Transition

I've read I'm experience the "leaving" stage of transition. This involves excitement, anticipation, and celebration, closure and farewells, dealing with grief, rejection, resentment, and sadness. There are a lot more negative words in that list than positive ones. Sounds fun. Transitioning is exciting, but hard. Although Kenya enters my mind all the time throughout my day, I find myself trying to stay in the now - teach well, maintain friendships, don't pack too soon. Don't check out early! At the same time, I have to make preparations. Things need to be packed and sold. I need to bring closure and begin saying good-bye to my favorite places, activities, smells, and sights. And then there are the people - family, friends, co-workers, and students who have been such a big part of my life, day in and day out. I won't have the same interactions with them as I used to. To be realistic, those relationships will change when I move, even relationships with family. My sister is having a baby in November! I'm going to miss that. I can't fly to Wisconsin as easily from Nairobi as I could have from Oregon. There is a loss and grieving to that. My list of worries, concerns, and loss is growing.

At the same time, there are things to look forward to. As I make my list of concerns, I am also making a list of things I'm excited about. Today I'm choosing to focus on these:
1. Spiritual growth
2. Exposure to a wide variety of experiences, which will stretch me
3. New adventures and travel opportunities
4. Teaching and learning from kids who come from all over the world
5. Beautiful tropical weather
6. Seeing diverse ministries and outreaches in operation
7. Experiencing different cultures
8. Hiking Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro (I hope!)

It will definitely be an adventure - good and bad.