Tag: Moving

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Initial Thoughts in Senegal

We have officially been in Senegal for two weeks which seems crazy. Upon initially arriving I had a pretty bad sinus infection which eventually required antibiotics. Once starting those I recognized that I had been feeling much worse than I had realized. I am so grateful to finally feel clear-headed and able to focus on our new life in Senegal. Here is a super random compilation of initial thoughts on our move and first two weeks here:

  1. We are so thankful we took a vision trip in 2020 before deciding to move here. Even though we only visited for a week it allowed us to arrive this time and feel like we were someplace “familiar” instead of completely foreign.
  2. We are SO grateful that we spent a year living in France before moving here. The language learning is an obvious reason, although Senegalese French is *quite* different than France French, we are so happy to feel like we can at least try to communicate. Additionally, the initially shock of leaving family/friends/Midland was something we were able to process in a much more relaxed setting (Albertville) instead of amidst the shock and adjustment of life in a huge, West African city. Another plus is that grocery stores and the products in them are very similar here.
  3. Transition is hard. We’ve seen God’s hand on each of our transitions, making them so smooth. But even the smoothest transition is really hard. Packing, cleaning and preparing to leave, saying goodbyes, doing international flights with tons of baggage and two toddlers (while pregnant), arriving in a brand new culture and context…these are some of the obvious reasons transition is hard. On top of this is the tension it brings. At all times there is a level of stress and anticipation and worry that is very tiring. It’s not really surprising that I have been sick for both of our international moves. One of the hardest aspects of this tension though is the way it comes through in our kids. Desmond in particular struggles a ton right before our big moves. He can’t really communicate super well at 2 years old so he tells us he’s stressed through being very needy and sad. We noticed this before we left Michigan and saw the same thing in him before we left France. Again, this is draining on all of us! Transition is hard.
  4. Our kids LOVE Senegal. We are really enjoying it here as well, although there are a lot of things we are still figuring out and adjusting to, but our kids are just thrilled to be here. As much as they express tension before a move, they also express such relief and ease once we’re settling in a place. So far they have been in awe of the dirt road we live on, all the taxis and horses we pass as we walk in our neighborhood, riding in taxis, having bunk beds for the first time and exploring our new house. They love our teammates and our cleaning lady who comes a couple times a week. Mia already loves school and Desi isn’t upset about the first ever one on one time he and I get when she’s gone.
  5. “God is good.” “He is worthy.” “Christ is sufficient.” “His power is made perfect in my weakness.” These are mantras that I have been reciting to myself throughout the past year or so and God just keeps revealing the truth behind each of these statements over and over again. This last year in school was one of the hardest yet, but also one of the sweetest with my Lord. I have confident assurance and hopeful expectation that He is going to continue to reveal more of His goodness and worthiness this year as well as how sufficient His power is to accomplish His will, for His glory even in my weakness.

Stay tuned for another blog post with more practical, day-to-day thoughts on life in Senegal!

-Selina

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The Chief End of Man

Earlier this month we put on our first ever garage sale. As someone who is not very sentimental, I was in my element going through our house room by room and putting things into our sell pile. I was loving clearing up space in our home and making progress towards eventually getting rid of most of our things when we move to France.

One evening leading up to the sale I was going through some of Mia and Desmond’s toys. At one point Mia came over to me and started playing with one of her old toys which I had already put into the sell pile. I had a conversation with her about how she could play with the toy a little longer but then we were going to sell it. Over the next couple of days Mia repeatedly came up to me asking if we were going to sell some of her favorite toys. With each of these questions I felt a bit of sadness and guilt that we were making her part with toys that she still enjoyed and played with.

Thankfully, God brought to mind a passage from a book on parenting that I’m currently reading. In this passage the author is talking about the objectives we have for our kids. The passage goes like this, “If your objectives are anything other than ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever,’ you teach your children to function in the culture on its terms. How do we do this? We pander to their desires and wishes. We teach them to find their soul’s delight in going places and doing things. We attempt to satisfy their lust for excitement. We fill their young lives with distractions from God. We give them material things and take delight in their delight in possessions. Then we hope that somewhere down the line they will see that a life worth living is found only in knowing and serving God.”

I realized that I was taking delight in Mia’s and Desmond’s delight in their toys. On a basic level, I think this is natural and it’s good to give gifts to our kids that they will enjoy. But I also realized that I was missing a golden opportunity to point them to Jesus; to communicate to them that their toys will not satisfy them. The only thing that satisfies us is God and, therefore, the only true path to joy is seeking our Creator, rather than created things. I suspect I will be having many conversations like this over the coming months as well as over the coming years. It’s a truth I regularly need to be reminded of myself. Thankfully we serve an incredibly patient and gracious God.

– Adam

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He is Worthy

Today is July 9th. As things stand we will leave for France in less than 6 months. This has been such an interesting year of emotions. Sheer excitement that our hopes and plans for overseas work is becoming reality, deep sorrow over the short time left living in a town we love close to family and friends we cherish, uncertainty over all of the details involved with moving our family to another continent (and then doing it all again a year later), eagerness to use our remaining time in the States well – for His glory and for the eternal good of those we are in contact with here. Ultimately though I think we have experienced a peace beyond explanation amidst all those emotions as well as an ever-growing closeness to the Lord as we learn more and more what it means to surrender all to Him and trust His leading.

In particular I feel He has been giving me such encouragement through my quiet times with Him in His Word, reminding me of how infinitely good He is and how incredibly worthy He is of anything I would perceive as sacrifice in pursuit of His call on my life. May you be encouraged today to press hard after Him – He is worth everything!

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Philippians 3:7-14 “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of His resurrection and participation in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

-Selina