Restless

I've got to start packing for real so I can stop packing in my head.

That's the preoccupation of it, I think; this over and over again sorting out of items and ideas to prepare for my fifth visit to the other side of the world. Can't forget my extra pair of glasses. Make sure to bring all the cords for the cameras. Pick up the malaria medicine..... I know the routine now, but it still takes a fair bit of coordination. I think that if I just haul down the suitcases and start throwing it all in, I might gain back a bit of room in my brain. There is, after all, a sermon to preach on Sunday, tasks to delegate for my absence, details to be sure are covered while I'm gone. Gets crowded in my head. So if I just started to actually pack, perhaps I'd have more mental real estate available.

Or maybe not. Maybe it's just part of the experience, part of the deal, when you head off for that other life God has given you. That other place where your heart feels at home in a "I'm so NOT at home" kind of way. The worlds are so different. Especially right now. Cold and dry compared to hot and humid. English compared to Thai. The place smells completely different, wild and wonderful - most of the time - and completely, completely different from here.

It's still remarkable to me that Asia has made room for me at all, really. Why would this more than middle aged white woman from Canada be welcomed as part of a young Thai family? How weird is that?

And maybe that's why I'm restless. Between two worlds, weirdly so. Amazing. When Jesus said he had come to give life abundantly, who knew it could be abundant times two?