We are back in the states and readjusting to life in Southern California. (If that previous post didn’t already imply that). Our transition has been good but harder than we expected. Partially that is because we really didn’t have many expectations that it would be hard. I think it had something to do with the whole, “we’re MK’s, and we’ve already gone through this. I stood paralyzed in the cereal aisle when I was thirteen; I’m not going to do that again!” Well so far I haven’t had a crisis in a grocery store but I’m still surprised that I have felt different feelings of true culture shock! It’s a good humbling experience. If you know any MK’s you know that we are a breed that has a high level of self pride in our “culture awareness.” And so to go through this experience has once again shown me that I am not special and immune to the same issues that “everyone else” goes through!
As for Natania and Claire, they didn’t skip a beat reconnecting with their grandparents. When Natania first saw Grandma Sherry she ran to her and said, “can I go swimming in your pool?!” We had been telling Natania that she would get to swim at Grandma Sherry’s house so that she would have something concrete to think about when we told her that we were coming back to “America.” I know that they don’t totally understand what has happened. We still talk with Natania about the people we miss in Macedonia. Maja, Vesna, Auntie Heather, Whitney, Heather, Katelyn, Aunt Nadine, Uncle Andy, Alex, … the list goes on. While Natania does have a limited understanding, Claire is totally oblivious. She is her usual coy, sweet self. Her hardest adjustment so far has been the nursery at church!
We are excited to be here even if we’ve had re-acclimate ourselves to some of southern California’s unique culture! Please pray for us that we would continue to settle in to life here and honor God through this process!
