Wonder and Wander

Our travel is really divided up into three main chunks– six weeks based on Spain, working with strawberry field trials and evaluations, three and a half months in Bordeaux for genetics work, and a month-ish of travel in between.

The first leg is over, and it’s amazing how quickly the time is flying. I’m taking stock, trying to cement in my mind and heart all that we have experienced. It’s a whirlwind of sights and sounds and predicaments and conversations, and I need to slow it all down enough to take hold of it.

So, life lessons from Spain, UK, Morocco, and our first leg!

Roll with the punches – We screwed up our flight from London to Seville ($$ouch$$). Ever left her purse behind (rescued by Mamen later). One Kindle is still in process of being (hopefully) rescued. We get lost, we run late, we can’t figure out washing machines, kids have conflicts and parents get grumpy. Chronic illness strikes at very inconvenient times. This is like normal life, but intensified– Vance and I have to respond with a deep breath, patience, and a willingness to work out the kinks. Then we need grace to teach our kids the same. We just never know what’s coming next, but if Jesus is truly our true home and abundance and peace, then everything else is expendable.

Transitions are emotional — I knew this, but apparently the lesson needed repeating, this time x5. Leaving friends and family and home behind for the great unknown adventure is exciting, yes, but also hard. When Vance was hitting a health wall for the first week, and plans started shifting, it was easy for me to give into doubt and only partially-rational fears. The kids did well, but the new normal of living every.second.together had real challenges. We needed long-range vision, confidence that we were just going through a stage. Of course it was– but it just didn’t feel that way.

Transitions take time— I was planning on jumping right into my personal goals for the trip. Writing! Innovative teaching! Fitness! Lots of focused individual time with all my people! After all, I would have so much time! Well, I did, but most of it got swallowed up somehow in learning how to navigate everyday life. I had to learn to be kind to myself–and everyone else–and reshape my goals to reality.

Slow down to see–Our life here feels about 10000 times more relaxed than real life, at least as far as schedules are concerned. I don’t think it would be healthy for us to make this permanent, but I am incredibly grateful for the pause. I need it, because there is a pace of development and change right in front of me that I need to see and enjoy and adjust to, namely, my children. I’m increasingly aware that we are hurtling toward adolescence and independence and adulthood. But there are a lot of things we need to teach and talk about and experience before we get there, and I’m going to be more proactive and intentional if I’m not trying to fit in major conversations with my kids in the cracks in our normal schedule. Here, I have no excuse not to sit up, pay attention, and pray for direction in how to parent this new, exciting and exhausting stage.

We need spiritual community–We aren’t made to thrive spiritually on our own, and I realize that more intensely when we are away. Yes, we’ve had great family time, and yes, the Holy Spirit is with me, teaching and helping me. But I am more vulnerable on my own, I can feel it. I need the encouragement of someone else’s experience with God to spur me on. It makes me grateful for modern communication, but even more so, grateful for the community of faith that holds on to me.

Hard things can be the best things–I am learning not to depend too much on my first emotional reactions. I like adventure, sure, but I also like routine and staying safe and taking the easy way. I honestly often don’t feel like figuring out a new metro, or not understanding a new language, or getting lost. But I’m almost always glad I did. I think my Spanish had made a real improvement, mostly because kept failing and making a fool of myself. I didn’t want to at first, but then it somehow became fun, and I learned so much more. Good things usually require a little investment, which means I need to push through that crust of intimidation.

Food is fun–One of my favorite ways to experience a culture is through food, and we’ve loved doing that as a family. It’s amazing how different cultures are on things so fundamental as eating. We’ve become olive oil fanatics–we went through about a liter of olive oil a week on Spain, and I don’t see us slowing down there. We loved the abundance of fresh fish in Spain. My kids slowly warmed up to jamón, but Saturday churros needed no introduction. I also love the relaxed, family-style, tapas tradition. It’s so much easier to get something everyone likes when sharing a bunch of little plates. And I am a big fan of the hands-off waiters. It makes for a relaxing meal when no one is trying to get you the bill and another customer to your table. Meals are relaxing, connecting times, and that makes everything taste better

Here’s to the next leg, and more lessons along the way.