Big Changes, Big Chaos
Most of the time, things here in Malawi remain in kind of a small-chaos state. Days that feel busy and exhaust you, but at the end of the day you can't really say what you've done. Or little changes, like 75% increases at the grocery store from day to day so you spend 3 hours going to all the stores trying to find the cheapest prices which may or may not be at the same store as you found them last week.
But over the past few months, we've been looking at some actual big changes in our lives, and it's caused a bit of big chaos! For those who didn't get our June prayer letter, let me explain. The mission has asked us to transfer to Nairobi Kenya, and we have agreed! Miriam will be working as the Medical Coordinator, helping arrange for medical appointments, giving medical advice via phone, email, and Skype, and arranging for medical evacuations if necessary. Chad will be working with University students in Nairobi. It's a good fit for both of us. Plus, Kenya has a bit more to do to get away when we need to (and the fuel to get there!) and a great Christian school in town (with a school bus system!!!) for the kids. As sad as we'll be to leave our friends and our work and our lives here, we're all excited.
We'll leave Lilongwe on July 31, just under 2 months from now. We'll work for 8 months or so while Chad goes back to language school to learn Swahili (after just feeling comfortable with Chichewa!!) and Miriam learns the ropes of her job. Then we'll return to the US for a quick Stateside Assignment time from May-August 2013. Because of this crazy time-schedule, we've decided not to ship our things from Lilongwe to Malawi. It could take up to 7 months, during which time we'd have a hodge-podge of borrowed things, and then we're headed back to the States anyway. So we're selling basically everything. That's a whole other blog on it's own, the saga of selling things in Malawi! Suffice to say, we're surviving the experience, shedding only a few tears over saying good-bye to silly things like ceramic mixing bowls and my first ever leather couch! I know that most people would be pretty freaked out at the thought of starting totally over, with nothing but our clothes and a few spatulas in our suitcases! But you know, we're MKs, and us neurotic MKs like change so much that I'm actually looking forward to buying all new things. I mean, really. We've been married 14 years and most of our things (linens, towels, kitchen stuff) were wedding presents! How many people get to start all over after they actually are mature enough to know what they want and need??? When I registered for kitchen gadgets, I hardly could scramble eggs!
I digress. The point is, we've got major changes ahead of us. And as excited as everyone is, we still have 2 months here to keep on keeping on, and it's killing me not to be able to pack today. The kids are thrilled, but they're crying more than usual, clinging to us more than ever. Isaac lit his bed on fire and we had 2 foot flames filling the room with smoke in under 2 minutes. You know, little things like that to say it's not going to be all fun and games. Change, even good change, is stressful. So pray for my little ones as they process it, and pray for us big ones as we try to keep our heads on straight, too. I keep thinking of that 90's song..."Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" so we're here, grieving the loss of one beginning while biting at the bit to begin the new beginning. And it's a lot of beginnings to handle!
But over the past few months, we've been looking at some actual big changes in our lives, and it's caused a bit of big chaos! For those who didn't get our June prayer letter, let me explain. The mission has asked us to transfer to Nairobi Kenya, and we have agreed! Miriam will be working as the Medical Coordinator, helping arrange for medical appointments, giving medical advice via phone, email, and Skype, and arranging for medical evacuations if necessary. Chad will be working with University students in Nairobi. It's a good fit for both of us. Plus, Kenya has a bit more to do to get away when we need to (and the fuel to get there!) and a great Christian school in town (with a school bus system!!!) for the kids. As sad as we'll be to leave our friends and our work and our lives here, we're all excited.
We'll leave Lilongwe on July 31, just under 2 months from now. We'll work for 8 months or so while Chad goes back to language school to learn Swahili (after just feeling comfortable with Chichewa!!) and Miriam learns the ropes of her job. Then we'll return to the US for a quick Stateside Assignment time from May-August 2013. Because of this crazy time-schedule, we've decided not to ship our things from Lilongwe to Malawi. It could take up to 7 months, during which time we'd have a hodge-podge of borrowed things, and then we're headed back to the States anyway. So we're selling basically everything. That's a whole other blog on it's own, the saga of selling things in Malawi! Suffice to say, we're surviving the experience, shedding only a few tears over saying good-bye to silly things like ceramic mixing bowls and my first ever leather couch! I know that most people would be pretty freaked out at the thought of starting totally over, with nothing but our clothes and a few spatulas in our suitcases! But you know, we're MKs, and us neurotic MKs like change so much that I'm actually looking forward to buying all new things. I mean, really. We've been married 14 years and most of our things (linens, towels, kitchen stuff) were wedding presents! How many people get to start all over after they actually are mature enough to know what they want and need??? When I registered for kitchen gadgets, I hardly could scramble eggs!
I digress. The point is, we've got major changes ahead of us. And as excited as everyone is, we still have 2 months here to keep on keeping on, and it's killing me not to be able to pack today. The kids are thrilled, but they're crying more than usual, clinging to us more than ever. Isaac lit his bed on fire and we had 2 foot flames filling the room with smoke in under 2 minutes. You know, little things like that to say it's not going to be all fun and games. Change, even good change, is stressful. So pray for my little ones as they process it, and pray for us big ones as we try to keep our heads on straight, too. I keep thinking of that 90's song..."Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" so we're here, grieving the loss of one beginning while biting at the bit to begin the new beginning. And it's a lot of beginnings to handle!
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