CHAPTER TWO

It’s Thursday, Oct 25, 2008 – 6 days before we relocate to Panama. 350 days ago we embarked on a 6-month adventure in Panama with the stated purpose of recuperating and reconnecting as a family and a hope that by the end of it we’d have some clarity about what was next for us as a family.

As with any true adventure into the unknown, there were many things that caught us by surprise. Not the least of which was a nagging and evolving hunch (about 4 months in) that we might actually be living in the prologue to the next chapter of our lives. The thought was exciting and intimidating. It’s one thing to go on a 6-month family adventure – it’s quite another to consider living “life in perpetual beta” (as my friend, Chris would refer to it) or as another friend, Jim, put it – “a life of relentless uncertainty” – in a different country, different culture, different language, different everything to pursue a growing call to serve the underprivileged.

We agreed to make no decision until we were back in Canada for at least 30 days. After lots of prayer and anxious consideration of the implications that such an outlandish decision would mean for us and our kids (especially at this moment in history), we decided to “live in perpetual beta” and join a compelling story being written through the lives of some incredible new friends in Panama who have chosen to leave places of privilege to serve the underprivileged (e.g. investor/humanitarians). It’s a surprising marriage of so many different experiences of our lives over the last 20 years. I’ll share more in detail about this in a later entry.

But here we are , 6 months later - our house is sold, we’ve sold off all our furniture (now that’s an interesting emotional exercise), we’ve liquidated much of our other assets, and we’ve been assigned seats 17A,B,C and D on FL888 leaving Calgary on Wed. October 29th at 7:00am.

The last 6 months have been an interesting emotional roller coaster ride. We realize we’re taking a huge leap in faith which has already begun to stretch us (especially me – Paul). Dismantling our life, as we’ve know it, for a life we have yet to discover, has effectively uncovered (with the proficiency of a master psychoanalyst) all kinds of previously submerged emotions and unconscious thoughts . Although I have not enjoyed one minute of the discomfort of “facing into my stuff”, I have to admit, I feel like I’m truly learning to become more and more comfortable living with “relentless uncertainty”. It’s actually quite a freeing feeling.

So, we’re firing up our blog site again. I know we’ll have lots to share with you, especially as we get set up in a new home (which we have yet to discover) and the new stories we’ll find ourselves in. So check back regularly. Thanks for staying connected. Your emails and calls mean more than you’ll know.

If you want to send us messages individually, here’s how you can reach us:
Paul: drpday@gmail.com
Linda: lindaday44@hotmail.com
Sydney: sydney.t.day@gmail.com
Josh: josh.d.day@gmail.com

Talk to you later.

Paul