Reality Check

Lately I’ve found myself saying this phrase quite a lot: “Well, I guess it’s time to get back to reality”. I say it when I’m leaving a hotel, when I get off a plane, or when I’ve had a surreal experience in a foreign city. But, I’ve come to understand that this is my new reality now. And the times that I think I’m living in some dream world? Well, that’s my life.

Usually when someone has been away from home for two weeks, it’s at the end of a vacation and the thought of going back home, back to reality, is a bit unsettling. I remember leaving Jakarta after my two week business trip last week and saying to the hotel staff (whom I had become friends with and who knew me by name), that it was time to go back to reality. Well, I now recognize that traveling, and staying in hotels, and becoming friends with hotel staff, and being on airplanes IS my reality. It’s my life. It should come to no surprise to me that I come and go on such a regular basis.

So when do I get to go back to reality? That’s a good question! My life right now is so full of opportunity and new experiences. I’m starting to get used to it and have sort of stopped feeling like I’m in some dream land. My whole life is like a dream land. And I don’t mean that it’s dreamy and everything is hunky dory all the time (because that certainly is not the case), but I do have to pinch myself on a regular basis. I need a reality check!

What else is now a part of my new reality, apart from hotels, airplanes and surreal experiences in foreign cities?

My new reality includes seamlessly making the transition from being overseas, to being at home in Houston. In the past, I’ve had to spend a couple of days getting back into the swing of things after being away from home for a while, especially after an overseas trip. Now, I don’t waste any time acclimating to home anymore. I jump right in, jetlagged and all. My house looks the same as it did when I left. Everything is still in tact and ready for me. And thankfully, after a good night’s rest, I don’t really miss a beat. I can’t afford to as my time at home is too precious!

I usually get home on Saturdays after a business trip, and my Sunday School class gets the pleasure of me showing up on Sunday mornings looking and acting a bit like a zombie. But you know what? I can always count on them to warmly and enthusiastically welcome me home. And it feels great. And I am so thankful for them. I always worry that people are going to forget about me and be a true reflection of the “out of sight out of mind” theory. But they prove me wrong. They care about me, they ask about my trips, and they miss me when I’m gone. And I miss them, and we love catching up when I get back. That’s my new reality.

Kenna stays with my parents while I’m out of town, and she understands what’s happening now; which means I have to be super sneaky when I’m getting ready to leave. I have to act like nothing is different (except for my luggage of course, which is a dead giveaway), so that she doesn’t go hiding somewhere before I have the chance to put her in her crate for the ride in the car. And then I get shunned in the car as she so kindly puts her back to me the entire way up to my parents’ house. She won’t look at me. But you know what? She is so excited to see me when I get back in town, and proceeds to purr like a V8 engine and give me endless cuddles. So I’ve learned to accept the fact that I get ignored up front, because I know that I’ll be loved a little extra on the back end. And that’s my new reality.

When I was home on a regular basis, I think I took my friends for granted. Not their friendships, but the fact that they were around and available. I might go two months without seeing one of my friends and think nothing of it. It’s easy to do when you know someone is around – there’s always another time, right? Well, my new reality says that’s wrong! I’m only home for about two weeks a month. So I have this urgency to see people when I’m home; which means that I see a lot more of my friends now than when I was home all the time. I kind of like it! You know when you just say you’re going to meet up with someone for dinner, then someone gets busy at work, or is tired, or just doesn’t feel up to it, and it’s easy to say, “we’ll reschedule for tomorrow or next week”? Well now, if you cancel on me (or vice versa), it’s likely to be a month before I get to see you again. Let’s just say that my social calendar is full, hardly anyone cancels, and I LOVE it! What a great new reality.

An Amazon Kindle has also become my new reality. I fought it for a long time in favor of a tangible book, with pages I could feel between my fingers and smell as I flipped them. But when I travel for 24 hours on a plane, each way, on a monthly basis, I find that I read…..A LOT. I power my way through books. And who wants to lug several books with them all the way across the world? Not me! So my mom finally convinced me that I needed a Kindle, and I pretty much have a love affair with it now. The best part is, I can download a book anywhere in the world thanks to the Kindle’s 3G service, and so I’m always armed with fresh reading material…..and a depleting bank account. My carry on is no longer stuffed with books. And that’s a fantastic new reality!

I love cooking, and I love going to the grocery store. I seriously love it. Even though there is just one of me, I often times cook a normal size recipe for four, meaning I have leftovers for the next couple of days or frozen goodies to eat a few weeks later. With my new travel schedule, and my full social calendar, I don’t cook much anymore. It’s somewhat depressing, but I’m getting used to it. I generally just make a quick trip to the grocery store when I return home, for some fruit and veggies and breakfast stuff, but other than that, I’m eating out a lot and don’t have the need, or opportunity, to hang out in my kitchen and cook. I may have to do something about this, as I don’t really like this new reality. Neither does my grocery store!

The reality is, life doesn’t change all that much while I’m gone. Most of the time I don’t get to check Facebook while I’m overseas, and I’ve learned that I don’t really miss much without it. That was a refreshing revelation! Sure I miss some special events and gatherings in the lives of my family and friends, but I make up for that when I’m back in town and have great friends who keep me posted on their lives while I’m away. I really couldn’t ask for anything more.

I’ve spent this blog post talking about the significant changes in my life that have come with the start of my new job. Some are good changes and some I don’t like so much, but I know this is where God wants me right now (even if I’m not so sure why) and I’m just embracing these changes and taking things day by day. I am experiencing things that most people won’t experience in an entire lifetime, and I am grateful for this opportunity. I still try to soak in the culture of all of the foreign lands that I visit, and I will also try to soak in the culture of home when I am here. This is my life. This is my new reality.

Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
– Matthew 6:33-34 (MSG)