An Ordinary Life, An Extraordinary Life

15 months - 8, New Zealand They say New Zealand was one of the last places to be settled by humans, probably about 1250-1300 A.D. when the Maoris arrived. Maoris have been called the Vikings of the Pacific because of their legendary ocean-exploring skills. New Zealand is comprised of two main islands with a number of smaller ones. The Maoris call it Aotearoa - the land of the long white cloud.  A Dutch explorer was the first European to discover New Zealand in 1642. They named it Nova Zeelandia after a Dutch province. Then Captain Cook came exploring in 1769 and anglicized the name to New Zealand. In 1840 the British declared sovereignty and signed The Treaty of Waitangi with the Maoris and in 1907 New Zealand effectively became independent when it was declared a dominion. 3 When people ask me where I’m from I usually say, “Originally from New Zealand…a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”. Like the Cook Islands, New Zealand has also become a very popular tourist destination, e...

 Chapter One - The Early Years “God gave you a body and a bright healthy mind; He had a special purpose that He wanted you to find, So He made you something special,  You're the only one of your kind.” 1 It was July 4th, 1976 - the bicentennial of America’s independence. We were singing “You’re Something Special” at a performance at the old airport in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii as part of a brand new children’s performing arts ministry called King’s Kids. I was nine years old and loving life. I wasn’t really thinking about the future but in King’s Kids we were learning about how God had a special plan and purpose for our lives. Decades later, some of us performing that day wondered where in world those special plans had gone. We felt like we had been built up to take over the world with ease, only to find that life could actually be pretty dang hard. Thirty years later, I was living in Virginia. I was working as an outside vendor doing paintless dent removal in a reconditioning assem...

An Ordinary Life, An Extraordinary Life: How a Third Culture Kid learned to be Okay with just Being Normal Introduction American sociologist David C. Pollock defines a third culture kid as, “a person who has spent a significant part of [their] developmental years outside the parents' culture. The TCK frequently builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture may be assimilated into the TCK's life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background.” 1 This is me.  I grew up travelling the world in an international missionary organization – an extraordinary life. Now I live in suburban America - an ordinary life. Ordinary is a relative term, of course. I understand how privileged I am compared with most people in the world. Yet, though I like my life, love my wife, love my kids, love our friends, love this country - it’s not the kind of life I would have necessarily chosen....

So I had a compelling urge to write about my life as I feel like I've lived several through the years. I've been incredibly privileged compared to most, getting to travel the world and live a comfortable, middle-class existence in the United States. I have contacted some publishers but didn't get any real interest. So I'm going to bit blog my story to see if anyone else might find it interesting. If you decide to take this journey with me, I'd love to get your feedback - good and bad. Tell me if you find some parts interesting, boring, funny, stoopid. I hope you'll join me in this venture. Thanks, Stephen