Signs

Africa...doesn't that word cause a little flicker of excitement? Does it conjure images of giraffes and elephants  traversing a dusty, weedy sahara? Do you see little shacks and big snakes? How do you feel about traditional tribal garb?

Hmm. That's interesting. The first question is easy for me to answer...yes, thinking of Africa is terribly exciting, in a clueless, curious sort of way. I've never been and really don't know what to expect upon my arrival there next year, Lord willing. I do know that Todd and I will be living in a massive, modern (to an extent) city and are unlikely to witness much in the way of wildlife or native apparel.

I'm sure there will be plenty for me to write about after Todd and I find ourselves in our new home across the globe. Life will certainly be much different in many ways then, but it's actually much different in many ways now. I've discovered over the past 10 months that missionaries take on a "missionary" lifestyle to a degree before they ever depart for the field. Allow me to paint a verbal picture...

Last fall Todd's parents invited us to move into their (mostly finished) basement in an attempt to help us save the money we were paying in rent. We accepted. I will tell you, though, that even now when someone asks where we're living, it's kind of embarrassing to say "in my in-law's basement...but they invited us!" That last part...I make sure I point that out. It never occurred to us to ask to be moochers, but it would seem that we have no problem becoming moochers when the option is made available. :) In all seriousness, it has been an incredible blessing and we are so grateful for the generosity we've been and are being shown. This is hospitality at its finest.

So that would be the first indication that we are gearing up for the mission field...we don't have a home of our own. Within that distintive we find a subclass of others:

While we are not "living out of a suitcase," we are kind of living out of a microwave. Our lovely basement apartment did not come with a kitchen, but we do have our fridge plugged in and our microwave set up on a plastic table. When I need a stove or oven, I borrow the one upstairs. It makes for a lot of back and forth sometimes, but I just think of all the extra calories I burn going up and down the stairs to make soup. Same goes for the washer and dryer situation; we just borrow Todd's parents'.

That's the second and maybe most pervasive distinctive; we borrow. The following item in the description of missionary living might explain part of why borrowing is such an important characteristic.

Before Todd and I moved out of our rental house we went through it with a huge garbage can. We would find an object, evaluate it, and decide whether or not it was something we would take to Africa. Whatever didn't make the cut got chucked. It sounds easy and it was actually an incredibly...liberating, I suppose, experience. It felt good to be able to rid our rooms of the junk we'd been accumulating. As we conducted this purge, we would, at times, come across something that gave us pause, something we thought was valuable to us either practically or sentimentally. But when these moments of weakness arose, the one of us who could be objective (as it was not our object in question) would ask the other, "are you going to take that to Africa?"

Being faced with the knowledge that there isn't much we could take with us has helped us keep our "stuff" in perspetive. That's the third distinctive; missionaries can't hold on to stuff. Not all stuff, anyway. I expect another purge will be in order when we begin packing in a couple months. Each of us may take only two suitcases plus a carry-on, and our co-workers in Africa have suggested we bring primarily clothing. Oh, there are a few things we'll still take with us; I plan to tuck my cookbooks and a couple of treasured kitchen-ish things into my suitcase, and I will of course need my camera! These, among other small items will probably make the trek with us but for the most part, I will just have to learn to let go of stuff.

The last distinctive I'll offer is hard. The logical outcomes work their way into my conversation sometimes, but I don't know if it's really sunk in completely. It's just this: missionaries leave. And not only do they leave physically, they need to leave mentally, as well. This doesn't mean they don't regularly talk with family and friends or think of the place they grew up. But it does mean that they must make their new home home. Someone who is constantly pining for what they've left behind can't really be a part of where they are now.

It's so important that we plant ourselves in our new life, and try not to be overwhelmed with what we're missing...first steps, 4-year-old birthday parties, college graduations, engagements, births.Ok, so I've thought about it. I'm sure many exciting things will happen without me here to see them, so it will be important that I remember that obedience and faithfulness are what is required of me. I'll just have to celebrate from afar and not let the distance be a cause of depression. I know, I know...easier said than done, right? Well, I can trust that the Lord, who is my Lord, will supply all my needs, and will sustain me during the times when I get so homesick it's all I can do not to get on a plane.

I have a lot to learn. I pray He will prepare me for what He's called me to do.