There and Back Again - An Unexpected Journey
Outside of Thurso - looking out over the fields, across Dunnet Bay, with Dunnet Head in the background and the Orkney Islands beyond that. |
In the
movie, “The Hobbit,” Gandolf is trying to convince Bilbo to go on a journey.
Bilbo is completely resistant and his response is, “We are plain, quiet folk and
have no use for adventures. Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things! Make you
late for dinner!” Gandolf goes on to woo Bilbo by saying, “You’ll have a tale
or two of your own to tell when you come back. And if you do, you’ll not be the
same.”
Unlike Bilbo, Mike and I were eager to go on a journey and have an adventure.
Like him, we did return
with a tale or two.
And we are
not the same.
I am often
unaware of how things in my life are strung together until I look back on them.
You know that saying, “Looking back
gives you 20/20 vision” ? That is
how I am able to see how God worked through circumstances and experiences to prepare
me for my time in Scotland.
Through studying the Bible over the past 20 years, I have been learning who God is and how He works in my life. I have learned that God equips those He calls. That means when He calls me to do
something, even if I don’t currently have the resources or skills to actually
do it, God will equip me for it as I need it.
Now,
sometimes (read that as ‘often’) when God has called me to do something, I’ve
been resistant. Reluctant. And I could give many examples of that. However,
unlike those times, this call to move to Scotland was met with excitement.
I did not-
and still do not know fully – what God’s purpose was for moving us there, but I
know God does not waste anything. He uses all of my experiences to prepare me
for His future plans.
What I DO
know, is that God DID prepare me in many ways.
As soon as
the opportunity of Scotland was offered, I began to pray for the answer about
whether or not we were to go (trying all
the while not to be anxious about it and also not to get too excited about the
possibility). And then once the move was definite, I began to pray ahead. I
prayed things like, “Prepare me for
this move.” “Prepare me for the new
friends I will make.” “Prepare my new friends for me.” “Guide us to a bible-teaching
church.”
Although I was
excited about going, I had a big fear of being lonely – like the loneliness like
I experienced when I first moved to Richland 20 years ago.
In 1998, we
moved from Virginia, where we had lived for 7 years and where 2 of our 3
children were born. Our neighbors were our friends and our children and theirs
were playmates. Our friends had watched and helped our children to grow and
were people I could call on and depend on. We were known. Also, Virginia was GREEN and had lots and lots of TREES (we had 36
skinny pine trees in our 1/3 acre back yard!) Virginia had PROPER rain AND
thunder showers. The houses all had porches that people actually sat on while visiting with neighbors or watching the kids play. These things
are all important to me and are sources of joy.
This is Albertson's. It is the grocery store nearest my home. I could walk there in 10 minutes. But instead, I drive. I miss Thurso where I had to walk everywhere. And didn't even mind. |
You see, I
had lived many years of my life in Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas is in the
middle of the desert. It is hot and dry. Nothing grows if it is not watered. It
is a land of cement. Cement walls and rock yards. It is so hot in the summer
that you MUST have air conditioning. (It was 114 degrees the day we got married
in June and the air conditioning went out in the church the day before. (That’s
45 C for my UK friends) Imagine that!)
It rains very infrequently in Las Vegas, and when it does, it floods, because the ground
is so dry that it cannot absorb the water fast enough.
When I married and moved away from Las Vegas, I never had any desire to ever live in the desert again. So when we moved to Virginia in
1991, I was ecstatic! Within the hour of
arriving in Newport News, there was a tremendous crack of lightening and then
the rain came down in buckets! In spite
of the high humidity (which, I believe to be Virginia’s only weakness), it has
been my favorite place to live.
This is the edge of town. Rattlesnake Mountain is in the background. The Tri Cities is in a desert. What you are seeing is sagebrush - a desert plant. |
But in 1998,
Mike retired from the US Navy, took a job here at the Hanford Site, and moved
our family across the country. Back to a desert. To another place where things
are only green if they are watered. There are only trees here where trees have
been planted. It is another place that gets very little rain. In fact, we lived here for
10 months before we even heard thunder – and then, it woke us up and we
listened to it cracking far away.
I had told Mike that his job satisfaction was
the most important thing. I would make friends and make a home no matter where
we lived. But the
desert? Really? (What was that about, God?)
Moving to Washington was a HUGE challenge for me. Kathryn was 7 (2nd
grade), Bryan was 5 (kindergarten) and Emily was 2. Mike had work to go to
every day. At his work were people to talk to and a job to do. The kids had school. I had nothing. I had no
friends. We searched for 3 months for a church home. I would look out of my kitchen window at the large, dry, empty, brown desert mountain behind our house and cry. I would strain my eyes to see something moving on it, which never happened. My job was to be a mom and
a wife, but I was so lonely. I had moved from a place where we were known to a
place where I could go ANYWHERE and know I would not see a single person I
knew. The phone never rang.
It took 9 months for
me to hear God say to me, “Bloom where I have planted you.” And so little by little, I did bloom here
in the desert. And now it has been our home for 20 years.
