I'm back in Davao now. To be honest, I'm not sure I like being here.
It's hard to leave a daughter in a country half a world away from where I am.
I'm sure some of this unsettledness is the start of the empty nest season as children grow and venture out on their own.
In the USA I felt better physically. I had more energy, my thyroid wasn't swollen, my joints did not ache, I was not hot and sweaty all the time. I've been in Davao now five days and already I feel hot and sweaty, my thyroid has swelled to the size where it feels like a constant pressure on my esophagus and creates a sensation of choking, my joints ache, and my energy level is way down. Part of that could be because I'm still recovering from jetlag.
The Internet is incredibly slow. The traffic is jammed. Noise is high with dogs barking, chickens crowing, loud jeepneys and motorbikes traveling.
As I state these realities of life in Davao it could sound like complaining. It's not. It's just the way things are here.
And this time of adjusting back to my host country provides yet another context to incorporate the centrality of the Gospel into my life.
He wants me to give thanks in all things (1 Thess. 5:18).
"All problems, personal or social, come from a failure to apply the gospel in a radical way, a failure to get 'in line with the truth of the gospel' (Gal. 2:14)." Tim Keller
I'm finding this path hard at the moment, but Job 23:10 assures me He knows the way I take and when He has tried me I shall come out as gold.
The way forward is in giving thanks in all things, in applying His truth to all of life.
I rest in Him.
So, I call to mind and have hope, knowing the steadfast love of my Abba never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning and His faithfulness is great. He is with Kirsten in the USA, He is with us here in Davao, He is with us in the length of time it takes obtaining of James' US Citizenship and passport.
He is my portion and my soul rests and hopes in Him. (Lamentations 3:21-26)