Living Between Time Zones

As a missionary one thing we never get used to, though it categorizes our life, is the constant unsettled-ness, packing, and moving. We do it because it is part of the ministry that God has placed us in, but that is certainly one facet of the ministry that we don’t relish. I recall when we moved out of the village, Robyn took some shelves off the wall to bring with us to our home at the support base and that really shook one of our children. That was the home he’d grown up in and, in his mind, it needed to stay the way it was. Even though the attempt was to bring some things from home with us, it changed home—their secure space—and they did not like that.

We are now preparing for our home assignment back in the US. We will be “settling” our second son back in the States. Though a one-year home assignment sounds nice and restful, it is often anything but that. One aspect of overseas ministry is that we live our lives in multiple time zones. I’m not speaking of EST, CST, or Papua New Guinea time, but the space between years. We live in the now, the next year, and 2, 3, and even 4 years down the road; all simultaneously. It can be exhausting and even emotionally draining. Though our children are kids now, in some space in our minds, they’ve already graduated and we’re concerned for where they’ll live and how we’ll help meet their needs in that time and space that hasn’t actually happened yet. In the here-and-now, I know that I have 2 translation checks that I’ll be doing this month and in another space in my mind, I’m travelling the US to share about the ministry here and trying to make space for Robyn and me (and the kids) to go and meet our grandbaby who will be arriving in August. Even though we haven’t even left PNG yet for our home assignment, in some space in my mind, the year has already passed and I’m saying goodbye to friends and family in the States and returning to my field of service. This is the reality we live in. Wow! I didn’t expect the emotion I’m experiencing as I am putting all this on “paper”. I guess it helps me to identify more with my wife, the emotional one, as I am the task-oriented one normally just plodding on to the next “next” on the list of things to do and places to be.