Travel time!

Someone once told me that there is a single word in the German language which encapsulates the feelings and process involved specifically in preparing to travel – the anticipation, excitement, slight anxiety, the venturing into the unknown… I haven’t had time to research or verify that word, but I was reminded of being told about it when I woke this morning. It’s 5:30am and even though I am absolutely sure my body needs more sleep than I’ve had, an hour ago sleep became elusive because of ‘that word’, well, rather, everything summed up by that word!

For the first time in over 4 years, today we are embarking on a trip back to the USA. The little girls were so young the last time we flew that they don’t remember much and oh, are they excited now that they are much more aware! We have a fair few stories from traveling with the girls over the years (many involving throw up!) – with hindsight it is easier to laugh and see the funny side, but in preparing to travel there are maybe still elements of fear and anxiety wrapped up in the memories of such stories. And maybe, just maybe, my determination that each child carry a spare set of clothes or two, along with various kinds of bags & wipes, within their own little backpacks, stems from those experiences.

Having moved house 10 days ago, with the end of the school year only days before that, with 3 round trips to Bromley (4 hours driving each time) in the last week and with all 4 girls having been sick to some degree through the last 2 weeks, it’s fair to say that we’ve been running rather relentlessly. I think there is a deep level of tiredness and we’ve not had time to really think or prepare for traveling in the way that we might have, had we not been so ‘on-the-go’, yet the familiar anticipation about the journey is here this morning, along with the excitement and anxiety about the unknown weeks ahead. Will we make it there? Have we packed what we need? How will the girls be on the long flight? Will anyone have a meltdown on the plane? Will the sickness that has been lurking, threatening, kept just at bay, catch up with William and I once we get there & slow down? So many uncertainties. And though we all face uncertainties on a daily basis, there seems to be some added dimension to them when there is the expectation and hope (& travel) of an actual holiday mixed in!

Though those questions come, the anxieties rise up, the aching tiredness seem so very real, there’s also the reminder that there is One who is greater than all that, who holds all things in His hands and who watches over us with a love and care and kindness incomparable. Last night Ruth was having trouble getting to sleep… having been in bed maybe an hour already, she got up and asked if we would read her some ‘palms’. She’s doing absolutely brilliantly with her reading but the ‘ps’ sound is not one she’s understood yet (understandably!). So I sat with her and read some psalms to her, thankful for the reminder that God is our strength, our rock, our fortress, our deliverer, our shield, the One we can find refuge in. And come what may, we’re going with Him and in Him and can trust moment by moment, whatever they hold, that He’ll give us what we need. Oh how I continually need that reminder!!

Although there is always a desire to just be at the destination without the journey to get there, I’ve learnt over the years that the journey is important. The transition, the time waiting, the sitting, the processing amidst the travel… in spite of the stories that have accompanied many of our travels in the past, there is a gratitude for the time it takes to travel to the destination. And though traveling with 4 young-ish children generally doesn’t make for a restful, peaceful travel experience, they will be confined to a seat and I’m hopeful for a little more brain space and time to reflect on the weeks that have been – the move to a new house, the goodbyes, the many changes that have happened over the last few weeks – all of which I feel like I’ve made it through ‘in the moment’ but without having time to really appreciate or process the transition.

Pray for us!! And I’ll endeavor to update you on how it went in the next blog! And thank you… we appreciate you journeying along with us from afar!