Fountain drinks. Self-serve fountain drinks. With ice. This is what America is made of. |
Moving to
Scotland, I had that same fear. I feared I would be lonely, with not enough to
do to fill my days. When we moved to Washington, I at least had the children and the routine that children bring. But in Scotland, I wondered what my reason would be for getting up every
day. I packed books and magazines to
read thre and I planned to do some organizing of computerized pictures and other such things, but I knew I
needed to be able to sew. Mike understood that and he lovingly allowed me to take
as much of my fabric and accessories as I wanted – including my brand-new long
arm machine, Daisy.
The thing I
didn’t know was that not only could I live
somewhere besides Richland, where I was surrounded by long-time friends – but
that I could actually thrive.
But God knew. God had a plan. A plan for
me. A plan for us. Let me just say right up front that God DID go before me/us,
He DID prepare and equip me/us, and He PROVIDED for me/us above and beyond what
we could ever have imagined! That is my
God. He is so good.
Firstly, He took us to a green, green land,
filled with sheep and cows . And farmland with rich, dark soil. He took us to the
ocean with its ever-changing tides and movement, and to clean white beaches and
steep cliffs. He took us to a place that felt alive with sights and colors and
smells. It was very life-giving just to breathe the air.
I was NEVER
lonely. I was NEVER homesick. I NEVER felt like I needed to go home. I was NEVER in want. My days were filled with
friends and projects and activities - so
much so that I did not read a single book I took with me! And so much so that
just the opposite was true. Most of the time, there were not enough hours in
each day to do all the things I wanted to do!
How unbelievable is that?
God immediately gave me a wonderful support
group of ex-patriots who got together for dinners and to play games. (God even provided
us with people who like to play games!!) He gave me a small group of women who walked every
week day. He gave me fellow quilters - a lovely bunch of ladies - who invited
me into their group and then graciously allowed me to become one of them. He
led us to a small, bible-teaching church (and only a 20-second walk from our apartment!!)
and warm, loving people there who embraced us. He gave Mike not one, but TWO
golf courses to golf on and friends to golf with. And He provided dance lessons
and another whole group of friends through dancing. And SO much more.
One of our
cherished blessings was the Bible study we did together. While Mike and I have
both participated in BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) individually in men’s and
women’s groups for many years, we took this opportunity to do it together in
our own way. Mike and I did our own
individual study and met weekly to pray together, read God’s word aloud to each
other, and discuss our responses to our study. We so enjoyed the intimacy that
that time created. It blessed us immensely and is one of our ‘take-aways.’ We
have made it a priority to continue this together at home.
Another popular coffee company here. Notice there are TWO drive-thru windows - one on each side of the building! This is not abnormal here. |
We lived
life more simply. Our apartment came furnished with furniture, bedding, towels
and kitchenware, so we took a minimum number of things with us. In fact, probably
80% of the things we shipped were my sewing things, with 18% being clothing,
and about 2% of small personal items to make the apartment feel like it was
ours - a couple of table runners, 2 bed quilts, and a couple of throw blankets
I had made. We learned that we did not need
all the ‘stuff’ we left behind. And we
didn’t really miss it. (Well, I really didn’t NEED all my fabric, but it sure
gave me a lot of comfort to take it.)
Salads. A meal in itself here. I missed salads like this. |
We lived
life at a slower pace. Never in our married life was Mike ever home to eat
breakfast with the kids on a work day. He was usually gone by 6 am for his 45-minute
commute to work and arrived home about 6 pm, walking in just in time to sit
down to supper. And in the past handful of years, Mike has worked 4-10’s which
means he worked 10 hour days Monday through Thursday, getting every Friday off.
Of course, the 3-day weekends were lovely, but during the week, Mike would
need to go to bed by 8:30 so that he could wake at 4 am and be out the door,
and then get home at 6.
Living in Thurso allowed us to experience life
differently. Because Dounreay was only 10 miles out of town and the work day
did not start until 8 am, we both went to bed at 10 pm and awoke at 6 am. We
would sit together in our ‘room with a view,’ drink our coffee and look at Facebook
and/or read emails, and sometimes have a conversation. After an hour of that
every morning, Mike would leave for work at 7:20 and get home at 5. (He started
showing up about 4:30 this fall and he finally ‘fessed up that he was coming straight
home on these days. Apparently, he usually stopped to hit a bucket of balls on his way home,
which is why he was getting home at 5! LOL) Working those kinds of hours meant that
Mike had the energy and opportunity to do things in the evenings, which enabled us to take
dance classes.
We danced –
another unexpected blessing! We have taken
a handful of dance classes in the past but not very successfully. Steve, our
dance instructor in Thurso, was very effective at teaching the LEADS. And,
while it was difficult in the beginning, Mike started to ‘get’ it and suddenly
dancing was enjoyable and something we both wanted to do! We ended up learning “Modern
Jive,” “Smooth Waltz” and just started learning “Salsa” this fall. We made a
lot of friends through dancing and had so much fun at the monthly “Live Jive”
dances.
