1998- This year brings lots of big changes to our family. Some of the highlights include: we apply to Preston Road Church of Christ in hopes that we will be hired on as missionaries. They have an enormous application! This is the first step in a long and rewarding relationship with this body of believers. After a face to face interview in Dallas we are hired!
I quit teaching at the end of the ‘97/’98 school year in order to stay home with my new baby. John Isaac finally makes his arrival in July! This is a major transition for our family. I never knew how tired I could be until I cared for a newborn! I also go through my first bout of depression after his birth.
My sister, Jenny, gets married two weeks after Isaac is born. She lives in Jackson, TN which is near Memphis. We are able to visit each other often.
1999- Bryan graduates with his M.A. in Missions from HUGSR in May. We move to Dallas, TX to “bond” with our sponsoring church. I feel overwhelmed at the love and support that PRCC lavishes upon us! I think to myself often during these months, “But, we haven’t done anything yet!” Nevertheless, it feels good that church members want to know us and learn about our future work in Togo.
During the summer, I discover that I am (unexpectedly) pregnant again! (I know! You can insert wisecracks here…) This time I literally have a panic attack when the reality sinks in that my time of language learning in France won’t be going according to my plan, ie: actually learning French! Bryan and I are faced with the decision of where to have the baby. Do we stay in the US and go to language school behind our teammates? Or do we go ahead with the schedule and leave for language school in January? We decide to leave in January as originally planned. I attend class for six weeks before Graham Terrell is born. He is born on a beautiful snowy day in March. Oops…I’m starting the next year!
2000- We left the States on January 10th. I think this date will always stand out in my mind as the day that everything changed. PRCC and our families give us a wonderful, tearful send-off at the airport.
As I mentioned above, we were in Albertville, France attending language school. Looking back, I’d say this is when the “hardest season of my life thus far!!!” began. My parents are having serious marital issues. I feel isolated being so far away from my family during this difficult time. I also feel isolated because I’m unable to learn French like the rest of my team due to having a newborn. Then, there’s all of the other stuff that comes with leaving one’s home culture.
My parents and siblings are able to visit us during our time in France. It is uplifting to visit with them.
In August, we move to Togo!!! This is a surreal experience for me. It’s what we’ve talked and dreamed about for a long time and now we’re living it. It feels very strange. We find a home and begin to unpack our many, many boxes.
Around November, Graham has a seizure while I’m chatting on the phone with a friend. I hang up immediately and rush to his side. By the time I reach him he’s stopped seizing and smiles up at me. This is the start of a long, confusing and stressful process of trying to figure out what’s going on with our sweet baby.
More later….
Thanks for posting this Tracey! I’m with you each step of the way as I read. The fact that our lives are about to fork from each other for the first time in ten years is very difficult for me to process on every level. I love you, friend! Keep writing!
Reading this brought tears to my eyes as I reflected on precious memories that are so beautiful and bittersweet. I think that things that are beautiful and bittersweet are my favorite, a true reflection of the richness of life in Christ! Some thoughts on this are that Isaac’s birth was an amazing time for me, too, and maybe for everyone on the team. He was the first baby born to one of my really close friends and seeing you parent helped take the edge off of my new motherhood six months later. Also, I reflect the grace and faith you walked in through those wearying times in France and the first year or two here. God has really shown in your life Trace, and I thank Him for the work he has done and is doing in you.
I am really appreciating the insight into this time of your life. I didn’t know that you struggled through these times, but of course, at the time I couldn’t have understood it even if I knew that you were. This is so healthy, Tracey, and really interesting for the rest of us — thank you for sharing!!