We are still here!
TS Elliot ends his poem, 'The Hollow Men', with the words, 'Not with a bang, but a whimper.' Frankly, the opening chapter of our life back in the UK was quite the opposite.
When we departed England's shores for our travels around Europe we weren't thinking about what (or even when) life would be like when we returned but if we had, I’m sure our ideas wouldn't have been anything like the reality.
The truth is, it was quite a bumpy landing (and it has its own story and blog post) and we've spent the last six months working out 'what now?' Whilst we knew that the season of travelling in our motorhome, 'Faith' was over, we didn't feel like our journey was. Returning to our home town wasn't to settle and put down roots again (at least, not immediately perhaps), but to pause, in a longer-term (but temporary) encampment, and wait.
But what does the waiting mean? What is its purpose? What does this period of living look like for us? Are we still living 'a different way?' These questions (and plenty of others) are ones we have been asking a lot since returning. The answers have not come easily, quickly - or even at all (yet, perhaps).
So we've learned to live without future plans, instead, we continue to live one day at a time, embracing the opportunities, challenges, troubles and joys of each moment as they come to us. We're still learning to let go of a life that we want to control every aspect of, one without risk and adventure; we're letting God lead us instead. If faith is one of our principles and markers, then we have to put our money where our mouth is (so to speak) and have faith that He will 'lead us into pastures green' - unlike Elliot's thoughts of how the world ends - this is how our 'new world' begins.
Silence, they say, is golden - and therefore valuable. We may not have been broadcasting our life (it might have been just noise, rather than anything meaningful) but there have certainly been things going on… incredible friends and family found homes for us to live in, and cars for us to get around in, we continue to home educate the girls (to remain agile, and avoiding lots of the Covid-classroom-closures), Andy's been working as a consultant, we've re-connected with dear friends and family (when the restrictions finally allowed), we've sold our motorhome 'Faith', and replaced her with 'Liberty' (for different travels ahead) and we continue to seek God.
Silence gives the opportunity to listen. This characterises these last six months. To live a different way than how we did before, we have to quiet our own voices and give airspace to God, allowing Him to fill it and lead us…
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