The Three "Bags"
The stages of our missionary journey can be summarized by the luggage we used throughout. There were three chief pieces of luggage.
The Duct Tape Box:
This box was our first piece of luggage. We knew that we would only be able to carry 2 pieces of luggage each and every spare inch counted! How did we know this? We had never moved to PNG. We were going off the advice of others and our best research with no real feet on ground experience. Why did we duct tape them? To make them water proof. This was supposed to be clever and cost effective, and to make them more easily carried, we put a luggage strap around them. I spent hours duct taping box after box, preparing for our trip to the mission field, excited, ambitious, and full of theory. These boxes made good sense in theory at the time. They later proved to be functional but not practical, not as cost effective as we had hoped, and well meaning but ultimately not very useful. I still laugh at myself for thinking at one time, that this was a brilliant idea of mine! I mean just a little bit of elbow grease and this was going to be the best idea ever! I was going to enlighten the entire missionary world with my brainstorm! Wrong!
We had a choice to make. Did we flex and change? Did we try to adapt the box? Did we throw it out and start over? Or did we maintain an emotional connection to the box and trudge on, denying its uselessness and heralding it's many well researched and wonderful qualities?
We adapted, abandoned what wasn't working and moved forward … to..
The Military Duffle Bag:
Found at a surplus store. They wre affordable and the perfect size. They had handles too! We had to throw out the box and move to the bag! We lost a little bit here but gained so much more. Much like our first few years on the field. Experience proved useful but came with some unexpected surprises. This bag was soft and offered less protection, so we adapted and wrapped clothing around fragile items. It also had 5 metal buckles that were a pain to open and close through customs. BUT! It was the perfect size, water proof, very durable, and very flexible for our needs.
This bag represents the majority of our 13 years on the field. We had to be flexible, durable and useful, even if we had those awkward surprises at times that weren't exactly convenient, we lasted. This bag just lasted. We still have them. Though we don't use them as much now.. because we have….
The Hard Cover Suitcase
As we ended our time overseas, we didn't have as many kids with us to travel, we were a little bit older, and we were willing to sacrifice a little bit of storage space for ease of transportation. These bags opened quickly because.. no buckles! We didn't have to carry them on our shoulders because they had wheels! They were practical, but a bit more costly. They were very strong and durable and could handle anything we threw at them. Even getting lost!
This bag represents our exit from living overseas. We were stronger because of our experience, but also made wiser. We knew tricks of the trade as to how to remain durable thanks to the wisdom that time brings. We found a way to live without exhausting ourselves. The old saying 'work harder not smarter?", we were able to work smarter and still just as hard until the very end, because we put in protections to avoid burnout.
As I think back on the times we packed and the bags we used, I realize there is a direct correlation with our stages of being a missionary. Even now we have lived in 4 houses in 3 years. We're still packing and moving, we still haven't settled yet. The Lord keeps us moving for sure, and it never gets dull!
