Looking back 10 years

Me in 2010.

A friend had an intriguing idea a few weeks ago: to look back ten years and compare to now. What's changed? What's the same? I haven't spent much time mulling this over, so I'm sure there's plenty more that could be said!



This time ten years ago we were finishing up our second 12-month home assignment. Our boys were 11, 7, and 5. 

Our five year old was half way through his first compulsory year of schooling, called "Prep" in Queensland. This appeared in the school newsletter ten years ago this week:

Goodbye to the Marshall Family

We're sad and excited to be saying goodbye to the Marshall family. J and his family will be returning to Japan over the school holidays. The children are excited that J gets to go home and tell people about Jesus but also sad at losing their friend. Please keep the family in your prayers as they get ready to go home. At prep we have talked about playing with J for the last few times and the children have been regularly praying for him and his family.

It has been such a blessing to have this Christian school as a "constant" for our boys' education during each of our four home assignments. Our next home assignment our boys will all be finished school, so it will be odd not to go through the motions of enrolling our kids there. 

I've just skimmed through some of the blog posts for June 2010, it's painful. All about transition: farewells, moving, and emotions.

My "little" boys!

By mid-July we were back in Tokyo, moving in the house I'm currently sitting in. It's amazing to think we've been here for ten years (with a two notable absences of 12-months and 6-months for subsequent home assignments in 2014/15 and 2018).

A month after that we finally had everyone at the one school. [During our second term in Japan we juggled three education systems: Japanese, Australian, and International-school. It wasn't pretty!]

Not long after they all started school I went to a writer's workshop in Hong Kong. My first overseas trip on my own since 1994. I also started work that month with Japan Harvest magazine, just learning the ropes and helping out the Managing Editor.

What's changed?
Well obviously we're all 10 years older. One boy has graduated from school and left home. The other two are in high school, instead of anticipating the start of having all my boys at school I'm now anticipating life with no-one left at school (just three years left!). Parenting teenagers is quite different to parenting elementary-aged kids! 

I've got a lot more freedom now than I had ten years ago. I'm happy to leave them for hours at home on their own. They each have their own key, so I don't have to be here when they get home from something. David and I have been able to go out for dates without asking someone to watch them.

I've learned a lot and grown a lot as a manager of people and communicator. I've grown as a person too, though it's probably harder to name how. I think I know myself better now and a bit more discerning about other people.

I now wear pink (but never pastel pink). That was a colour I never wore 10 years ago. I've also got my ears pierced now. Yep, changes in my 40s, I didn't see that coming! My hair is also short now (I cut it in 2011 and haven't looked back).

I knew nothing about putting a magazine together 10 years ago, now I've done nearly 40 issues! I'm a faster, and hopefully better editor than 10 years ago. Also, all these years of blogging has made me a faster writer. I hope I'm also a better writer...But I'm writing less here, back then I was writing personal blog posts almost every day!

I'm now working in social media, not just playing there. That's been a huge learning curve in the last three years. I've also learned a bit about how to use a DSLR camera.

I'm sure that I've dealt with more conflict in the last ten years that I have ever had to, and maybe I'm getting better at it?

I feel like I'm more emotional now than 10 years ago. I certainly feel the goodbyes and losses more than I used to, and there have been many of those in the last decade.

I've now also lived through two major disasters. In 2011 the triple disaster hit this island's north-eastern coast and of course 2020. This year's disaster has had a wider impact on my day-to-day life than 2011 did, but they've both left a mark, or maybe multiple marks!

What's not changed?
Well I'm still married to David and the mother of three boys, although they are all bigger than me now. I'm still not good at Japanese, but I'm working harder at it now than I was ten years ago.

I'm living in the same house, with many of the same things around me. My size hasn't changed much. I've still got some of the same clothes I had 10 years ago!

David still works at CAJ and we're still with OMF International.

We still don't own any property in Australia, but do own a storage container that has a few of our Australian-based goods in it.

And of course my God hasn't changed. My faith in him has been challenged and has grown, but it remains a core part of who I am.

So, what about you? Where were you 10 years ago? What were you doing? What's changed? What hasn't changed?