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| 13 years ago on a bridge in VT |
I smiled at the question and said, “No.”
“Oh..” she said, “So you’re a college student.”
For that little girl apparently those were my only two options… a mother or a college student. It happened that she was right, I was a college student, but I couldn’t help thinking of all the life stages that would come between college and motherhood that she seemed to skip over.
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| Our kids on same bridge |
That was many years ago. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like that long ago. In our time in the states we’ve seen some of our old college friends and we sort of cringe as we realize how many years ago college really was.
Then there was this weekend. We went back to our college town in Vermont. Our weekend filled up quickly as we reconnected with different people we hadn’t seen in many years. We reached out to the group on campus that we were apart of… we ate at the cafeteria with our three kids and then shared with the college students at their weekly meeting. Many things had changed. New construction, new security, new lingo to refer to places and programs. All the college kids would stare as our three little kids passed by (a rarity on campus).
At the same time many things felt completely the same. We flashed back 15 years to being in those rooms and walking those same paths. Even some of the concerns and struggles that were happening campus-wide and with individual students felt very familiar.
We shared with 4 different groups while in Vermont— including people ranging from international college students to a 90 year old Vermonter. But as it turned out, what we were sharing didn’t really change that much from group to group. It struck me how the same messages continue to teach us and challenge us no matter the time and place. God is consistent and He is moving everywhere. His message and challenge to us on the islands can resonate with anyone willing to hear it because the human condition doesn’t fundamentally change even if the weather, culture, stage of life, language, time and community are different.
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| Catching first snowflakes of the year |
PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our teammate made it safely back to Clove Island and got her visa right away with only a single set of visits to the appropriate offices! That is record time not even considering the recent tension over visas on the neighboring island. Thanks for praying! We’re thankful that Megan’s back is doing so much better— physical therapy and talking to specialists continue, but her pain is way down. We’re so thankful for our long weekend in Vermont— we got to see a bunch of people that we weren’t even expecting to see. Lots of good conversation and plus there was our first real snow!
PRAYERS REQUESTED
We feel our to-do list mounting as the weeks tick down to our scheduled return to the islands. It overwhelms us sometimes. Pray that we would be able to keep on top of our to-do list and be good stewards of our time. We just sent all our kids’ passports in for renewal— pray that we get those back in a timely manner. We’re still waiting on some options to get a second surgical opinion for Megan’s back— pray that is figured out so we can make decisions and move forward. We’re hoping to get David’s speech evaluated so we can be better equipped to help him when we return to the islands (his language is doing a lot better but he is still playing catch-up from his hearing issues). Pray for our teammate on Clove Island as she settles back into island life and language and as she looks for just the right living situation.