This is the pizza I missed while I was away |
I wrote a
blog. I had no idea I could do it or
that I would enjoy it so much. I certainly
had no idea that I would have so much to write about! (This post is #70!!) Before we left the
states, a couple of people suggested I start one, but I was never good at
keeping a daily diary (for my Scottish friends, a ‘diary’ is a personal reflection
that you might write in every day. For my American friends, the Scottish use
the word ‘diary’ to mean a personal calendar). I didn’t think I would be very
faithful at writing. But my young friend, Debby, encouraged me by taking
off the pressure when she said I only needed to write when I had something to
say. She is the one who helped me set up the formatting for it and got me
started. And what a blessing THAT turned out to be! It was a way to communicate all that we were
experiencing with lots of people. AND it was a way for me to record our
adventures for my own memory. And who knew so many people would want to read
it??? I was often encouraged by people
telling me how much they enjoyed reading it.
And then, it was completely unexpected that I would make Scottish
friends who would also read it. I had
more than one Scottish friend tell me that reading my blog often helped them
see themselves from another perspective.
We traveled.
As I have written on many occasions, I have had travel anxiety. I have always liked the IDEA
of traveling. But I would get anxiety about it and often overwhelmed by
planning it. The only reason we ever
went to Alaska, Hawaii and Mexico was because Mike took over the planning and
made them happen. And they were wonderful trips. But not without anxiety on my
part.
I believe
God prepared me for travel in Europe in several ways. In June of 2016, I got a
good cell phone that I could access the internet with (and had a good camera
and storage space!!) In July that summer, my friend Glenda and I took a trip to
Florida to help our friend Amy where she works at Wycliff Headquarters. On the
return trip, I found I needed to go to my mom’s and flew there within 2 days. I
had opportunity to use and learn the new phone features I had – like Mapquest. That fall, Glenda, Steve, Mike and I went to
New York City for 5 days. THAT was a bucket list item. I was really nervous
about it, but it turned out to be a FANTASTIC
trip with no trouble at all. And in spite of my fears, I was never
afraid in NYC – not even when we were walking the side streets of Manhattan at 11:30 pm. That trip had a
significant impact on me.
Stop signs are noticeably missing in Scotland |
The next one
that impacted me significantly came in January 2017. I was asked to return to Wycliff Headquarters
to again help my friend Amy. However, this time, I would travel alone and I
would spend most of the time there alone. I was concerned on many levels (loneliness being a big one). But I
felt God was calling me to go and so I placed all my anxieties on Him – and He
provided in ways I could not have imagined. It was during this time away that
Mike was asked if he would go to Scotland.
If you have read
many of my blog posts, you will recall that many of them had to do with travel.
God again provided for me in so many specific ways. I wrote down the details of them
even though I didn’t publish all of them. And while I could write pages and
pages about it, I will summarize by saying God gave me courage. He helped me
think clearly when travel was confusing. He helped me gain confidence in my
ability to plan and think through tons of details. And He helped me let go of
much of my fear. In the end, I was able
to plan a trip to Norway with my Mom, to Ireland with Kathryn and to navigate there and back safely and
confidently (even with some travel hiccups that occurred). I was even able to take trip to Worster,
England - alone. I traveled alone and I stayed alone in hotel rooms
for 3 nights. And it was all good. (That was a big deal for me.)
Not a good picture of the Tri Cities, but it shows part of one of the 3 rivers |
Even though I’ve
taken a lot of space to say all these things, there is so much more I could
say. I loved learning about different cultures. I loved being a part of a different
culture – not just visiting it. I have been stretched and I have grown (you
will have seen evidence of some of those stretch marks in some of my posts).
Mike and I can’t
tell of one negative thing about our time away. It was only blessing upon
blessing.
Like Bilbo
in “The Hobbit,” we took an unexpected journey and we have not returned as the same
people who left. We have been changed. And we like it.
Not my picture - but it shows the vineyards that fill this valley and Rattlesnake Mountain in the distance, which has the honor of being the highest, treeless mountain in the US. |
If you have
managed to read all the way to this point, I applaud you. There were very few
pictures to put in this one. (I always preferred books with pictures, didn’t
you?)
And I want
to thank you. Thank you for reading our posts. Thank you for going on this journey
with us – for letting us share our experiences with you. To those who wrote
encouraging messages or even just shouted out, “I’ve enjoyed reading your blog,”
– Thank you! It was so much fun to write
these knowing that people were reading them.
Many people
have suggested I continue writing, but I really can’t see what I would have to
say about my ordinary life here in Washington.
But if God should call us on another adventure, I will surely invite you along.
This sign was posted in the Wolfburn Distillery in Thurso |
Thank you so much, Jodi. I have loved your blog. It makes me sad thinking that it will be coming to an end. Perhaps your blog in Scotland was preparing your for a blog in the US! I think that you might find many things to think about and share about. Thank you again for sharing your adventure with us. It was delightful to be alongside you.
ReplyDelete-Carolyn L
Your 'ordinary life' in Washington could be just as adventurous as your time in Thurso. You just need to package it with the same enthusiasm! Life is what you make of it. What you make of it depends on your attitude. Your attitude depends on your outlook. So look up, and all can be better!
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