Top 5 things we're looking forward too and will struggle with most about the states

Top 5 Things we are looking forward to about the states: (not in any particular order)

 

1.       Recreational activities (while there are several rivers and waterfalls, there is a huge lack of organized sports. Josh is very much looking forward to organized basketball again)

2.       (Josh) Being able to utilize my experience and bring in a cross-cultural perspective into the new ministry that I’ll be working in – Youth For Christ

3.       Food (milk, ice cream, cheese, large varieties of everything!... and Starbucks!)

4.       Raising Julia near family

5.       Things being open 24/7

 

Top 5 things we will most struggle with in the states: (not in any particular order)

 

1.       Lifestyle

·         The pace of life is difficult for us – it’s so rushed

·         People have a permanent best friend called “smartphone” – the need to be in constant connection with the world/friends/facebook/twitter is foreign to us. When we’re back at Christmas this is one of the hardest things for us to be exposed to, constantly being interrupted by Mr. /Mrs. Smartphone and the divided attention by the person holding it.

2.       Having a different perspective than those around us on materialism and consumerism, and needs vs. wants

3.       Lack of community

·         We are used to and love the community that we have with Students International, coming back and not having that type of community will be really hard

4.       Quality of relationships

·         Relationships here are very intentional and everyone has time (or makes time) for everyone

·         Each day is an adventure with relationships – you never know when another incredible conversation is going to happen, but they happen frequently

·         Not really being known

5.       Hard to relate to others because of the experience and not being able to fully communicate or express this place

·         We’ve been away for 4 years in a place that few of our friends and family have seen and we’ve changed a lot as a result. Communicating who we truly are and the condition of our hearts will be something that will be very hard to do – few will “get it”