The autumn air has finally become crisp. The chili bubbles in the slow cooker. And as I sit here on my sofa waiting for Michael to come for dinner before youth club and questioning where the property managers are going to show for the inspection they are now two hours late for, I guess I should take a moment and gather my thoughts.
It's a bit hard to fathom that just over a month ago I landed in Heathrow and took the bus over to Wales beginning this new chapter. There are days when I feel I'll be hopping on the next flight back to Madrid and other days when my heart aches for the ease of life in the US or even Spain, but the honest truth is there is nowhere I would rather be. I can't say I have fully found my nitch or can see clearly what God has in store. But I have never felt so at peace with where I am. So even in the moments when I feel rather silly for not knowing something that feels like it should be so natural and basic, my hearts rests that God has brought me here. Settling takes time, and roots don't grow overnight, but they will.
Before leaving for Spain I read a book about third culture kids seeing as I would working directly with TCKs there. I remember part of the book spoke of putting down roots and planting trees. Sometimes we fall into the habit of short term living, and in short term living we sometimes don't want to put down those roots because the deeper the roots go the harder it is pull them up when you leave. In a sense I've spent the last seven years in the short term. Leaving for university, back to LP, on to Spain, back to LP again, and now to Wales. This final move marks the only one where there is not an end date. But this short-term mindset I have found myself in has often caused me to not lay down roots. To not want to fully settle because the thought of pulling up those roots will hurt. It will rip, tear, and cause a bit of me to be left behind if those roots have to be uplifted.
But the fact is you have to lay down roots to thrive. You have to plant yourself, invest, and grow. My life might have been in the short term the last few years, but when I reflect back I can see what I missed by not putting down roots. And the fact is moving to Wales is not short term, it very well might be life term. But even if that changes, my heart desires to live fully. God calls me to live abundantly. And that involves roots. I want to thrive, make the most of, live intentionally, and make Christ known. I'll need roots for that.
So here is to laying down my roots in Wales. I can't fully state what that will look like yet, but I know the Creator, the Author of Life will reveal that in time. But for now, I'll trust Him to show me how.
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