Living Like a Square Peg

As we prepare for our upcoming home assignment we are more and more shifting our thinking toward our destination.  The more I think about picking up our family and relocating to a "foreign" country the more I feel like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole.  Let me give you just one of the more recent examples of what I'm talking about.  How would you answer the following questions?

1. What is your current address?
2. What was your previous address?
3. Phone number?
4. Monthly Income?
5. Do you own a car?
6. What is your employer's address?

Pretty straight forward right?  No trick questions.  Nothing too difficult.  Nothing to ponder.  It might take you all of 3 minutes to answer all six questions.  Well not true for me.  Recently we had to fill out an application for prospective housing it took me almost 30 minutes to fill it out.  Sounds crazy I know.  Let me give you a peek into the thought process that went into answering these questions. 

1. What is your current address?
   Hummm do they mean my current address in Kenya?  If so its a PO Box, we don't have a physical address.  I could give them the physical address that we all use for the school (which is completely fictitious, but it makes people feel better than when they see a PO Box.) Maybe they want my "permenant" address in the US.  But is really my parents' address not mine, I don't live there.  I know, how about the mission headquarters address?  Wait, that's in Georgia, I'm applying for housing in Michigan, that might look weird.  I'll come back to this question.
2. What was your previous address?
   Do they mean my last address from last furlough or that last house we lived in before we came out to the field? That was 11 years ago.  We did move houses at the school but the address is the same PO Box regardless.  Oh, the mission headquarters moved from New York to Georgia I could use the old New York address. Or I could use my "permanent" address again but that would be that answer as the first question.  I'll come back to this question.
3. Phone number?
   My Kenyan phone number?  Land line or mobile?  The land line works some times but the mobile is more expensive to call.  Do I just write it the number as it is or do I write exactly what they need to dial from the US to Kenya? What do you dial from the US to call internationally anyway?  Do I give them a local number of a family member?  What if they call the number? I better call my parents and tell them what to say if someone calls.  What should they say? I'll come back to this question.
4. Monthly Income?
   My what?  Oh, how about my monthly support target that we are trying to raise?  We haven't seen that for quite some time though.  How about the amount that came in last month?  Well it's different from month to month.  I know, our monthly living expense.  No that changes from month to month too.  How much should it be? I'll come back.
5. Do you own a car?
   Yes.  Wait, but it's in Kenya, so I won't have it in the States.  A couple people said we could borrow their car for the year but I technically don't own them. Hmmm I'll come back.
6. What is your employer's address?
   Oh I know this one.  PO Box 80..... oh no its a PO Box again.  Should I use the school address?  Or the fake physical one?  Then it might be same as my current address in question 1.  It looks like I live at work.  Oh wait I do live at work.  That looks weird will they understand the situation? I could use the Mission's address in Georgia.  That looks even more weird.  I live in Michigan or Kenya (depending on how I answer #1) and work in Georgia.  If I want to get technical, my employer is African Inland Mission Intl. which is headquartered in England. So now I live in Kenya with and address in Michigan but work for someone in England.  Yeah this application is getting denied for sure.  I'll come back.

I often say "We live a crazy life!" and after things like this I am convinced even more....we are NOT NORMAL PEOPLE. Who else can be stumped by the most basic question in life, "where are you from?" We are left stammering and stuttering for the answer. Sometimes we just feel like we are living like a square peg. We don't fit into any mold. It is a crazy life indeed. But I wouldn't trade it.