A while back a Virginia friend and I were chatting about Missionary Kids (MK's) and other such stuff when she laughed and said, "Your kids aren't missionaries you know, they just live there. Guatemala is their home, not their mission field!" My friend is very wise and very good at saying just the right thing. She always has been. Even so, I had to think about her words for quite a while before they made much sense to me. I didn't leave my home and family to come sight seeing for crying out loud!
She is right though. To my children Guatemala is their home, their nationality, and all they have ever known.
My children thrive on routine. They wake up roughly at the same time EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK (weekends included- how many know what I mean?), Corban gets ready for school, eats breakfast and chats to the nanny in Spanish while waiting for the bus. Cohen has a late breakfast, gets out of his pj's, then has the whole morning to be the center of attention (either mine or the nanny's). They know that dinner time means that Papi is coming home. They know that after dinner they have time to play with Papi before bedtime. They go to bed early, and at the same time every single night.
A trip to Virginia means that suddenly their orderly world has entered into chaos. We sleep in strange beds and have no personal space. We are all in the same room, they have no toys, no privacy, no routine. They have gone from a quiet home and small family to being in the middle of other people's homes, larger families, more noise, more activity. They go from early bedtimes to different bedtimes every day.
Corban and Cohen go through culture shock as they are suddenly surrounded by English. If you have ever traveled abroad you know how disarming it can be to be surrounded by a different tongue. Our diet is drastically changed. All the foods familiar to my boys are gone and in their place is the too rich American diet. Things are done differently, modern technology confuses us all, distances between places are farther, and the list of changes goes on.
Instead of settling in somewhere in order to establish a new routine often times we are moving around. This causes sleep problems for the boys. Add to that a full schedule and busy days and we are all quickly over tired and short on patience.
Don't forget the viruses. New germs that we haven't been exposed to. New foods to cause upset tummies.
Perhaps the most difficult part is that our stable family is broken up as my husband usually returns to Guatemala after a week or so, splitting our family. The boys miss him. I do too.
When we visit a church in Virginia usually I am the guest speaker and usually my husband has already returned to Guatemala. So the boys are whisked away to classes full of strangers and instead of being able to cling to Mami for a bit of security in the midst of all this newness Mami is super busy. This causes tension. They feel it and I feel it.
And so, I see the point my friend was making. To my children Guatemala is security with a nice comfortable routine. School, church, small family, stability, familiarity. Guatemala is home. Virginia is the foreign unknown.
If you are reading this, then pray for us. As we prepare our hearts to minister in various church settings pray for God's anointing on the whole family. Pray for peace. Pray for children who will adjust quickly to the change. Pray for lots of sleep. Pray for our safety as we travel overseas and then travel around Virginia. Pray for the grace of God to abound towards us. Pray however the Lord leads you.
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| Cohen gnawing on a tortilla like any good Guatemalan baby |
