Plugging and Unplugging

All my life I was encouraged to be involved. Get plugged in. Be active. Be engaged. Don't miss an opportunity. Carpe diem.

Now I am learning to do the very opposite. 

I have spent the past 23 years of my life getting "plugged in" to my life here in the United States. I first learned to plug in to social groups and extracurricular activities at school. I then learned to get plugged in and involved at my job. I got plugged in at church, too, as well as involving myself in opportunities to serve in the community. I even plugged into a cycling group. When my schedule is full and every day is busy with great activities, life is full, right? I thrive on a tight schedule, I love being on-the-go, and I embrace involvement. 

But Africa calls, and now everything must be undone. Instead of plugging into new things, I am learning to remove myself from all the things that attach me to the United States so that I can begin a new life in Africa. It feels quite backwards, quite unnatural for me. 

"There is a time for everything," Ecclesiastes 3 says, " and a season for every activity under the heavens." 

"A time to be born and a time to die, 

A time to plant and a time to uproot, 

A time to kill and a time to heal, 

A time to tear down and a time to build up, 

A time to weep and a time to laugh, 

A time to mourn and a time to dance,

A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, 

A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

A time to search and time to give up,

A time to keep and a time to throw away,

A time to tear and a time to mend,

A time to be silent and a time to speak,

A time to love and a time to hate,

A time for war and a time for peace."

A time to plant and a time to uproot. I love that. As I prepare to move to Africa in a few months, I feel very much like I am uprooting from everything that I have worked so hard to plant my whole life. For example, I'm quitting my job, moving out of my apartment, and moving back home with my parents. I am gradually stopping all my weekly habits, activities, and engagements. I am unplugging, pulling out, uprooting. 

Then I remember that God is the most expert gardener, and my little life must be soft soil in his hands. For everything that I uproot here in the United States, I visualize him planting a new seed in Africa. For every activity I quit here, I am trusting and praying for a new opportunity in Africa. Everytime I say "no" to something here, I can almost here him saying "yes" to something across the ocean. 

I am also trusting him to sustain some plants even through the transplant. Even though my new life will be in Africa, part of my heart will always remain here with my family and friends in the United States. I am trusting the Lord to keep secure those relationships even across time and space, even through all the uprooting and replanting. 

I share this with you so that you can be prayerful for me as this little plant learns how to uproot and replant, how to plug in and unplug, and how to trust God with it all. I want to handle such a transition - or transplant rather - with grace, joy, and ease. 

In John 10:10, Jesus calls us to a "life to the the full." I used to think living a full, abundant life looked like being engaged and involved in as many activities as possible. Now I see that life to the full is not necessarily a packed, busy schedule, but rather a schedule that is free and open to his interruptions and his stirrings.

So what time is this for you? Is it a season for planting or a season for uprooting? Is it a time to mend or a time to tear? Is it a time to keep or a time to throw away? "There is a season for everything." God, the manager of the seasons, guides us through every season. He offers life to the full for us when we surrender our lives to him and place each day in his hands.