Skip to main content

The stillness before starting.

It’s a quiet Sunday morning. I am sat at my dining room table typing while drinking a cup of strong Dutch coffee for a change. Outside it promises to be a nice day with specks of blue in the sky and a distinct appearance of sunshine. I feel at peace, and yet a bit apprehensive and excited, all at the same time. Tomorrow I start my new job working with follow-up of those who have come out of difficult situations.

Tomorrow... and yet it feels like I am still winding down from the whirlwind of this week. On Monday I had my final shift working with adults who need extra care in their homes. And where it could sometimes be very draining, my final shift was so good. So good that it made me wonder if I could possibly fit continuing to work there into my week... I mean we do have 168 hours a week available. And yet I know that it isn’t a realistic option and instead of thinking of “maybes” I choose to simply be thankful. Thankful that I got to be a part of the lives of these adults, and hoping that I have brought something good into their lives as well.

Thursday was my final day at Kirkens SOS. So many mixed feelings. It’s always a challenge to leave something when it’s going really well and you can see the potential to continue building. A challenge to leave a good work environment with great people. And yet, there is a time for everything, and I know this is my time to shift into something new. As I switched off the lights and locked the door as I left it was very surreal to know that this which has become my “normal” is no longer that.

The past few days I’ve felt a bit scattered. When you’re not settled somewhere it’s easy to feel a bit all over the place. And yet at the same time I feel so at peace. And the apprehensiveness is more a feeling of anticipation. Wondering what it will be like to work at a new place, and wondering what it is that I am and have that I can bring into it.

And so I choose to embrace this final day of “in-between” jobs to relax. Choose to enjoy time with friends and family. And with that, prepare to step into this new venture open to learn and give and build, with the hope of seeing many lives changed and strengthened in the process.

Popular posts from this blog

Packing...again.

I just folded the last load of laundry and I’m almost packed. Off to the airport at 5am tomorrow morning, heading off to Amsterdam. I’m excited, a bit nervous, and wondering what it’ll be like. It’s been a good week at home with lots of quality time with family, especially the little nieces and nephew. I’m glad I’ll see them in April again. Well, not much to write and packing to be done and a bit of sleep would probably be a good idea too. Next time I write it’ll be from Amsterdam....

Single-tasking September: The art of single-tasking.

To change habits and ways of life, the motivation for change has to be strong, and the benefits outweigh the effort it takes to make the change.  For so long it’s seemed like the ability to multitask has been regarded as a great skill, but is it really a good thing? Recovering from burn-out, one of the effects I noticed was that it was harder to concentrate, and especially tricky trying to focus on many things at once. I’d try to multitask, only to realise that all tasks suffered from lack of capacity to complete any one of them. The challenge is that the habit of always doing many things at once goes deep, and when I tried to focus on just one thing, I found that it was actually really difficult.  As I did a little google search on the matter, I found it seems like multitasking isn’t as healthy as once thought, and that it doesn’t help productivity. Some even referred to it as “switch tasking”, in the sense that the brain isn’t doing many things at once, but shifting rapidly...

Walking through December: overcoming the challenge of language.

I just got done leading a Bible study in Spanish without a translation back-up, and it went really well. I am amazed at what we are actually able to do when we have no other option. It wasn’t a flawless flow of communication (that would have been a miracle), but together we figured out what I wanted to say. And I think it was good. I was blessed and they seemed blessed as well. The girls just left and I am sat here in my living room with the candles lit. It’s windy and rainy outside, and I am smiling. Happy. Not because I overcame the language challenge, but happy because of yet another beautiful time of bringing more of Jesus to the girls in our Bible study. I am thankful for the privilege of knowing them and standing with them in their journeys of knowing Jesus. And thankful that even when language is shaky, love is stronger and is communicated beyond mere words.