We’re not there yet!
“Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” The constant refrain bleating from four young children to some very weary parents following another long day of driving. It was my (James’) first big holiday. A 6-week haul from Victoria up to North Queensland and back – many thousands of kilometers. A holiday to Queensland in 1988, a mandatory stop in Brisbane for the World Trade Expo. Travel was different back then – the old station wagon loaded to the gills – the roof rack packed tight and tied down with blue tarp- mile after mile, hour after hour – slowly chewing through k’s along the straight but oh-so-dusty roads. 4 kids – like sardines – left to fend for themselves – no i-device, no tablet, no music player – just the power of imagination and eventually the numbing tedium – the real treat for mum and dad were those moments when boredom gave way to sleep – and silence.
These days, it seems parents spend all their energy getting kids off their devices – oh for a taste of good-old-fashioned travel monotony – we took our kids to France for five weeks several years ago, and to this day Jenelle’s trip highlight? Nope not the Eiffel Tower (though when she continually spoke of it as the ‘awful tower’ it was probably never going to be a winner), nor the Palace of Versailles (a real palace kids!) or the most famous Lisa on the planet (‘but dad why is she always moaning?’). Yep - you guessed it – the little screen on the back of the seat on the airplane – ready to play unlimited movies over which she had full control. Not once in the multi-leg long-haul flight did, we hear those words ‘are we there yet?’
Well, the Hornby’s are just a few short weeks away from 3 months overseas. If you’re here reading this – you probably know that I’m about to take a sabbatical from my role with the All Saints Anglican Network and that Kerryn and I (along with the girls) have been accepted as short-term workers with CMS and are heading to Amman, Jordan. I will serve as a locum for the International Anglican Church of Amman as they farewell a beloved minister and family and patiently wait for the arrival of a new one. We’re part of the Selley’s crew – no more gaps. It's been a protracted journey to get here. Many people wouldn’t know – the first conversation about possibly doing something like this in Jordan with CMS – January 2020. The first email to Amman – May 2021. And now here we are in June 2023 – tantalisingly close - but we’re still not there yet.
The route to arrive here has been formidable and taken many hours – forms, interviews, training, briefings, medicals, more forms – arguably; it’s taken longer to go through the application and preparation process than we will spend overseas – actually - it’s not really an argument. No complaints, though – there’s something about the thoroughness of the process that’s comforting, and the experience itself has been one of great learning. A small irony – of those we contacted, the organisation that’s least geared towards short-term work was the only one that offered us something – sometimes, that’s just how God works.
So, we’re not there yet. But we’re close. And to follow up - our next post will be a family affair - as we each share thoughts on what we’re looking forward to, nervous about, even the things we think we might miss – and it will be great to see – come October to look back on this and remember from where we started from and where we’ve ended up.