fertilizer

One of the cool things about our current life situation is the time that Geoff and I get to spend together. Of course, I write this as he's spending a month in Mongolia(!), but we're speaking generally here. :)

I guess the big difference is the shift in what our "work" life looks like. In the States, work is compartmentalized. Its something that you do, on your own, from 8-5 everyday. And then, you come home to your "family" life and do that (sometimes together, sometimes not). There were things that I loved and hated about that scenario. But either way, its very different here. In the Philippines, we are living our lives as our "work". Everything we do, from parenting Ariel to cooking food to working with musicians, is all considered our work. The main reasons I can think of as to why its this way is:

1. We're always being watched.
2. Things are not as convenient and, therefore, take more teamwork.
3. Its a priority we've made.

Doing life (that is work and play) together as a team was something we longed for in the States, but it just didn't seem possible. Moving here, we determined to take the opportunity given us and make some decisions that would determine how much time we had. We completely espouse to the idea that all of life is worship. And our experience here has really brought that idea home.

Having so much time together has also brought its challenges. We find out in what ways we DON'T get along :) and we suddenly have the time to hash through all the issues in our marriage that were easy to put off before. Both of these things did not "feel good" at the time, but having invested the time to walk through it and learn and grow and heal together, has been amazing. And if thats the only reason that God took us thousands of miles away from our busy US life, then it was worth it. We have experienced a friendship and love that could only be cultivated with the fertilizer of time and intention. And thank God for giving us that.