I’ve been thinking lately about the amount of energy it takes living in another country.  You might not think so until you actually have to live some where else, but it does.  This hit home to me last week when the team from Atlanta left to go back to the States.  I didn’t realize how nice it was to be able to understand everything and say anything I wanted, without any effort, in English!

It seems very easy to become drained because of the amount of effort that it takes to live here.  Not at all that life is difficult in the Third World country sense, but just the fact that we can’t read the language very well or understand what is going on can make things stressful.  I have noticed that as the newness of being here starts to wear off and as we start to realize how much we don’t know, a deep sort of tiredness settles in.  It’s the kind where a cup of coffee or an extra hour of sleep don’t seem to make a difference.

Now granted, I knew that it would be tricky adjusting to another culture.  I knew that stress would very much be a part of my life.  To be honest, I am okay with this – the process of going through cultural adjustment and all the ups and downs that come with it is fine with me.  I know I need to go through this to experience growth and that it is a very natural part of life overseas.  With all this in mind, it is nonetheless tiresome.

In thinking about these things I am reminded of how crucial it is that I make time to get away.  Whether it be to go to the park and exercise, to have my devotional time, to just read for fun, I am reminded of the need to separate myself at times.  God has blessed me with ways to do this.  Amongst other things, we have a huge, gorgeous park nearby (and I’m not exaggerating), Colby and I have found a place that rents DVDs for a great price, and I have been blessed with various books to read for fun.  I think this concept of ‘getting away’ will prove to be one of the vital things to Colby and my longevity here.

Please pray for us as we press on.  Pray that our strength would come from God and that we would be rejuvenated and refreshed by Him.  Pray also that we would take adequate time to ‘get away’.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 26th, 2009 at 3:51 pm and is filed under Life in Cross-Cultural Ministry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.