Shannon's Corner

Many do not like goodbyes and do their best to avoid them because goodbyes are hard. They are emotional and painful.   It is important to have good goodbyes to bring closure to a season of life that is ending. Being intentional with your goodbyes to the people, places, and things you are leaving. Staying present with the people you are with and in your surroundings even though it is a natural tendency to pull away and start to disconnect. Be sensitive to others around you as you are not the only one grieving. Those who are left behind are grieving the loss of your presence.   A good way to remember how to say healthy goodbyes is the acronym C. A. R. C   – Closure . It is important to say goodbye to bring closure to your time and can be done through a variety of ways. Having a farewell party, meeting close friends over coffee, a meal, doing a fun activity together, visiting places that you wanted to see before leaving, visiting special places, eating foods that are sp...

  A good metaphor for finishing well is a runner in a relay race. Passing the baton needs to be intentional and precise. It’s not only how well you have run your portion of the race, but also about successfully handing the baton off to the next runner. This is a critical and intricate transition on moving forward with momentum. If you drop the baton during the handoff, you and your team are disqualified. It is never individuals that win the race – it is the team that works together and trusts each other that win the race.   The assignment in your host country is ending, and now, you are handing your ministry responsibilities to those who follow. Often this is another person. Sometimes there is no one to hand off your responsibilities in which case you must pass the baton on to the Holy Spirit to continue the work.    Closure is simply closing out your leg of the race. You have released it, and it has released you –  passing of the baton  – so that you are f...

  SHANNON’S CORNER Summertime! There was a child who was anticipating about going to summer camp because an older brother had gone and shared about the fun he experienced at camp. It seemed like it was taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r to the child because a camper had to be nine years old to be a camper. But finally, the long wait was coming to an end because the child turned nine before camp started. The suitcase was packed and ready to go two months prior to the week of camp because of the excitement and anticipation of being at camp and getting to experience all the things the older brother had talked about. If you didn’t guess already that child was me and now 39 years later, I am back at Seneca Hills as one of the guest staff facilitating one of the bible study classes. Many things have changed but the mission of Seneca, “That I may know him.” Phil 3:10a has not.  One of the concepts the campers have been learning is the “Already but not yet” during chapel. Each chapel session and du...

  On Your Mark. Get Set. Go.   A decision to leave your host country can take minutes to months to decide ‘yes' to go or ‘no' to stay. The decision may or may not be yours to make depending on the circumstances. But no matter how a decision is made, the starting block of re-entry is where you now find yourself.   Often when the decision has been made to leave your host country waves of guilt and insecurity can arise and knock you down. Leaving you to question and even doubt your decision.    "Did we make the right decision?"  "What have we done!?"  "Should we stay?"  "What are we going to do?" "What are people going to say?"   Feeling guilty and insecure can hit you and knock you over from the reactions and responses of other people about the decision made. And also from your own inner struggles with leaving friends, teammates, and ministry work.  What a heavy load to carry, friend. Don't let this become a stumbling block in...

Re-entry like being a hurdler requires patience and persistence. Remember the goal. Most global workers take the time to train and prepare when launching their cross-cultural living and ministry experience. But very few take the time to prepare and train themselves for re-entry. This may be because the global worker and even the agency and/or sending church has the belief that the global worker is coming back to familiar territory – familiar people, language, and culture.  The rub of frustration is caused from knowing what you want to do because of the familiarity, but not being able to do it because things are now different and nuanced. The result being slow progress.   A hurdler must develop a more event-specific flexibility, strength, and muscle memory which is a gradual process that takes time and is often frustrating and arduous work. It is also a process of mind training, or a re-training of the body to hurdle in the new way that you are trying to teach it and not how th...

Re-entry is a long, arduous journey. You can become bogged down and get stuck in the muck and mire and lose sight of the big picture. Knowing your why for re-entry can help you stay motivated and focused on the end goal. It requires endurance and spiritual fortitude as you persevere and become more resilient.  Visualize yourself hurdling forward into your new season of normal.  Let’s walk through the course together to see the placement and identify each known and expected hurdle leading you to the finish line. This gives your minds a mental map of the course to direct you toward and cross the finish line.  Starting Block: Deciding to Leave Hurdle #1: Finishing Well Hurdle #2: Saying Healthy Goodbyes   Hurdle #3: Rootlessness   Hurdle #4: Arriving Well   Hurdle #5: Transitional Stress   Hurdle #6: Grief & Loss   Hurdle #7: Impact on Personhood   Hurdle #8: Reintegrating & Acclimating   Hurdle #9: Purpose & Role   Hurdle ...