Seeing Parallels as Anticipation Builds

Every time I sit down to blog, all the thoughts that I had planned to write down vanish. It seems that there is a magical threshold that once I step out of the shower, a place where I contemplate all the boring details of my life (sometimes I even do math), I forget all the things seemed important. But I better figure it out because I've got to go pick up my mom from work in half hour.

For the last hour or so I've been sitting at a café in Lincoln, Nebraska. It's where I grew up and spent all of my childhood. Six years ago I left Lincoln and never looked back. Then eighteen months ago my mom moved back here, and now I'm here to visit. In some ways, Lincoln hasn't changed a bit. My high school still smells exactly the same, the wind still blows over the field-like grass on the side of the road, and being ten miles away means you're on "the other side of town". But thing have changed too. The people seem more diverse, there is a bike lane that cuts through downtown streets, and I've found a few excellent local places to wine and dine (last night's dinner at Bread & Cup with my best friend from elementary school for example). The city is changing and growing for the better; it's nice to be back and see its evolution.

When I was visiting my former high school on Tuesday something clicked for me. For the average onlooker, America is considered to be a "Christian" nation and Turkey is a "Muslim" nation. Lincoln Christian School was, and is still, a private K-12 school that errs on the conservative side of Christian living and education. The school where I'll be teaching this fall is similar. In Istanbul I'll be teaching at a private K-12 devout Muslim school. I'll basically be working 8-5 with a lunch break and teaching 25 hours each week. Identifying these parallels helped me to better understand what my life might be like, how I'll potentially be viewed by the students and staff around me, and what I can do to make that transition easier.

The anticipation is building as I prepare for my departure on September 5th. It's going to be drastically different from the life I've had in California or Nebraska. I'll be a full-time educator working with kids and living in a lively city rich in history, art, and booming with opportunities for new experiences. Just at the thought of living in Europe again I'm excited but more importantly being back at my home church last weekend and visiting my mom this week (with a flight to my dad's tomorrow) God is affirming me in the task he has called me to do.