The Family Update: Finding Our Feet and Making Time for Life

The family update. Somehow, it always seems to be the most-read part of my newsletter, which makes me laugh. But maybe that says something very human about all of us. We want to know how the projects are going, but we also want to know how the people are doing.

I have been writing these updates since the days when we paid to print one or two pages, folded them, and mailed them to our ministry partners. There was always so much to fit into those pages.

I wanted to give an accurate account of the work you were supporting. At the same time, people wanted to know what everyday life looked like for our family in Tanzania.

Honestly, both parts were amazing. And over time, they blended together so much that it became hard to tell where one ended and the other began.

Ask my kids. They would probably laugh and tell you the same thing.

Someone once asked me what I did for fun.

“Ummmm… I live in Africa?”

Between raising children, ministry, and everything it took to keep daily life moving, there was not much extra time to plan entertainment. But somehow, life itself was so amazingly full and fun. There were hard days, of course, but we were never short on stories.

Then Came Maine

When we moved to Maine, my ministry responsibilities continued. Projects still needed to move forward. There were communications, legal responsibilities, planning, and all the things that happen behind the scenes to keep the work going.

At the same time, I was helping five children adjust to life in a country that was new to them.

And I was adjusting too.

Many of you do not know that, during those first couple of months, I would walk into Walmart and become so overwhelmed that tears would flow down my cheeks.

There was just so much.

So much to look at. So many choices. So many decisions hiding inside things that were supposed to be simple.

I remember asking one of my children what kind of cereal they wanted. Then we stood in front of an entire aisle of cereal.

An entire aisle.

What I thought was a simple question suddenly felt like a very big one.

During that season, leaders from the missions organization we were serving with at the time came to Maine and kindly took us out to lunch at a nice restaurant.

I opened the menu and found something like ten different burger options.

In Tanzania, the burger decision we were used to was pretty straightforward: with cheese or without.

Now I had a whole section of the menu to work through. The hardest was one of my children who just looked at me and said, "I can't- just pick one", with tears flowing down her face.

It sounds funny, and looking back, it is. But when every part of everyday requires another unfamiliar decision, even choosing lunch can feel exhausting.

Then fall was approaching, and we were already freezing to death.

Apparently, Maine had a few more things to teach us. Hahaha.

Finding Ourselves Again

Now, little by little, we have started to find ourselves here.

Base Camp Missions was started, and it is beautifully becoming something I once only dreamed about. Watching the relationships, projects, and vision begin to take shape has been such a joy.

For so many years, missionary, Mom, and Jill all looked pretty much the same. Those parts of my life shared the same space, the same schedule, and often the same responsibilities.

Some of that is shifting now, and I like it.

I am running a Christian nonprofit. I am being Mom. And I am learning to make time for Jill.

I am still figuring out what that looks like, but I am enjoying the discovery.

And the kids? They are finding their own places too.

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A Little Update on Everyone

Enoch was in a car accident, but thankfully, he is doing fine. He is loving life in the USA and probably has more friends than all the rest of us. He seems to be doing very well with the social part of settling into a new country! He's going on vacation to Florida next month and it is his first time as an adult doing this with his friends. I am so excited for him.

Noella is in school and feeling the pressure of deadlines, but she is a total rockstar. She works helping elderly people, and she has also been at Walgreens for more than two years now. Between those jobs, she is getting to know people from all over.

Acacia is at Gordon College near Boston. She has come home twice now, and apparently her favorite thing to do in Maine is be with “us,” cuddled up on the couch.

I will happily take that.

She also swims for Gordon, which was a dream of hers as a child. As a missionary raising her in Africa, I had no idea how that dream would ever happen.

But God knew!

Jillian is working so hard on college applications. If I tell you where she is applying, she will disown me. Hahaha.

My kids have kindly asked me to keep some of their thoughts and plans off the GRAM, and I have worked hard to respect that. So, for now, I will just say that she is working hard, actively singing, and involved in youth group. I am excited to see what comes next for her. I think I am allowed to tell you that she is going to study Neuro linguistics but if I give you more details then that- I may be silenced forever.

Daisy is twelve and now 5 feet 8 inches tall, which just does not seem right.

She is involved in youth group, enjoys cheerleading, and loves every social aspect of school. There is a lot of life happening in that girl, and she is enjoying it.

And as for Me…

The kids and I are on a mission to hike until the snow falls.

We used to do this in Tanzania, but between work and life, we have not made much time for it here in Maine. Recently, though, we are making time.

Time to get outside. Time to explore. Time to be together while everyone is still close enough to come along.

There are still projects to move forward, emails to answer, teams to develop and build, trips and partnership and project quotes, deadlines to meet, and college applications I am not allowed to talk about.

But there are also trails to walk and kids who still want to cuddle on the couch.

I want to make time for those things too.

I am thankful that a lifetime of service to Him is not over, I am thankful it has shifted to the beautiful thing it has become. I am thankful that I made decisions that value and honor my family as well as honor God.

With love,

Jill