It’s 7. 7pm and 7am.
I’ve been essentially in one place for the last 10 days, following all our predictable patterns of school drop offs, softball games, grocery store visits, and walks to the playground. I haven’t been outside a 30 mile radius of ground zero—home. Yet, here I am, living in two time zones.
A 12 hour time difference makes things convenient. There’s no need to count on your hand. And, there’s something strangely comforting knowing my watch face has the same expression as his on the other side of the world. But, a 12 hour time difference is so inconvenient. His alarm rings to start his day when our oven timer dings telling us dinner is done. When he’s breathing deeply and shutting down after a long day of being on, I’m breathing deeply midmorning and telling myself to keep going. This morning and this evening are used synonymously around here to the confusion of most everyone besides ourselves.
We’ve made 5 trips to Asia in the last 7 months since our big leap leaving corporate America to do nonprofit work full-time. Each one of those trips sent only one of us on a plane…or two or three…while the other stayed put to keep those predictable patterns. We live in two time zones now, Mark and I.
He’ll be home on Thursday which is a good thing. But, I’m not counting down the days because I know that every one of the minutes filling the 2 weeks he’s gone whether whether it is in morning or evening is being used in significant ways. It’s inconvenient, yes, and I’ve had a moment or two of putting my head in my hands wondering if I’d make it to the next morning…or evening. But, this is what it’s about. This is where He wants us. It’s crazy yet the one of few things in our lives that makes perfect sense. He called us to live in two time zones, and so we are, no matter where we physically are.
I’ll be starting the bedtime routine around here in minutes. I’m fairly certain Mark will text right in the middle of the chaos to touch base before he meets the rest of his team to start the day. It’ll be maddeningly inconvenient. But, I’ll press pause on everything and let the kids run wild while I hang on his every word on the little screen in my hand until 12 hours from now when we do it again.