Home is a place where we know and are known. We are settled because we have a sense of belonging. Moving can shake our inner foundations just like an earthquake shakes a home. This transition is a process that has five phases (engagement, leaving, transition, entering, and re-engagement). It is the transition phase through the entering phase that this lack of knowing and being known may make you feel like you should have packed a roll of yellow caution tape. I know that’s how I felt when we left Wuhan in 2006. 

It was one of the hardest things I had done. It was comfortable. We had friends that were like family. It was home. But it was clear that we needed to leave for our daughter’s sake. She required speech therapy, and at that time, it was not available. Taipei did, so we packed our belongings and moved. 

That first year was rough. It rained more often than not. My three kids were under 5, and getting out was hard. We used public transportation, and I had a double stroller. My husband was busy at work. I felt alone, lost, and trapped amongst thousands of people in Taipei while juggling an umbrella and pushing a stroller. I wanted to be known. I wanted to belong. I wanted to go home.  

I cried out to God several times a day. I wanted to see the good in this, and some days I did. Our daughter was getting what she needed. The zoo became our getaway when the sun came out. And then one dreary day, I heard someone knock on the door. I opened to a ray of sunshine. This person pushed herself into my world and gave me hope. She said she wanted to come over every week and pray with me. And she did. We sat in the middle of the floor with my two youngest crawling all over us, and I knew God was guiding me to greener pastures. 

I did not know of the five phases of transition back then. I knew about culture shock, but what I was going through was the loss of knowing and being known. That friendship gave me hope. God knows his sheep and he knew what I needed. 

Bryant, Steve and Gill (2017). Serving at the ends of the Earth: Family Life and TCKs, 3rd. Edition.