There is nothing like an unexpected journey through an airport hotel, with 2 littles in tow, to make you thankful for your own home space. There is just something about travel that makes my personal home so much sweeter, every time! Maybe it’s the lack of known comforts, the lack of English speakers, or the need for flexibility, or just trying to sleep with so many new sounds textures and smells- or a 3-year-old in my bed.
Hi friends. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted over here. Like literally. We’ve been having a heat wave. I got to travel to Bali to meet up with my in laws for Christmas. It’s been a little scattered on both the departure and return side of things.
Ah but, Home never feels more real than after you’ve traveled. Thanks for sticking with me over here.
Being back home makes me so thankful to have an abundance of time to be in our own ‘home’ space daily. I can slow down finally. I can connect back to myself and my family. I forget how much hectic happens while doing the ‘new’.
I’m owning the realization that we are finally really settled here in Sentani. I thought it might never happen! Like, I have a color scheme for my kitchen, and preferences on how to decorate my table top. Friends, this has not been a part of our lives for many years.
This Christmas was our first time traveling since we arrived in Papua roughly a year and a half ago. We arrived with a 1 year old and 3 year old, so getting back on an airplane in general just didn’t seem like something we wanted to do again ever! We’ve intentionally avoided flying after some of the terrible travel we did with kids during the pandemic years.1
But we managed to get a 3 year old and 4 (almost 5) year old onto several airplanes this time around and hop several islands over to Bali for Christmas and New Years. Beaches, scenic waterfalls, quality time with grandparents… for 2 whole weeks! It was refreshing and invigorating. And oh! The food. Cheese. Chocolate. SUSHI! We ate like kings.
Upon returning though, I realized how drab our state of life had become. From clothing (hello air drying laundry) to cleaning rags (I’m not exactly sure which insect ate them?!), Tupperware, hair brushes and even the setup of our living space. Honestly, how did we acquire so much recycling in the craft area?
Really, who has been in charge over here the last month?! Oh. That’d be me.
I could blame January vibes for the urge to power purge, but I actually think it was the traveling! Seeing other people and places that have better higher (I’ll be kind to myself here) different standards, made me realize the need to re-evaluate my own belongings and space. In a good way. Because, of course I can use the towel with a hole in it. Or just repurpose that old yogurt container to hold our counter-compost things. There is so much good in up-cycling. Please hear me when I say we live by the upcycle lifestyle.
But what I saw upon our return was our dingy, lack-luster, very *well-used living space and items. It was a moment of inspiration for me. What if I could make this all new! Make some serious adjustments to better serve our purposes (and also just straight up buy the new kitchen towels. Don’t worry the old one has now been repurposed and cut up into those rags that were eaten!)
I’ve used our returning-home-energy to power-organize some important areas of our living spaces. The craft shelf, family games, new Christmas toys and even the furniture in our dinning area.
The other area I power purged…. Err. Looked closely at. Reflected on?.... Up cycled! Was our family time.
My husband and I were able to think really hard about our family mission, vision, needs and (dare I say it) goals. This feeling of being refreshed from vacation, but starting a new teaching semester stirs a desire in all of us to set out with purpose.
As cliché as it is, I like to choose a word and a verse. Notice I didn’t say “for the year”. The biggest traditional difference in goal making in my life is that my word and verse often shift through each season of my life. Rarely has that ever been a year! Our seasons often look scattered and uneven. Temporary and unexpected. Having the flexibility to name what we’re in at the current moment has been a life-line for our family. So our seasons often look like, November and December: holiday hosting season. Or June- July: summer/off school and August: the start of the school year, which for me is much more the ‘beginning of’ a year for our family.
For this next season of Semester 2, we’re calling a regrouping of sorts. Because, friends, we ran a marathon for the holidays. It was full of hosting lots of events with lots of people, attending all the special events and doing all the traditional Christmas things (gasping for air!) Then traveling for 2 weeks! Understandably, now, there needs to be a reset. So, these next few months (maybe until Easter) we are embodying the words Slow Connection. And the verses from Psalm 90. The whole Psalm echoes with a cry of our own finiteness. A nod towards the hopelessness of pursuing endeavors on our own. A realization that our own endeavors have very little staying power compared with the Almighty God.
And yet it ends with the deep desires our family is wading through right now.2
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.
We’re really weighing our limited time and resources, praying directly for joy in the midst of any circumstance and asking the Lord to guide this work we are doing. The word legacy keeps rolling around in my mind. And Connecting in a slow way with those around us is profoundly what legacy is made of.
We’ve come to some decisions about hosting. We have some new ideas on how to find (and maintain) some form of childcare for date nights. And it’s exciting to talk about our dreams for how the kids are growing old enough to do hobbies together as a family; like hiking, surfing, and cooking. Connecting, slowly. Step by hand-holding step.
One big area we seriously considered was the post-dinner, pre-bed, window of time. I recognized the need for help cleaning up after dinner, the lack of responsibility the kids had around the house and a hole of time that all family members were all together at once!
Our big shift is to include the kids in table and kitchen clean up after dinner, then move into a time of family games, an evening walk together and once a week a family meeting. And the biggest shift about this time is our mindset.
Efficiency is in our blood. (A terrible default for the toddler years.) But discipleship and training is anything but efficient. It takes time and hands-on effort to teach the 3-year-old how to carry a plate to a bobi (pig) bin and then successfully put the contents of that plate into the bin. It takes more patience than I have (on my own) to coach the 4-year-old how to wipe the table and sweep the floor and then double check that the crumbs are actually gone (before the ants find all those treasures!). It takes vision and lots of towels to teach the kids how to rinse their own plates in the sink. Let me tell you, ants move in so quickly when any kind of food is left out. I’m thankful for this help. But in the thick of it, I’m discouraged by our progress!3
Slow connection fits this goal so well because that’s just what it takes. Slow, intentional connection over the details of a job well done, a home taken care of and the love of choosing to do it together. And friends…. This is way more work than I thought it would be.
Prayers that maybe we will see the benefits of our teaching soon, but I honestly don’t know how long these habits and routines will take before there is mastery or independence. Also please pray my new kitchen towels hold up!
I’m reveling in the freshness of all this planning and goal-making. I’m praying for endurance as I still need to tackle organizing our medical drawers. And may the Lord establish the work of slowly connecting with my kids hearts as we model and teach them in this season at home.
Vacation is an experience worth having. But home is where we come back to again and again to form the habits that form our lives. Our legacy.
Ok, so apparently you can’t add foot notes to an image caption? (I learn something everyday.) But you all do need to hear about my most recent life hack with toddlers. We have exactly 4 water cups (Tervis cups) each with a different design, and there are no other drinking glasses available. Please see photo above for our designs. This means that I am no longer finding 12 drinking cups full of liquid around my house! I’m no longer running out of clean drinking water (as much). Guys, this is a serious game changer in our dishes-by-hand lifestyle. I’m praising the Lord for Tervis.
Remember that lack of feeling of home-Can we just hashtag Pandemic and call it explained? There is nothing more disconnecting than your entire world being ripped out of your control. Everyone please chant Me too, simultaneously.
We are feeling so moved by this verse it is on a card on our table as well. Just to keep it fresh on our minds, daily.
Why is parenting always harder than you think it is going to be? Is this just my pessimism? Like, how hard can it be to remember to keep water in a sink? Why don’t we please try NOT dumping the bowls of water on the counter, small one!? I’m embarrassed to tell you how many times these washing times have ended with me looking like I’ve just showered.
I love this picture of your new dining area. Was that where your living room used to be? Send me a picture of your living space now. Maybe a video of all of the spaces.
You’re amazing Rachel with how you organize things!