Mia

Mia said something very insightful at the table the other day. I had mentioned doing something “when we go home”, referring to our furlough in July, and she stopped me saying, “Dad, you have to stop saying ‘when we go home’ because I don’t know what that means because this is our home.” Brin and I remember learning in our training about how missionary kids feel like that have no home, being stuck between two cultures. For us, we have a lifetime of memories from “back home”, but for Mia especially, it’s just a blur. She even refers to America as Africa. We’re not sure where she picked that up, but we usually just laugh when she says something about “when we go to Africa”. It can be scary thinking about all the future struggles we’ve brought upon our kids by choosing to live here. But in the end I realize I can’t shelter my kids from the pain of the world, all I can do is teach them where to turn in the face of it, and trust God with them.

Speaking of trusting God and Mia. After talking to my friend Dan who is an orthopedic surgeon, we’ve decided that Mia’s leg probably has a fracture. About a week ago she injured it while jumping on a trampoline and since then hasn’t been able to put weight on it. X-rays came back negative, but that doesn’t necessarily rule out a fracture. She has not been in pain, and seems to be bothered very little by it. It’s been a little bit more stressful on her parents, but we’re learning to trust God like she trusts us. I just wish this came as naturally for us as it does for her.