Thoughts on furlough!
It's been a long time since I've written anything. I guess that's furlough for you. I think I'm actually seeing the only people who read our blog. While I know that's not true in the strict sense, it does feel a little bit like that. I'm sorry if you read our blog and we aren't seeing you in person and you feel neglected.
So I thought I'd write a little bit about my thoughts about life here in the USA. First of all, time is crawling by at a glacial pace. I think that's because a big part of us is ready to go back to the Philippines and yet we can't. but at the same time, we are enjoying being here. It's a little tricky I guess.
Our house is amazing (a house fully furnished for missionary families, provided rent free!!) Our grocery store stocks some amazing things and there are so many choices!! There is carpet and central air. Lillian walked in and said, I like our house every day for the first month!
Our internet was slow to be hooked up, our gas line got shut off one day when they were working but they didn't remember to turn it back on. It was still warm out so the only thing that was affected was cold showers. And yes we are used to that but let me just say that water comes out a whole lot colder here than it does in the Philippines!! But the gas company came out within 2 hours! Great service, then our internet was out, took them 3 days to come and they found that the gas company had cut the line. Awesome! So the service we've gotten in Davao is way better. Hmmmm I'm not sure where the tally stands. . .
We drive almost 30 min to school each way instead of walking for 5 min, so it's definitely better there. The cool nights here though are amazing! I can't even express how amazing it is to sleep with a cold breeze on my face!!! Traffic rules are nice here but there's less freedom to stretch those same rules. . .
So when I think about all the transitions and all the adjustments, well, both places feel like home. Some things are good here and bad there, and others are good there and bad here. I think life is likely easier here. It takes me hardly any time to clean up after supper (LOADING THE DISHWASHER IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!) And laundry day is only 2x a week instead of every day. Having a drier is a wonderful thing too!!
But everyone here is so busy! Things to do, places to go. It seems like Davao is friendlier, maybe part of that is that we have fewer, but closer friends. We don't have anywhere to go except school and we like to get together with people!
Maybe all this is me just reminding myself that this is not my home, yes it is comfortable and yes I like it very much. BUT it's not the place that God has called us to. Yes I'm sure I've forgotten some of the hardships of life there, but it's where we are supposed to be and honestly, it's a place we are looking forward to returning to.
Reggie misses his middle schoolers so much! He follows them all on facebook and makes sure that we all know what is going on in their lives. We are so very blessed to be able to do what we love. And no despite what people think, furlough isn't just a long extended vacation. It's hard on all of us in our own ways. M and H have struggled to find friends (although find them they have!!). L has struggled to be comfortable being apart from me, but I think we've conquered that one too. I find that I'm loving this beautiful house but miss my friends and the deep conversations we have. And Reg is enjoying working hard but misses playing with all those kids!!
So I guess we'll take the good with the bad of each place. But I'm thankful to be able to look back on our life there and be honestly excited about returning to it. There you have it! My thoughts on life in the US! Ask any questions you like and I'll try to answer them for you!! Thanks for reading!
So I thought I'd write a little bit about my thoughts about life here in the USA. First of all, time is crawling by at a glacial pace. I think that's because a big part of us is ready to go back to the Philippines and yet we can't. but at the same time, we are enjoying being here. It's a little tricky I guess.
Our house is amazing (a house fully furnished for missionary families, provided rent free!!) Our grocery store stocks some amazing things and there are so many choices!! There is carpet and central air. Lillian walked in and said, I like our house every day for the first month!
Our internet was slow to be hooked up, our gas line got shut off one day when they were working but they didn't remember to turn it back on. It was still warm out so the only thing that was affected was cold showers. And yes we are used to that but let me just say that water comes out a whole lot colder here than it does in the Philippines!! But the gas company came out within 2 hours! Great service, then our internet was out, took them 3 days to come and they found that the gas company had cut the line. Awesome! So the service we've gotten in Davao is way better. Hmmmm I'm not sure where the tally stands. . .
We drive almost 30 min to school each way instead of walking for 5 min, so it's definitely better there. The cool nights here though are amazing! I can't even express how amazing it is to sleep with a cold breeze on my face!!! Traffic rules are nice here but there's less freedom to stretch those same rules. . .
So when I think about all the transitions and all the adjustments, well, both places feel like home. Some things are good here and bad there, and others are good there and bad here. I think life is likely easier here. It takes me hardly any time to clean up after supper (LOADING THE DISHWASHER IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!) And laundry day is only 2x a week instead of every day. Having a drier is a wonderful thing too!!
But everyone here is so busy! Things to do, places to go. It seems like Davao is friendlier, maybe part of that is that we have fewer, but closer friends. We don't have anywhere to go except school and we like to get together with people!
Maybe all this is me just reminding myself that this is not my home, yes it is comfortable and yes I like it very much. BUT it's not the place that God has called us to. Yes I'm sure I've forgotten some of the hardships of life there, but it's where we are supposed to be and honestly, it's a place we are looking forward to returning to.
Reggie misses his middle schoolers so much! He follows them all on facebook and makes sure that we all know what is going on in their lives. We are so very blessed to be able to do what we love. And no despite what people think, furlough isn't just a long extended vacation. It's hard on all of us in our own ways. M and H have struggled to find friends (although find them they have!!). L has struggled to be comfortable being apart from me, but I think we've conquered that one too. I find that I'm loving this beautiful house but miss my friends and the deep conversations we have. And Reg is enjoying working hard but misses playing with all those kids!!
So I guess we'll take the good with the bad of each place. But I'm thankful to be able to look back on our life there and be honestly excited about returning to it. There you have it! My thoughts on life in the US! Ask any questions you like and I'll try to answer them for you!! Thanks for reading!
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Dad