Wow! How do you have four years fly by in barely a blink? There can be one of two ways I guess. You are either having such an amazing Life that days are barely noticed as months feel like days. Another way is that you spend the time looking back for so long that you miss the Time. Sadly, I can relate to the second more than I care to admit.
Leaving Singapore was one of the most challenging shared experiences for this family. We always knew it would be temporary and we truly missed being on the same side of the world as our extended family. But, we never expected to establish roots not only with dear people but also with a wonderful culture. Foods, traditions and even little mannerisms and silly ways of saying things (Still tell the kids to get in the queue or to top up a drink) came with us to America, stuck on like they had always belonged there. Signs of our Life in Asia are found all over our home and strange random memories often come to mind at odd times. Singapore is a BIG part of who the Will Family is. True. But God had moved us to Kentucky and we made a mistake I hope not to make again. We held too tightly to Egypt.
That wasn't a typo. After two years here in Kentucky we had the incredible blessing of being able to return "home" to Singapore. Oh it was wonderful. We landed in Changi and all immediately sighed deeply, the tears flowed. Dear friends' smiling faces greeted us through the glass at the baggage claim. BUT during this all too short three week visit God spiritually scolded me and it was needed.
The Jewish people had been enslaved by Egypt for years. When finally freed they reached a point where they focused so much on their difficult circumstances that they actually begged to be allowed to go back to Egypt. They found themselves wandering in a wilderness, unable to move onto their Promised Land because they held onto a past Life and were unable to Trust God with the path forward to their new Life. While in NO WAY was my Life in Singapore comparable to the Jewish enslavement in Egypt, our inability to "let go" of Singapore did impede our ability to truly embrace the blessings of our Life here. That started to change dramatically after we returned from Singapore that spring of 2012.
We have learned to trust God that by "letting go" of Asia and our Life there, did not mean that we would lose either in our hearts. Technology, while often such an annoyance to this mom of teens, has been a blessing in making our Life there seem much closer. Knowing that I could reach my dear sisters in Singapore or Indonesia simply by opening my computer or phone, actually gave me the ability to close both and start living my Life here in Kentucky.
Kentucky is beautiful...but that will be for another post. T
Leaving Singapore was one of the most challenging shared experiences for this family. We always knew it would be temporary and we truly missed being on the same side of the world as our extended family. But, we never expected to establish roots not only with dear people but also with a wonderful culture. Foods, traditions and even little mannerisms and silly ways of saying things (Still tell the kids to get in the queue or to top up a drink) came with us to America, stuck on like they had always belonged there. Signs of our Life in Asia are found all over our home and strange random memories often come to mind at odd times. Singapore is a BIG part of who the Will Family is. True. But God had moved us to Kentucky and we made a mistake I hope not to make again. We held too tightly to Egypt.
That wasn't a typo. After two years here in Kentucky we had the incredible blessing of being able to return "home" to Singapore. Oh it was wonderful. We landed in Changi and all immediately sighed deeply, the tears flowed. Dear friends' smiling faces greeted us through the glass at the baggage claim. BUT during this all too short three week visit God spiritually scolded me and it was needed.
The Jewish people had been enslaved by Egypt for years. When finally freed they reached a point where they focused so much on their difficult circumstances that they actually begged to be allowed to go back to Egypt. They found themselves wandering in a wilderness, unable to move onto their Promised Land because they held onto a past Life and were unable to Trust God with the path forward to their new Life. While in NO WAY was my Life in Singapore comparable to the Jewish enslavement in Egypt, our inability to "let go" of Singapore did impede our ability to truly embrace the blessings of our Life here. That started to change dramatically after we returned from Singapore that spring of 2012.
We have learned to trust God that by "letting go" of Asia and our Life there, did not mean that we would lose either in our hearts. Technology, while often such an annoyance to this mom of teens, has been a blessing in making our Life there seem much closer. Knowing that I could reach my dear sisters in Singapore or Indonesia simply by opening my computer or phone, actually gave me the ability to close both and start living my Life here in Kentucky.
Kentucky is beautiful...but that will be for another post. T
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