grace has carried us through and suddenly we are almost a month in and I quickly have forgotten all the work it has taken. So much progress has been made...
We have signed a contract to rent a flat (apartment) that we will soon call home!
We have purchased a used vehicle and are already driving all over the city.
We have scoped out and budgeted furniture and appliance purchases.
We have enrolled big kids in school and found a preschool for Lil' A.
That is truly a list to be thankful for and I do thank God! This is major progress in three weeks people. Like supernatural progress I think. And even in the midst of the HARD days with four kids at home in a borrowed apartment trying to keep up with diapers, dishes, laundry, meals, meetings, outings, shopping, Arabic language, etc... I realize that this is really happening. Life in this season with four littles can be so busy and unrelenting that often time goes by without any mental space to even think about what we are going through.
Then sometimes I get this weird feeling of perspective. I don't know how to explain in. I guess it's shocking to me that Mike and I can pray and talk briefly and then make a decision that eventually leads to us taking our four kiddos out of the familiar, comfortable, mostly happy life they have known for three years. Then we take them on a two day journey and then land in a mega-city in the Middle East and say 'Here it is! Here is your new home, okay?'
Occasionally I feel like a child myself, what am I doing make huge life-altering decision like this?!
I mean it seems like madness.
And it was just a simple decision that led us here setting up a brand new life. We hardly had to talk about it because it felt so right. A small decision led us to take one step towards a fork in the road, so we walked that way slowly and steadily and soon we have found ourselves VERY far from where we began.We find yourselves as a family of six setting up life in the Middle East, oh my!
How did that happen again?
It's also crazy how much work it is to pack up one's home into storage and fit needed/wanted belongings into 16 plastic boxes which do not exceed 50 pounds. Those boxes are then checked in for the same two day journey. Upon arrival, boxes are opened, contents are scattered, never again to fit into those 16 boxes.
Literally MONTHS of work and so many tears and so much stress and not just one fight (honesty here!) went into packing those boxes. And then we are here, boxes are opened and it's all over. Done. Finished.
It's just such a strange process.
Strange and hard. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm so grateful that we have each other. I'm also grateful for Whatsapp, iMessage, email and Facebook which truly make the world so much smaller. If only my days weren't so non-stop I could utilize them a little more. It's all a bit surreal at times. Will my children spend the rest of their growing up years in this city? What are the implications of that? Will we only make it a year? What are the implications of THAT? I have no idea and I can't think about it. I'm just excited to learn this city and it's people well like I did in Africa for seven years before. I'm excited to decorate and organize a new home. I'm excited to hear my kids start to speak Arabic. I'm excited to see my husband flourish in his work and life calling.
But I miss my old home and life and friends so so much too.
But I cannot stop this from really happening. It's so challenging. But it's so good.
We are really setting up a new life on the other side of the globe. Again.
In some ways this has been one of the hardest things I have ever done. And in other ways grace has carried us through and suddenly we are almost a month in and I quickly have forgotten all the work it has taken. So much progress has been made...
We have signed a contract to rent a flat (apartment) that we will soon call home!
We have purchased a used vehicle and are already driving all over the city.
We have scoped out and budgeted furniture and appliance purchases.
We have enrolled big kids in school and found a preschool for Lil' A.
That is truly a list to be thankful for and I do thank God! This is major progress in three weeks people. Like supernatural progress I think. And even in the midst of the HARD days with four kids at home in a borrowed apartment trying to keep up with diapers, dishes, laundry, meals, meetings, outings, shopping, Arabic language, etc... I realize that this is really happening. Life in this season with four littles can be so busy and unrelenting that often time goes by without any mental space to even think about what we are going through.
Then sometimes I get this weird feeling of perspective. I don't know how to explain in. I guess it's shocking to me that Mike and I can pray and talk briefly and then make a decision that eventually leads to us taking our four kiddos out of the familiar, comfortable, mostly happy life they have known for three years. Then we take them on a two day journey and then land in a mega-city in the Middle East and say 'Here it is! Here is your new home, okay?'
Occasionally I feel like a child myself, what am I doing make huge life-altering decision like this?!
I mean it seems like madness.
And it was just a simple decision that led us here setting up a brand new life. We hardly had to talk about it because it felt so right. A small decision led us to take one step towards a fork in the road, so we walked that way slowly and steadily and soon we have found ourselves VERY far from where we began.We find yourselves as a family of six setting up life in the Middle East, oh my!
How did that happen again?
It's also crazy how much work it is to pack up one's home into storage and fit needed/wanted belongings into 16 plastic boxes which do not exceed 50 pounds. Those boxes are then checked in for the same two day journey. Upon arrival, boxes are opened, contents are scattered, never again to fit into those 16 boxes.
Literally MONTHS of work and so many tears and so much stress and not just one fight (honesty here!) went into packing those boxes. And then we are here, boxes are opened and it's all over. Done. Finished.
It's just such a strange process.
Strange and hard. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm so grateful that we have each other. I'm also grateful for Whatsapp, iMessage, email and Facebook which truly make the world so much smaller. If only my days weren't so non-stop I could utilize them a little more. It's all a bit surreal at times. Will my children spend the rest of their growing up years in this city? What are the implications of that? Will we only make it a year? What are the implications of THAT? I have no idea and I can't think about it. I'm just excited to learn this city and it's people well like I did in Africa for seven years before. I'm excited to decorate and organize a new home. I'm excited to hear my kids start to speak Arabic. I'm excited to see my husband flourish in his work and life calling.
But I miss my old home and life and friends so so much too.
But I cannot stop this from really happening. It's so challenging. But it's so good.
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