traveling companions

I'm so excited! In just a few weeks time we'll be off on our adventure! This is something we've all been waiting for, not just because we are going to Darwin (somewhere we've never been before, which is really cool. I just can't wait to see crocs in their natural habitat - argh!), but this our family's first missions trip all together. Mark has been on heaps of trips overseas since having kids, and Josiah was born in Japan when we were serving there. But now we have our complete family of five and we'll be doing this all together.
Something we really believe makes up the DNA of our family is changing the world together. We want to raise our kids to have confidence that they can change the world, and we want to do that by showing them the way and including them while we have a go at it ourselves.
So off we're going to Darwin, where our home church has just started a new church run by our good friends Troy and Nicole.
It's got me thinking about traveling companions and journeys. It would be so easy to just jet off on my own, leaving the kids behind, and go on a superwoman world changing expedition, at super lightning speed, nothing to hold me back, no extra bags to carry, no extra mouths to feed, no nappies to change. And believe me - that is very tempting, and may still happen one day!
But for this journey - we are doing it together! And that means things are going to have to go at a different pace, have a bit of a different feel, and have a little extra grace and patience added.
Have you ever been for a long drive with your kids? Lots of potty stops, vomit stops, games of eye-spy, and especially sleeping tigers. The drive definitely has a different pace. You can definitely have a deep conversation with your husband, just with lots of interruptions.
One long drive we had, I made pirate maps for the kids, that led all the way to our holiday place and had pictures of things to circle as we passed them on the way. Other times we've pretended the car was a giant spaceship that sped and jumped and twisted and turned along the way.
What I love is when my oldest has some deep question to ask, and I have hours to explain in imaginative ways the meaning of life, creation, God, space and boogers.
I love that as we journey together, our kids grow up, they learn new things, and we get the chance to walk alongside them and help them to discover things that they haven't seen before. I love that we can pray together. Whether we are building a sand castle together or God's kingdom, we can have fun and enjoy our adventure of life as a family.