Looking ahead to 2020

It's been very laid back here over the last three weeks. Something I'm very thankful for. However the rubber hits the road on Monday morning when everyone is back at school and I head over to the other side of Tokyo for the first monthly prayer and fellowship meeting for our mission this year, and then I've got tonnes of deadlines facing up to me when I get back behind my desk on Tuesday. So, before all that hits, I want to take a few moments to look forward to 2020.

I did a little bit of this while texting with a couple of friends a few days ago. Truth be told, missionaries often measure their lives by large chunks that consist of overseas flights and periods of time sometimes called "home assignment" that mean catching up with a lot of people who support us. But I've found that whenever I mention the sorts of distant dates that such measuring entails, it usually shocks people. So hold your breath and take a quick sweep of what we can foresee of our next few years:

2020 No trips to Australia. Possibly no call to travel through an international airport at all! 

2021 Our middle son graduates from high school in June and we take a few weeks during our summer to visit Australia.  

2022 Possibly I'll take a trip to Queensland to settle our middle son into university in February.  

2023 Our youngest son graduates from high school in June and we pack up here and move to Australia for 12 months of home assignment.  

2024 Returning as a couple to Japan to continue serving here.

Okay, now you can breath again!

It is in the face of that that I suggest that 2020 might be a quiet year! Of course we don't know what unexpected events the year might hold, but what I've listed above are reasonable expectations for the future, barring factors we don't know about like illness.

So, back to 2020 and what I'm thinking about that. I like to have events to look forward to, it helps with the everyday grind to have bigger things to look forward to (and little ones too, like a good book to read at night). This is what I'm looking forward to this year:

• My usual Women's retreat in early March (maybe with a writer's retreat as well...something I need to get onto next week)
• Camping in the last week of March
• National OMF conference for a week in Hokkaido, ending on my birthday (3 April)
• our eldest son visiting mid-year?
• family holidays in July?
• Olympics in July-September (we've got tickets in the resident's lottery to see the hockey...going to have to learn a bit about that sport before then)

Not too crazy, compared to other years we've got coming up (a trip to Australia is always a big deal, it's not just two days of travelling, it means a big climate change, it means catching up with many people, and numerous unexpected cultural adjustments. In one word—exhausting.)

So I'm putting four questions to myself about the coming year to force some reflection:

1. What's something I'd like to see change about myself this year?

• I'd like to be able to look back at my year and have no regrets as to how I've conducted myself, or the words I've used. That's an unrealistic goal, I know. However I think I can strive towards that. To be especially mindful about my words when I feel the adrenaline rushing and my stomach churning. To be slower to speak/type an answer. And of course daily looking to God for help!

2. Is there an intentional change that I'd like to make this year?

• This borders on making new years resolutions, but I don't make them (See my post four years ago about this: New Year's Day is just another day). In some ways mid-year was "new year" for us and I made some decisions then for changes that I've mostly stuck to (including writing here once a week). 
• I'd like to read more, and have already started doing that with my new Kindle Fire. I'm having a great time with it!
• I can't think of any great changes I want to make at this point, especially as my roles haven't changed a lot and don't leave too much room for anything extra. Although I'm aware of the editing course I started with udemy.com a couple of years back that I'd like to continue (it has no deadlines, which is good...and bad!).
• It would be good to do more writing for other publications (this year I've mostly written only for Japan Harvest magazine, this blog, and OMF Japan's blog), but I'm not sure what or where. So it's not a very measurable goal!
• It would be good to take more time for dates with David. Often we're so tired by Friday night (or are facing an early start on Saturday), that it's much easier to stay home.

3. Is there something that you are currently doing that you want to persevere with?

• Yep, that would be my Japanese study. I've been using wanikani.com for a couple of years now, trying to improve my reading and vocabulary. It's working, but it is a slow, agonising journey. I'll never be fluent in this language, but if I can make improvements and keep my head in the game (even as I head ever closer to 50), then it's good.
• Reading my Bible. A year ago I embarked on a two-year reading plan from theGospelCoalition.org (which takes you through the whole Bible and the Psalms and Proverbs four times). I've made it through a quarter of that in one year. Hmmm, maybe I could pick up that pace.
• I've been listening to one or two sermons a week from Australian churches during my lunch times, depending on how busy my weeks have been, that's something I'd like to continue.

4. Are there people you want to connect with more (or less) this year?

• Yep to both, but no names I'm willing to put here. 
• My "four friends" are definitely on my radar as an ongoing effort to maintain a stable base for whatever griefs the year holds. But also to be there for them as they deal with pain (and joy) in their lives.

Hmmm, and I didn't think I had much to write. But I will stop here. 

Have you had time to write down any thoughts about 2019? Or think about what you'd like to change for the coming year?