In Between

There is an old myth from India about a bird that lives above the stratosphere. The huma bird lives there its whole life. It never touches the ground or tree. It even lays its eggs there. It lays the egg in the sky and the egg plummets towards the ground. As it is falling, increasing in speed, the embryo with in the egg is quickly developing. It is growing beak, body, and wings. All the time the impending solid ground is growing closer and closer. At the last second, before the egg slams into the ground, it hatches. The bird sprouts its wings and takes off back into the stratosphere.

Sometimes living in another country is like being inside that egg. You want so desperately for everything to grow so that you can take flight and survive. But it takes time. There has to be that time in between where you grow and develop. You have to develop the wings in order to take off in this new world.

So we wait, knowing that when the time is right, and just before we smack face down and make a full of ourselves, God will give us those wings and we will take off. The hard part is trusting Him to provide those necessary elements for flight in the new country.

This week I have been experiencing the in between. I have been here almost a month. I have left my life in America and the people I love there. I have moved across the ocean to a new people. The people I live with, the people I work with, the people I come into contact every day are all new to me. 

I find myself in between times. Learning how to love those I have left behind from afar, and also learning how to love those I am here with. Learning how to let go of a culture I have known all my life and learning how to embrace a culture I so desperately want to get to know. There is a time in the in between where you feel exposed, unsure, and vulnerable. 

You want to find your niche in the new life and yet not loose who you were in the old one. Finding that niche is going to take time and trusting in the Lord. Figuring out exactly how to interact with the people here, learning the language, establishing friendships, all these things take time. So for the time being I am in between times.