Like Riding Giraffes to School

The other day it struck me, my life isn't quite normal, at least not to most people.

Damarise and I tend to tell some over exaggerated stories. Don't worry, we always correct them. But sometimes it is fun to pull someone's leg. Like when people ask us if we saw giraffes in our backyard while living in Africa. "Oh!", we reply, "Giraffes! Of course! We rode them to school unless we wanted to go nice and slow, then we just lassoed the nearest tortoise we could find." False and false. But you see how easy it is to just go along with their question. And it definitely makes our life sound anything but boring.

The other day Damarise and I were sharing some stories and I realized that some of our stories do sound over the top. I mean who's lived in Canada with no running water (showering in a bath house and then walking up in -40º weather and having your hair turn to icicles), lived in a house built out of duct tape and plastic, seen many african animals, lived in Europe, had hook worm, eaten cow tongue, took their SAT with 2 other people, and can't drive at 19? It sounds absurd, and yet, that is my life.

As I was talking with Mom on the phone the other day she was telling me all about their life right now. "Well, we're trying to figure out how long it'll take to get renewed passports, visas, our stuff from Mozambique to South Africa, plane tickets, and pack our stuff up to move." She went on to say where they would be the next week. It involved staying in two different states and three different houses. I just laughed. This is our life.

It never seems unusual to me until I tell someone else about my life. Like the people who talk about going home for break and how they can't wait to sleep in their own room with their own bed. Damarise and I just look at each other and smile. (Christmas break involved two houses and four different bedrooms for us. Yet it was SO fun!) When they turn to us and ask if we're going home for break we simply reply, "Nope, we don't have a home. Our family will be living in Africa." Their expression is usually the same, a mix of shock and confusion. But this, this is normal. This is life.

Maybe to everyone else this life seems weird. A life where I know that at the end of this month of February I will head back to Missouri to say goodbye to my family as they leave for Africa. Not very many people have that scheduled in their planner for part of their life. But, this is where God has our family.

My life isn't abnormal, my life is just the way God planned it. And that is comforting. It's comforting to know that even though my life may seem anything but normal to some people, God knows everything and He knows just how my life will be, crazy over-the-top stories and all.