Well, you've made it through TSA. You are at the gate. Waiting to board a 16 hour flight, the first flight of three, with your infant son. How do you feel?
Good. Tired. Ready to get this started!
What happened between waking up this morning and getting to the airport?
We woke up at 9:30 (read: 5.5 hours of sleep). I fed the baby and went to grab us some coffee while Jacob took advantage of some more sleep. It took way longer than expected packing everything up and getting it into storage and getting the luggage loaded in the car. We finished that around 5. Then we headed to Starbucks to meet with Jacob's parents who came up to send us off. The guy who was going to buy my car flaked out so our home group leaders took it to sell it for us and we left it in the Starbucks parking lot for them to get later. And then we headed to the airport!
Tell us about your efforts getting to the gate?
Well, we had 5 trunks and one duffel bag, all weighing just shy of 50 lbs. We had 3 carry-ons, 2 personal items, one hiking backpack baby carrier, the carseat, and the pack and go.
A security guard got stingy with the big rolling cart and insisted he help us, so we loaded that up except for the carrier, which James was in on Jacob's back. We asked the desk to route our six bags and pack and go (complimentary with purchase of a child's seat) all the way to Port Morseby even though this ticket only went to Sydney. One less thing to worry about! We latched all of our carry-ons together in a crazy luggage caterpillar and Jacob put a backpack on his chest, while I put one on my back and carried the carseat through security.
I'm a TSA ninja so that was a breeze. Jacob set down the carrier and removed James while I was flipping buckets, pulling out laptops, dropping bags of our 3oz fluids. I took James, went through the security check, and reassembling our luggage was as smooth and taking it apart.
You've been trying to switch to a nocturnal schedule with your 10 month old son in preparation for this huge timezone change. How did that go? What time are you planning on going to sleep tonight?
That's actually been kinda crazy. There are a lot of things to think about and juggle. One of which is the complete irrelevance of the time on the clock. What does it mean now that it's 1pm or 1am? How long have we been awake? How long until bedtime? Trying to keep feedings and, most importantly, naptimes regular is really tough. And if you don't get those nap times down, trying to stay up an extra hour each night is really difficult! And remembering that mommy and daddy need the nap times too is important! In theory, moving one timezone a night keeps jetlag away, and that's what we've been trying to do, but there's no working around the biological connection to sunlight. When it's been gone for a while, you start to get sleepy.
We, however, consistently had trouble staying asleep past 10 am which made it hard to stay up past 3 am. Last night we went down at 4. Tonight we're just playing in survival mode. Get through the 16 hour flight. Nevermind sleep schedules.
What are you going to miss most about living Stateside?
Walmart. Maybe you're a Target person or a local business owner consumer, but the convenience of knowing that, if I need something, I can go to the store and buy it... That will be missed desperately. Especially for an everyday low price.
Also Starbucks.
What are you most excited for about getting to country?
That would be a toss up between my dreams, goals, and aspirations finally coming to fruition and an Orange Mango Schweppes.... mmmm.
What are you most apprehensive about?
I don't know. There are a lot of things that I think will be frustrating and stressful but, like, a little. It's them all piling up that can dangerous. What's the thing that's going to "get me"? Well, hopefully, nothing!
You are not leaving the country fully supported or even at 90%! How does that make you feel?
Actually... optimistic! I think God wants his children, especially his missionaries, to turn to him *all the time*. My marriage is great! My kid is awesome! I don't need to fall on my knees everyday asking for the Lord to move in those relationships, but I do for money. Hopefully, what the lack of sufficient funds means is that this first term is going to be easy! If I had all the funds raised, then God would give me another reason to turn to him *all the time*, culture shock, team dynamics, etc. And, really, *this* is a "thorn in my side" I can live with. Because I know full well that God *will* provide, as he's always done. The fact that we were green-lighted to buy plane tickets in the first place without 90% is totally him opening doors! He's going to orchestrate a way for us to keep on keeping on. And all glory will be His!
How do you feel about standing on the brink of leaving for 2 and a half years?!
The same as I felt standing at the wedding altar or in the Labor and Delivery room. None of this feels real. Even now sometimes it blows my mind that I'm *married* or I'm a *mom*. Maybe it's because it's been so natural. It doesn't feel like as big of a deal as it should have been, as it was made out to be. It's just... another facet of who I am. Sometimes I try to stand back and look at the *gravity* of the situation, whether I try to think about my life as if I was 16, showing 16 year old me my life now, or trying to appreciate my life through someone else's eyes. But while 2 and a half years is a *long* time and while PNG is a very different place, it doesn't seem real. The gravity I think the situation should have feels unreal. But maybe that's because this is just natural for me too! Hopefully, right?!
About what can we pray for you specifically during your traveling time?
I have an anxiety of flying... But I can't pop a Xanax per-usual as I'm nursing my kid and he doesn't need to be drugged. (I think... I'm pretty sure.) My adrenaline spikes, my digestive system shuts down, and those little baggie you find in the pocket of the seat in front of you get used. So we need to keep my anxiety and my adrenaline down.
Fight or flight, and the only option is *gulp* ...flight...
Also pray for little blessings. Once, when a woman prayed for this for us, we found ourselves at the tapering of the plane where three seats could no longer fit, so we had two seat (no random stranger in our row) with space between the "middle" chair and the window (read: extra leg space!). It was so nice! So we regularly ask people to pray for little things that make our flights nicer.
Transitions. Most fearful: the switch between the international gate and the domestic gate at Port Moresby. I did it once as an intern in 2010 but that was a game of follow the leader. Not sort this out on your own! And we only have a 2 hour layover with customs and transferring checked luggage between our gates! Dun dun dun!
You are in Papua New Guinea. Does it feel real yet?
What a question! I mean, yes. It looks like PNG. It smells like PNG (which, in case you're wondering, is not a dig at the aroma. There's a distinct PNG sweat smell, yes. But there are a lot of other scents that make the aroma of PNG unique and memorable.) So, yes, I'm cognitively aware that I'm in Papua New Guinea and this isn't a dream.
But I've thought a lot about the preceding question of similar nature on my very long flight and I've come to this: it's anticlimactic. For 10 years, I've shed sweat, blood, and tears to get to my first term on the field. And now it's here! And that means I'm sitting on a plane for 16 hours. That is my dreams coming to fruition: sitting on a plane for 16 hours (and another for 6 and another for 1). That's it! I'm still the same person I was before. And I travel now just like I always have. So it feels no different at all. It doesn't feel like a momentous occasion.
And that's ok. Because sometimes even momentous occasions are just a blur. But my wedding wasn't about getting married and checking that off my to-do list. It was about being a wife and helper to my husband in a way that reflects Christ's relationship with the Church. And my labor and delivery wasn't for the sake of claiming I made a human being, but so that I could be a parent and do so in a way that reflects the Father's love for his children. And I didn't labor to come to Papua New Guinea for the sake of going to a cool new place. It was so I could be a missionary and model Christ who lived incarnationally to reach the lost for His glory.
I'm not suddenly a different person. But my story will be very different now. And hopefully, so will the lives of many, many others.
Mmm. That's good. Good job, self! Well, since that was so good, and you're exhausted and afraid you might actually fall out of that chair, we'll pick this up later. Which will give our readers a chance to comment with some questions that they would like to ask you. Which maybe you will get a chance to address before you're whisked off to Jungle Camp tomorrow.
1 comment:
So glad you made it! I can't think of a good question - I'm just amazed at your calm faith. And His faithfulness to you all! Hallelujah.
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