The Ground For A Culture Shock

As hard as it is for me to admit, I have really been struggling with a little culture shock - okay, maybe a lot of culture shock. Before we arrived, I loved the idea of being fully immersed in Polish culture. I just forgot a few key aspects of full immersion. Like, perhaps the fact that when no one else speaks English and you don’t speak Polish, you can’t really get to know the people around you. Or when you don’t read Polish; no matter your map reading skills, figuring out how to get where you need to go is a little more challenging. And there is the big one- when you are a foreigner in a foreign country, you can feel pretty isolated. Don’t get me wrong, I know I am where I am supposed to be and I am really enjoying Poland. I will just be extremely grateful when we get to move to our permanent house and the girls begin school – because that means structure and English speakers!

So I share all that to explain why I have been a little fragile lately. And maybe I get a little teary when there is no good reason to.

But today something amazing happened. As I was sitting across the McDonald’s booth (Yes, they have them here – No, it doesn’t taste the same- No, I’m not thinking about why that might be) from my girls, I recognized this amazing twinkle in Carlie’s eye. It was in Alaynah’s eyes too. I had to sit back and let it all sink in. They are having the time of their lives. Everything is new and amazing to them. Their entire world is growing at warp speed and they are loving every minute of this adventure.

God whispered a little secret to me. He reassured me that we are right where we need to be and that He is blessing my family. When God is sweet enough to reassure me once again, then I think I can deal with just about anything. Giving my family my full attention and focusing on meeting their needs is a privilege that I haven’t had before and this time will be over all too soon. I think I will just choose peace and enjoy each day.

Bring on the culture shock. I have found my ground and I am good to go!