The Transition Jitters of a Globe Trotter

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Morobe Province on the way to Lae, Papua New Guinea 2022

There’s something about moving back and forth across the globe every few years that makes a person feel pretty vulnerable. You surrender your job, your house, your keys, your friends and rhythms and you feel, somehow, that you’ve surrendered your identity as well. You’re bare and defenseless with nothing but your suitcases and a flimsy plan that can go bottom up at the slightest provocation until you reach the other end of what a friend of mine calls “the travel tunnel”. 

A friend asked me today how I was feeling about going to the USA for furlough, and about my experiences with God or friends right now. I launched into my long list of to-dos that were done or not done, work tasks, ministry wrap ups, etc… Then she asked me, “but how are you feeling?” That pulled me up short. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m pretty task oriented. Often, when I’m in a season of transition like this I like to keep the door between me and my emotions firmly shut. I know if I open that door it may very well be a floodgate that I can’t turn off afterwards and would better have been left untouched until a more opportune time. 

However, I also realized that I wasn’t slowing down to hear God’s voice in this very specific season he has me in right now. So, when I came home, I turned off my cell phone, closed the curtains, and just sat in the quiet of my wonderful home. I listened to the birds, and the laughter of the kids on the playground nearby. I was truly still and undistracted, for probably the first time in weeks.

I thought about God’s goodness and faithfulness in this field term and how grateful I was for His miraculous work. He gave me a home. He’d filled my life with friends and “family”. He gave me seeds to plant, lives to water, and allowed me to see the buds of fruit yet to come in people’s hearts, journeys and work. He’s let me be a part of saving lives or helping people grieve well. He’s helped me to teach, and He’s taught me even more. This term has been jam packed with work and ministry and relationships, and God’s hand has been quietly working in all of it. Slowing down helped me to see the thread of His goodness in all of it and to help me to refocus on Him and His purpose in the next few weeks as I transition back to the USA for a quick furlough before returning here. 

So, as I pack and clean, return keys and start to get the uncomfortable feeling of being exposed and shiftless, I will remember that though my location on the globe may change from time to time, my God doesn’t change and He is my ultimate identity that can neither be shaken or removed. That’s true in transition or times of being established and won’t change no matter where I am in the world.

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