Not Just for Expats: To Thrive not Just Survive

I have realized, lately, that a lot of my worries about all that is to come is draining my joy and excitement! How do I recognize and prepare for certain difficulties but still look forward to all the good that is in store?

I stumbled upon an expat blog by Ariana with a guest post by Allison called, 10 Ways to Thrive as an Expat. It was really good.

She broke her thoughts down to 10 points, and expat or not ... this is well placed advice for anyone in new and challenging circumstances. Moving to a new city stateside, new church, just married with a new husband and in-laws, having a baby, new job, new school, empty-nesters ...  haven't we all felt out of place and wondered how to thrive (and not just survive)?

A Perfectly American Endeavor

 The girls have been plotting this all week ...

A Straight Way

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, 

and He delivered them from their distress. 

He led them by a straight way 

to a city where they could settle. 

Let them give thanks to the Lord 

for His unfailing love ...

Psalm 107:6-8

Making this my anthem today. Feeling mighty overwhelmed and disoriented on a twisty-turvy path. If I step outside myself, I know this is a season and we will press through. He will make our paths straight and lead us to "a city where we can settle." But today ... I feel weary before I've started.

Know the feeling?

What We Think We Will Miss

Today we were talking about how there are many things we are looking forward to about being in France, but there are bound to be plenty that we miss about the States. It's only natural, no? I anticipate that we won't even know what some of them are until we've actually expatriated ourselves, but we did come up with a few "little things" we are pretty sure we will miss:

• Peanut butter. Why is this such an American thing? It's so good!
• Family and friends. This is super obvious and not "little," but it still made the list.
• Trampoline. No explanation needed.
• Snacking. Love to hate it. Snacking is so fun, but it is mindless. I'm actually excited to try a more French meal-based version of intentional eating ... over grazing.

And the #1 little thing we expect to miss:

Fitting Together

Uzes, France

Can you imagine the kinds of questions I have swirling through my head these days? So, so many. Big things like school for the kids, doctor's visits, how I'll manage phone conversations (??) and what to do in case of an emergency.

But I also have questions like ... which bank should we set up an account with? Do we buy a car, lease a car? How long should we reserve a rental to cover us until we figure this out? What do we do if someone chips a tooth? Are there other English speakers in our area that we can befriend? How about church? How about classes to improve our French? Which market should I go to? Where can I buy socks and underwear? (I don't know why, but this seems important.)