As we have talked about before, many of the great things about the life we have chosen come with associated challenges. Moving around frequently and relying on relationships with friends, family and churches to do this work, means that we have got to know a lot of great people over the last six years. This has been both a privilege and a challenge, because as our relationships have grown broader this has inevitably meant that many have remained shallower than we would have liked.
Over this Christmas period we both decided to take a break from email and Facebook, to focus ‘inwardly’ on each other and our families. As our breadth of relationships span many different places, we often find ourselves spending quite a lot of time communicating with people electronically. Again this brings many benefits, allowing us to stay in touch with people we wouldn’t have been able to otherwise (often in completely different situations and cultures), to share in their joyful times and to learn from their difficulties. However, it also brings challenges as we find ourselves constantly looking ‘outwards’ to others lives, trying to ‘stay in touch’ and communicate well about what we are doing. Not doing so doesn’t just mean we lose touch with friends, it affects our ability (financially and otherwise) to carry on doing this work.
As this new year begins, I want to find a better balance of ‘distant’ and ‘local’ focus. As we move to another new place with new people and opportunities I want to be able to focus, with my family, on developing this ‘local’ community. At the same time I want to continue to appropriately invest in the electronic ‘distant’ relationships that we already have. I’m not yet sure what this means but maybe it will involve continuing to reduce our online activity for a time, trusting that our existing relationships will continue through mutual commitment and effort (using the phone or visiting in person!).
As we prepare to move to Gloucester later this month, we prepare to face these kinds of competing emotions again - great opportunities alongside real challenges. Times of change are always unsettling and tiring, but they also bring natural times to reflect on the status quo and to reset our priorities. Please do bear with us, and stand with us, as we do this once again.
Over this Christmas period we both decided to take a break from email and Facebook, to focus ‘inwardly’ on each other and our families. As our breadth of relationships span many different places, we often find ourselves spending quite a lot of time communicating with people electronically. Again this brings many benefits, allowing us to stay in touch with people we wouldn’t have been able to otherwise (often in completely different situations and cultures), to share in their joyful times and to learn from their difficulties. However, it also brings challenges as we find ourselves constantly looking ‘outwards’ to others lives, trying to ‘stay in touch’ and communicate well about what we are doing. Not doing so doesn’t just mean we lose touch with friends, it affects our ability (financially and otherwise) to carry on doing this work.
As this new year begins, I want to find a better balance of ‘distant’ and ‘local’ focus. As we move to another new place with new people and opportunities I want to be able to focus, with my family, on developing this ‘local’ community. At the same time I want to continue to appropriately invest in the electronic ‘distant’ relationships that we already have. I’m not yet sure what this means but maybe it will involve continuing to reduce our online activity for a time, trusting that our existing relationships will continue through mutual commitment and effort (using the phone or visiting in person!).
As we prepare to move to Gloucester later this month, we prepare to face these kinds of competing emotions again - great opportunities alongside real challenges. Times of change are always unsettling and tiring, but they also bring natural times to reflect on the status quo and to reset our priorities. Please do bear with us, and stand with us, as we do this once again.