Sayonara, Little Rock!

(Written June 28 by Reid.) 

We are now really-and-truly on our way to Hiroshima. All five of us are sitting comfortably inside this large metal tube winging over the Pacific Ocean at about 550 mph (900 kph).  It's pretty amazing to think that this sort of thing is even possible - the sitting part, that is.  This past week has been a frenzy of final preparations. And though we all will miss our family and friends States-side, Angela and I have been looking forward to "just getting over there" so that we can slow down and back into some semblance of a routine.  

As for what the routine will be like, I can only guess. Certain things will be similar, for sure: a sit-down supper together most evenings, quiet summer mornings as I get ready for work and the rest of the family sleeps, going to worship on Sundays, goofing around on Saturdays, etc. But one thing will be completely different - transportation. I'll likely be walking or biking to work; we'll walk to the grocery store; the kids will ride a bus to school (an American experience, too, but one that we've not got to do… yet!); and we'll ride buses for longer-distance in-town trips, and trains to places outside of Hiroshima.   

Definitely NOT Little Rock. Sure, we'll miss the freedom that cars bring, but we'll get to be active travelers (walkers/bicyclists) and mass-transit passengers. 

The idea of being an active traveler and/or a mass-transit passenger appeals to me. I anticipate this will give us (or at least me) more time to process things and people as we move about our days. Being in a foreign environment will likely heighten both the need for and frequency of this processing our world. I hope that we learn how to participate in our routine in a mindful way, not in a not-thinking-about-it kind of way. God's made a lot of neat stuff out there, and put a lot of care into each and every person we'll walk, ride, pass by. I hope we learn how to take that in and appreciate it. So sayonara to our old routine in Little Rock (as familiar, comfortable and convenient as it was)!