6 Months in the DR
It’s time to celebrate! April 16th marks 6 months that Scott, Scottie, Zoey, and I have lived in the Dominican Republic. Woohoo!
While we were at mission training last September, I sat crisscross on the bed with my back against the wall and the laptop in my lap. Together, Scott and I created our plan for language acquisition, divided into different time periods for each person. We discussed and committed in writing our boundaries and priorities for the first year of living in the DR. We collected all of the intel we could about what life would be like for us and the girls. We made plans because we wanted to be prepared and set our family up for success. Fast forward a few months and the Coronavirus has taken over the world - literally. In no universe would we have sat on that bed in Colorado and typed in the word P-A-N-D-E-M-I-C.
Leading up to the big move, Zoey consistently and clearly told us and her leaders at missionary training that she was NOT excited about moving to the DR. She was afraid to start a new school. Learning while being surrounded by a new language didn’t seem like an easy task and she wasn’t interested. She just wanted us to remain in Texas, go to her same sweet school, and learn 3rd grade material in English. We needed a plan that would help her ease into her new school, so our master plan was for her was to stay home the first few months, adjust to a new culture and visit her new class a little at a time - dip her cute, little toes into the agua. Leading up to her January start date, she was nervous. She begged us to let her stay home - to just homeschool her. We anticipated a hard transition to a full immersion Spanish school. We expected her to cry and insist that what she needed and wanted was to stay at home. Scott and I prepared for her reaction - agreeing that once she was fluent, then we could reassess and perhaps homeschool her. When we planned for the best possible outcome, we discounted and forget about what God could do for her, in her, and through her. She is thriving! She loves Makarios. She adores her teacher and says that her classmates are her friends. She has begun to pick up some Spanish words and will practice using what she knows - unafraid and full of courage. She initiates play with her friends, and when things are getting uncomfortable, she uses her words and seeks advice on how to best navigate her new culture. Zoey says that although they don’t speak the same language, she understands her teacher and friends and they understand her. So can you imagine her reaction when the school closed its doors because of Coronavirus? It is not a reaction of relief but rather sadness. She misses her teacher and friends and worries she will lose her Spanish. Through Zoey, God is reminding us that although we set our expectations and make future predictions, He demonstrates His sovereignty and power because He is the one who orchestrates the experiences and outcomes - not mom and dad.
Scott and I created a very specific language plan. Scott has maintained an amazing resolve and has committed to the learning process. Even now when the language school is closed, he continues to have lessons virtually - every SINGLE morning. There are frustrating days when he thinks he just isn’t understanding or speaking as well as he wants. His confidence in speaking is still his biggest hurdle and what he needs is to practice. Yet, coronavirus has us quarantined in our homes and his opportunities to speak have lessened. Was this part of our master plan? Of course not! Yet instead of giving up and using this as an excuse to take a break, he digs in and views it as an opportunity to take advantage of the extra hours in his day to really pursue Spanish. God continues to show us that our well intended plans are not always His plans.
Sitting on that bed at missionary training, I tried to envision what my ministry would look like once we arrived. We knew that I needed to take my time and not just jump into something - by nature, I am a jumper! The one thing that kept beckoning me was ultimately the one thing I needed to do (other than loving and serving my family) which was to love, encourage, and pray for our American missionaries, It is no surprise that Satan attacks those who dedicate their lives to serving God and sharing the Gospel. These attacks come in the form of conflict, lack of confidence, fear, anxiety, environmental discomforts, lies, self-doubt, and loneliness. One of the most important things for the health of our organization is for our American missionaries to be healthy, so they can serve to their fullest and be the hands and feet of Jesus. And I know that what I can offer to them is to intercede on their behalf, letting them know they are not alone, and encouraging them. I had grand plans for how to spend quality time with them, but Coronavirus has pressed pause on those plans. Yet the Holy Spirit continues to place them on my heart. So I obey, by continuing to pray for them and encourage them with the one thing I have to offer right now - my words.
Our plans that we created will need some adjusting once the quarantine is over. In fact, I believe the plans will not only be new but greatly improved. What life looks like in 2 months, 6 months, or a year from now will be a new normal. My hope is that when the new normal begins, we will learn from this experience and remember to be present. Be obedient. Follow God. Follow His leading, even if where He is taking us begins to deviate from the well intended plans we had for the path we wanted to go down. Hold your plans loosely in your hands and allow God to move and rearrange your plans in order to align them with His plan for you.
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
Abide. After 6 month of living in the Dominican Republic it comes back to one thing. Abide. Every good work comes from our choice to abide in Jesus. If I choose to remain in Him, He will be faithful and remain in me, then there will be direction, peace, and the amazing byproduct of good works. Are you grasping your plans and expectations tightly in your hands? Oh friend, open your hands up and follow His leading. It may be different than you thought, but it is so, so sweet.