Kids in Transition

Transition: Passage from one place or state to another; change. We began the journey but for us the transition is a rather long one--four months in the Northwest, then a month in Asia, and finally our destination.

The kids know that we left our house. We said good-bye to our house and various things in the town where we lived for the past four years -- the library, the soft pretzel shop, the bagel shop, church, our friends.

It hits each of us in different ways and at different times.

It hit me when I went to a women's retreat here in the Northwest a week after we arrived and as a follow-up we were to write ourselves a letter that would me mailed in a few months -- I didn't even know my current address much less what my address will be I would be in a few months.

Miss K will ask where her Curious George book is or where is her chihuahua (I didn't know she was that attached to that stuffed animal). We tell her that those things will meet her in England. She often needs that reassurance.

J has mentioned some of the things that he misses. He misses his friends. We have spent more time talking about leaving, where we are currently and where we are going.

Some things that have helped --

1. Reassurance of why we are moving. We are following God's leading for our family. We are moving to a new place of ministry.

2. Reassurance that we are together as a family. We have worked these past months both in what we say but also how we act that we are together as a family. We try to do some of the same things that we used to do at home. Even simple things like going to the library is a fun thing to do here.

3. Listen to what the kids are saying. As we have listened, we have learned things that they miss and some of the feelings they have.

4. Talk and be intentional. Four years ago when we moved to the US, Miss K spent the first few months saying "go home." We told her we were home. We finally asked where home was and she told us "China." That was four years ago with less vocabulary and understanding. We have worked to be intentional and to look for ways to talk about how we are feeling, what we miss, and what we are looking forward to when we move. We will bring up the topic of moving and missing in conversation.

Those are just a few thoughts right now about transition. I might add more as we journey through this time.