Skip to main content

Road Trips & Margins


These last six weeks have been full of doing in-person care, so I have been on the road. I do love a good road trip to see new places and to meet new people. 

I was debriefings a family of with four teenagers and asked them, “How many beds do you think you’ll sleep in before heading back to their host country?” They thought for a moment and one of the teens came up with maybe 10 beds and the rest of the siblings agreed. I shared with them that in that past week, Wednesday to Wednesday, I had slept in four beds. 

 

This constant change in mobility can start to cause tiredness and possibly weariness. I use to always work steadily until it was time to go and then stress out and hurry to pack everything and leave on time. Then I would usually come back hitting the ground running. This would usually lead to weariness and not just a normal tiredness. 


As a member care caregiver, I have taught many people about planning margin around both ends of when there is travel whether one small trip, a big trip, or constant travel like when on furlough and going around to churches to share and seeing family and friends in order to have a life-giving rhythm. These last six weeks, I have been intentional in creating margin on both sides of each one of my travels which has been such a life-giving rhythm. It has given me space to be able to stay in the present and then time to pivot to the next thing in front of me to put my hand too. 


Do you intentionally create margin on both ends of your travel?

 

I am packing my suitcase once again, getting ready to provide care for two different families and this quote comes to my mind.  

 

“Packing your suitcase for a trip and packing up a life are

distinctly different. In the one, you put clothes and necessities,

in the other, you pack your heart. Exposed and

vulnerable, your heart sits in the suitcase and even

the most benign action can damage it.”

 

--Worlds Apart A Third Culture Kid Journey

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

October Newsletter

  SHANNON’S CORNER The Saga Continues… The trip to Malaysia consisted of a two-day spiritual retreat with the theme of ‘Come Away With Me’ and a six-day conference with about 230 missionaries who serve in some aspect of translating the Scriptures. One of the many people who I met was a missionary who served in Cameroon for many years and now is in a new role. As he was sharing, most his words were very negative and depressive. I encouraged him to sign up for a time of prayer and care. At the end of the retreat, this missionary shared with me that he did have a session and I could see that his whole countenance changed, and he was hopeful. His new word he used to describe where he was now is ‘delightful.’ Our time there was creating a safe space for these missionaries to have a place to share what they are struggling with and to connect with Jesus. One missionary is at a crossroads in her life. Another finds himself in the midst of betrayal. A missionary is in a new role as a caregi...
Post a Comment
Read more

September Newsletter

SHANNON’S CORNER Connect. Nurture. Grow. Thank you for your faithfulness in praying for this ministry.  Each debrief is a sacred invitation—a chance to step into someone’s story, even if only for a short stretch of the journey.  It feels a bit like being allowed to glimpse a painting still in progress.  We may not yet see the final picture, but we trust the One who promises to complete the good work He has begun until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:6). Recently, in an online debrief, the missionary shared: “ I am in a much better place since our initial meeting.  Taking the time to process my lived experience overseas and to grieve the losses, I now feel I have the capacity to move forward here in my new season of life. ” We also had the joy of walking alongside three third culture children. To see their eyes light up as their stories were received with understanding and care was priceless.  These children do not often have many who truly grasp their unique li...
Post a Comment
Read more

November Newsletter

  SHANNON’S CORNER Gratitude…Happy Thanksgiving! In the last newsletter I shared that God turns pebbles into tidal waves so have I got a story for you. I was asked to read the history of Cherry Run Camp and a piece of its history spoke loudly to me as it has impacted my family for eternity.  Around 1934 the pastor of the Rimersburg Methodist Church, Wilson R. Ross known as “Daddy Ross,” and the Men’s Bible Class took an interest in revitalizing Cherry Run Camp as it had fallen into great disrepair and deep into debt.  Fifty some years later, my dad was the pastor of Rimersburg Methodist Church, and it was at Cherry Run Camp in the 60’s where he came to know Jesus as his Savior.  The story of Cherry Run Camp is one of God’s Spirit moving across generations to form and to sustain a place which has become a spiritual home for many.  I am so, so grateful for God turning this pebble in the 1930’s into a tidal wave for eternity. A global worker from across the ocean i...
Post a Comment
Read more