Sometimes in Cameroon, when we’d drive on a dirt road, my dad would pull over and all of us kids would get out and climb onto the luggage carrier on top of the truck. My favorite spot was on the spare tire roped at the front.
The car lurches forward, and we set off again down an African road. I LOVE this. The sun shining down on me. The wind blowing my hair all around. Around me, everyone smiles and laughs as we rattle down the red dirt road. The sounds of our voices squealing with delight (and if I’m honest, sometimes terror) fill my ears. I’m sitting like a queen at the bow of a ship sailing forward. The luscious green countryside, speckled with distant huts, unfurls on either side of me. Dust billows in our wake. I sit smiling in the sunshine. Then the bow lurches. We plunge into a ravine (aka pothole). Everyone shrieks and grabs onto the railing. For a moment, I wonder if I’m going to lose my balance and get flung off my perch. For a moment, I wonder. Then I remember that my dad knows we’re up here. He knows the way. He’d never take us somewhere where we’d fall off. The car pauses and we hear the sound of my dad putting the car into four-wheel-drive. Again, we lurch forward. Finally, we bounce and jostle up the other side of the “pothole” and back into the wind and sunshine…
I feel like a TCK’s life is kind of like that. We really never know what’s around the corner. This road we travel is… chaotic. Sometimes, it’s lonely. But this road we travel is also beautiful. It takes us to many places where others do not have the privilege of going. And it is a privilege. We didn’t choose this road for ourselves, but God did. He’s the driver on this journey. And He knows the way. Sometimes He takes us through the valleys and ravines. But I know He knows the way.
My hope is that this blog will be an encouragement to my fellow TCKs. Or, maybe it will provide insight on what it's like to be a TCK for those who'd like to know. There’s so much I’d love to share with others. I don’t claim to have all the answers (far from it, actually!), but I’d love to encourage you with what God’s taught me on this journey so far.
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