Lately my life has been rather…intense. (You know with the moving of my life to another country thing and all). I usually write with some point in mind, but for this blog post, I simply find that the pressures of this month take up so much space all I can do is talk about that.
So this month, I just want to share the reality that my wife and I are facing at this exact moment.
We currently have a lot of schoolwork/homework. Ironic, huh? We graduated a year ago, yet our homework load hasn’t ended. Training–apparently for the mission field like any other–is mostly reading and then writing your thoughts. It’s not hard, honestly sometimes it is really enjoyable, like when I understand the Gospel or the Bible better than I did before. Sometimes it is stuff I already knew, but even if I do, it is still a good refresher.
Other than homework and schoolwork, we communicate with people a lot. Lots of prayer messages, zoom calls, meetings. My social life is considerably strengthened if only because I’ve been in contact with so many people so regularly. I get to work with my wife full time, which I am very grateful for. We have to communicate about basically everything we do–not something you would wish for but edifying to our relationship nonetheless. We hang out with my wife’s family fairly often since we live close to them (not mine, sorry mom). We are really well connected at our church right now–Sunday service, weekly small group, serving when we can, etc. That’s been a blessing to us for sure.
Personally, it has been hard–exhausting has been my word choice lately. Picking up your life is not an easy process. I don’t just mean figuring out how much stuff to bring with you and what to do with the rest of it, I mean the emotional reality that everything is going to change and that that is going to take my entire attention for at least a year. I often get asked, “how do you feel?” Which isn’t really a terrible question, but it feels like one because I can’t sum up how I feel in a short response. The best one-word answer I can make is “mixed” or “much.” I am excited, don’t get me wrong, but I’m also nervous and overwhelmed.
(To end on a happy note:) Yet through all of that exhaustion and stress, I have joy. The Lord is a steady and stable constant. Our call hasn’t changed. Our plans haven’t changed. Despite the unbelievable feeling that life as I know it is going to end and life as I don’t know it is going to begin very soon, I can trust in Him and rely on Him. He will see us through, even if I contribute almost nothing to the process.
So if you plan on moving overseas yourself, know that He is the bedrock on which you can stand, the Firm Foundation which will survive the storm. Just because it doesn’t make sense to our minds doesn’t mean that He isn’t guiding it with His steady hand.