Big Wins are Expensive

The days at home, just the three of us and maybe a couple kids from next door, those are the best days. The easy days. We clean house, I journal, Ben catches up on Twitter, all of us take naps. Life in Papua is good.

These days are necessary, we'd loose our sanity if it wasn't for quiet days. But we also don't make any progress in understanding the language or culture on those days.

Then there are days like last Sunday. We won big on Sunday. We won by going to an all Indonesian speaking church in the morning. We won by exchanging phone numbers with a new Indonesian friend. We won by arranging to go out with Indonesian and Papuan friends this week. We won by meeting new neighbors and beginning new relationships. We won by going to an expat meeting and hearing from people with vast experience living and working here. We won big on Sunday!

The win was also very expensive. Isaiah had a meltdown at church. Ben got a headache at church, the kind that had him bolting for the door as soon as the service was over. I walked too far to buy food for lunch and felt sick from the heat. Isaiah had another meltdown. Ben felt insecure about speaking Indonesian and I lost my patience. I got a migraine and had to battle hard to keep from throwing up. It was a physically and emotionally expensive day for all of us.

We are learning the meaning of balance. We are learning that if we want big wins, we need to be sure to have enough emotional and physical cash saved up to pay for it.

Sunday ritual. Circling the words I understand on the back of the church bulletin.