Transit Time

I’ve chosen to become a transit user and as I’ve logged some hours on the bus, I’ve had a few insights about transit time.

1. Life is slower and requires more margin. I can’t hop on my bike 20 minutes before an appointment and arrive there sweaty, but on time! While I may chafe, this in-transit time has given me space to think, to pray and/or use my “Crackberry”. I get to choose my attitude and how I’ll use this “free time”.


2. I do best when I accept the time restrictions and even plan for them. I’ve learned to do the 100 yd dash for the bus, sometimes making it and other times not. Sometimes the bus is early or late, and I’m the one who must adjust.

I was thinking about how my new experiences are helping me identify a bit more with my refugee friends. Their lives, now that they’ve arrived in Canada, are about waiting.

• Waiting for work permits and interim support


• waiting to learn English


• waiting to be accredited to work in their profession


• waiting to see their families again


• waiting for us to provide closets for their rooms...
  

And, their claim process is about someone else telling them what they need to do, how it has to be done, where it must be submitted and when it’s due.

I’m grateful for a chance to invest in their lives. There’s nothing like a lively conversation with an unexpected friend on the bus to make the time fly! My prayer is that we can be friends for the journey who bring godly encouragement during the process.

I’ve also noticed that on longer bus trips I get so lulled into complacency that I stop looking for my stop and almost forget to get off! Welcome Home’s goal-setting process aims at helping each refugee identify what they’d like to accomplish, how we can help them get there and then celebrate when they do. I believe that’s what Jesus would have us do.

Please pray for our friends who are in “Transit Time” that they would come to know Jesus while they wait. And, pray that we would be good travel companions.