Home Assignment, furlough, maternity leave, oh my!
During the preparation for our trip back to the US we have had a lot of reflections and thoughts about how to spend our time in the states. One thing that we have found to be helpful is to pray over what God desires for us to accomplish or do this summer. In the "missionary community" there are a lot of words that float around. To be honest with you, it can be confusing at times. Some people will describe this season as furlough, others as home assignment, others may call it vacation and for us, maternity leave.
On our departure, we prayed over all the possibilities of things that we would "need" to accomplish while we are in the states this summer: Do we need rest and renewal? What about the delivery of baby #2 and bonding with our new baby? Do we need to learn new skills to take back with us? Do I have to do any medical licensing work requirements(CME)? How should we reconnect with friends and family? How do we need to report to our sending church and supporters? What about future missionary recruitment? Will we have more financial needs after this summer? Will we need to raise more money? How should we continue the work from Ethiopia? What medical services do we need? (like vaccines and dental visits) There are a lot of possibilities, but Adam and I thought it would be best if we could pray over what God wanted us to do to keep from feeling so overwhelmed with the possibilities.
It has been a difficult process for many reasons. We sometimes have a sense of obligation to do something. The process has involved trying to separate those feelings of obligation and pray over what God would like for us to do or learn. We then came up with a practical strategy (as much as possible) to give space for these things, to determine where to spend our time, and with whom. It has been helpful to talk about this with all our support organizations: Reality church, Christian Health service corp, St Luke's health care foundation and the hospital staff. That way we can have very clear expectations all around.
It has been very easy to feel lost in a "new" culture, with "new" homes and "new" roles. It was so helpful to identify the purpose and goals of this season of life so we can walk in it fully, without feeling quite so overburdened, guilty or stretched.
This summer we feel like God called us to have a "home assignment" where we reconnect with our supporters stateside and complete a few tasks for Soddo Christian Hospital until our little one arrives. Then when she comes, we can prioritize our immediate family and have some family bonding before we return to Ethiopia in the fall. We pray that this gives us the time, space and resources to be able to run the race.
"let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2
On our departure, we prayed over all the possibilities of things that we would "need" to accomplish while we are in the states this summer: Do we need rest and renewal? What about the delivery of baby #2 and bonding with our new baby? Do we need to learn new skills to take back with us? Do I have to do any medical licensing work requirements(CME)? How should we reconnect with friends and family? How do we need to report to our sending church and supporters? What about future missionary recruitment? Will we have more financial needs after this summer? Will we need to raise more money? How should we continue the work from Ethiopia? What medical services do we need? (like vaccines and dental visits) There are a lot of possibilities, but Adam and I thought it would be best if we could pray over what God wanted us to do to keep from feeling so overwhelmed with the possibilities.
It has been a difficult process for many reasons. We sometimes have a sense of obligation to do something. The process has involved trying to separate those feelings of obligation and pray over what God would like for us to do or learn. We then came up with a practical strategy (as much as possible) to give space for these things, to determine where to spend our time, and with whom. It has been helpful to talk about this with all our support organizations: Reality church, Christian Health service corp, St Luke's health care foundation and the hospital staff. That way we can have very clear expectations all around.
It has been very easy to feel lost in a "new" culture, with "new" homes and "new" roles. It was so helpful to identify the purpose and goals of this season of life so we can walk in it fully, without feeling quite so overburdened, guilty or stretched.
This summer we feel like God called us to have a "home assignment" where we reconnect with our supporters stateside and complete a few tasks for Soddo Christian Hospital until our little one arrives. Then when she comes, we can prioritize our immediate family and have some family bonding before we return to Ethiopia in the fall. We pray that this gives us the time, space and resources to be able to run the race.
"let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2
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