What America Are We In?

"What America are we in, Mom?" Reni asked.

It took me a minute to understand his question before I answered, "North."

"Oh.  Bummer. Timmy lives in South America.  It's too far to drive to his house, isn't it?"

The first two weeks of this month found us at a series of meetings with the leadership and senior or emerging leading missionaries of our sending agency.

While Nathan and I enjoyed times of discussion, the kids have enjoyed special time with their fellow mission 'cousins'.  They soaked it up and fell asleep hard each night!

One of the "yay duck/yuck duck" (pair o' ducks = parodox) realities for our kids is that some of their best friends live on different continents. This is beautiful and painful at the same time.  They can boast of friends in South America, but who knows when/if they will have get to see these same friends' Lego collection or explore their back yard.

Likewise seeing one special set of friends in North America means leaving another set of special friends behind in Europe.  And knowing that time is limited, it's nothing short of astounding at how quickly they jump into connection with each other... But such is life for children like ours who hop between cultures back and forth like some folks cross state lines.

The trick is learning the 'rules'...

Rules that most kids learn through months and years of playground time which our kids have to cram into a few meaningful get-togethers each year with peers of their heart language group. 

So we're spending a lot of time this summer explaining rules of social etiquette I took for granted -- ways of expressing ourselves that are acceptable in some contexts but not another, or which we've never had the opportunity to practice.

So while the 'goodbyes' are hard, there is the hope of reunion some day, and the growth and richness that comes from an expanding group of friends of different backgrounds and walks of life.  For Ellie and Reni, the world is definitely shrinking.