Wake me when we get there

Click on photo for credit and also a great post (in Italiano)
about Astana, Kazakhstan.

I read this post entitled Bruising Seasons at just the right moment. As we are preparing to once again jet-set off to a foreign land, my heart is heavy. My husband's new career may seem like a glamorous one but it isn't all travel to exotic land and pretending we are always on vacation. Many of the places may be wonderful to visit but difficult to live in for any length of time.
This summer we are moving to a country that people have only heard of because of a goofy movie called Borat. The information about where we are moving is limited but we are talking with people that are there currently. Learning a new language is okay, if you've been exposed to it since watching Sesame Street, like Spanish. Russian is scary. It sounds scary and it looks scary.
{Most} People do not join the missions field or the military or the foreign service to get away from their family and friends. They join because they are called by God to live a different kind of life. Not better just different. We know what it feels like to be gone and miss the important things, like weddings and new babies and funerals. We know what it feels  like to be left out because they know we can't just fly in for the weekend. We know what it feels like to wave goodbye at the airport for the ump-teenth time. We have birthdays and Christmases that last a month because of all the packages and mail delays. We feel the ache in our chests when we think that this could be the last time we see a special someone. Friends' children, niece (because there is only one) and nephews grow up so fast. And shopping in a store where you can read the labels. And leaving yet another a church family that just got to know you. I won't even talk about missing the food, oh, the food.
When my husband decided to leave the military I got very excited. I thought we could buy a house and settle down somewhere beautiful and live in the trees. I could homeschool and we could plant fruit trees and build a chicken coop. For me, that is dreamy. God has a different plan for our lives. It doesn't mean I'll never get my dream house with a chicken coop. It means that God has something bigger for us... Right now. So, I will sit up straighter. I will wipe my eyes. I will pack up my warm (rated at -40 degrees fahrenheit) fuzzy boots. And we will move wherever God wants us. Because I know His plan is greater than mine. I will not fear. I will not be anxious. I will be in the Lord and lean on Him. There is no other way.
Don't get me wrong. I don't want to sound all Negative-Nelly about our next adventure. I am excited and I know we are so blessed to even get the opportunity. I would not be happier to do it with anyone else. I have the best husband that God could ever create just for me. I just want people to know that it isn't easy to say goodbye to the life you've known and jump into a different culture. And it sure isn't easy to leave your friends and family. I am really overwhelmed right now by all that needs to be done. Thinking about the short time we have left before we pack out again... I just unpacked the last box from our last international move. Wake me up when we get there.