Circling Over Head - May 2011

As the days of preparation surround us, I do not see fear in Jen’s eyes.

There is a calm assurance, that comes from knowing you are going but not yet knowing anything else....
The choices and details of preparation are on hold for a while!  She can enjoy the gift of the grant without yet having to address its responsibilities, challenges and life changes.

Oh my Word, the joy and opportunity is still a bit overwhelming; but the day to day tasks are manageable.  After all, we don’t yet know when she departs, where she will be assigned (only Macedonia has been named, not the city or region), what she does when she gets there, where she will stay, what is expected of her, what she needs to be prepared for.....  so  none of those details can be addressed, yet.

It is a time of  holding, marking time, circling the airport.  A time of waiting for more details to come.  In visiting with previous Fulbright recipients, Jen has learned it is a time of waiting.  We are in the calm before the storm, so don’t waste time wondering what to do...  you need more information and details to be actually involved in preparations.  Following orientation in Washington D.C. which is scheduled for the third week of July, she will have more information and the details needed for making preparations.  We anticipate she will leave for Macedonia in September, but not sure yet.

And for Jen, the timing of a hold is good.  She has time to finish the school year and its demands with her students at Holmes Elementary.  She has time to finish her semester’s graduate courses at UN-L.  She has time to finish her graduate portfolio and prepare for receiving her Master’s Degree.  She has time to contemplate settling the details of the world she will be stepping out of; before contemplating the needs and preparations for the world into which she is headed.

And so it is on each of our journeys,  we are given times of “circling”.  We are given times when we know that a challenge lies ahead, but we are given the opportunity to brace ourselves before it hits.  We are given times of patience building.  We are given times to wait.  These periods may not be as visible and apparent for each of us as they are for Jen in her Fulbright process and preparations, but they are there for each of us none the less.  Knowing them, recognizing them, seizing them, accepting them is our challenge!