The In-Between

Think about your last vacation or business trip. Think about all the things you had to plan before you left; details of the actual trip, what you needed to take, bills that needed to be paid while you were gone, things that needed to be purchased, people that needed to be called, clothes that needed to be washed, bags that needed to be packed, animals that needed to be cared for, last minute straightening of the house, washing of dishes, etc., etc. Then think about your return: how long does it normally take before you return to normal, where clothes are washed and returned to their proper places, your internal clock has adjusted itself, and you feel like you've settled back into the routine of being home?

I may be winning the game of Frequent Flier, but the return never seems to get any easier. It just takes me a while to come down from the intensity of my trips, no matter how many I do. It's almost as if I have to flip a switch somewhere deep inside of me.....the ON switch to ramp up the energy for a trip, so that I'm ready for the hours and days of stressful travel and meetings and listening and being with people, and very little rest time. And then I return home and have to flip the COOL OFF switch, which allows me to slowly cool down and return to being a part of life here. I still have my daily work of studying, and Skyping, and helping staff with various things, and planning the next trip, but I've also got to be fully invested in life here-which doesn't have much to do with my ministry life. My two "lives," for the most part, tend to be fairly separate, which can be difficult for me. I live here, but minister to people "over there." I live in the now, but am constantly planning for the future(upcoming travels, who I need to visit, talk with, conferences, workshops I need to get to, etc.) And because of how much I travel, I'm neither fully here, nor fully there. And I get it. I was warned about this in-between life and the challenges of it. And really, as long as I'm serving in this capacity and traveling this much, I'll always deal with this in-between life, no matter where I'm based. So this is the advice that I have for myself:  If I'm here, I need to be fully here, and when I'm there I should be fully there. I don't know how long this dual life might last, but I'm thankful to be here now, living life to the fullest, wherever here might be.

Was excited to return home from the last trip to have this awesome T waiting for me: a bike graphic done with Cyrillic letters. I love it!