The Cure for Jet Lag

It's 4:30AM Kansas time and I've been wide awake for nearly two hours.   The culprit?  Jet Lag.  The solution?  Prayer.

  It brings me great comfort to know that God never sleeps.  Entirely unaffected by man-made time zones, cultural expectations, or re-entry shock, the Creator of the Universe need not worry about over exhaustion or identity crises.

To take both my New Zealand and American families to God's throne of grace during these midnight hours gives me great peace.  After an epic two-day journey to the centre of the earth (or at least the centre of the USA), already preceded by many days without proper sleep,   I don't know how to do much else, other than pray.   I really don't know how to "be".

Whangarei, New Zealand, has been my home for four years and quite honestly, I don't know how to "be" anywhere else.   The song of the Tui in the forest and the cool ocean breezes greeted me nearly everyday, while soft winter showers produced the most exquisite rainbows time after time after time.
I ran up hills and mountains in my spare time and visited parishioners in their homes and hospitals.  Preaching and teaching was a weekly responsibility, and bounding and twirling about with my gymnasts each day was great fun! I ate "Weet bix" and fejoas, hung my laundry outside, and drove a quirky old car on the left side of the road. New World was my local supermarket and the electric blanket was my best friend on cold nights.

Now as I write this, a good ole' Kansas summer storm is raging outside, something I have not encountered in a very long while.   Those gentle showers are replaced with fierce lightning and thunder, torrential rain and well. .. quite a show! The roads here are flat and straight, a sight basically unseen much of anywhere in  New Zealand.  I'll now be frequenting my local Hy-Vee for groceries, but will have to do without the fejoas and pavlova.  I'll be meeting new gymnasts here in Olathe next week and no longer hanging my clothes outside in the rain. A dryer will do.

Life is changing.  Some of the changes are seemingly insignificant, while others will have more impact.

The thrill of planning a wedding and expanding my family brings excitement and the undeniable sense of being alive! Reuniting with old friends and ministry partners will be enjoyable and special . . . as will eating some classic Kansas City BBQ!

 Eventually I will settle into a new normal, a new routine.  But until then, I have asked the Lord to help me know how to "be" here.

This is what he said:

 "BE STILL and know that I am God!  I will be honoured by every nation (even in America.)" Psalm 46:10.