As the Covid 19 pandemic spread to each of our corners of the world earlier this year, many of us had to consider access to medical care (or lack of it) as we made decisions about staying or evacuating. When Rachel and her husband found out they were pregnant with their fourth child right as lockdowns began, they had to make the hard choice to leave their home in India and evacuate to America. In this episode, Rachel recounts her experience of leaving on short notice, while sick and pregnant, with three young children. She shares how she and her family have dealt with unmet expectations and loss upon their return to their passport country, and how their experience with cross-culture transitions has equipped them to be an encouragement and support to others in this challenging season.

Connect with our guest, Rachel

Connect with co-host, Denise

Connect with co-host,  Alicia 

Connect with our editor, music producer, and ITTS co-host,  Melissa

Questions discussed during this episode:

How did you first come to learn of Covid 19, and what were your first thoughts about it?

What did it look like for your family to get ready to evacuate on such short notice?

What has adjusting been like, and what have some of the difficulties been?

What have you noticed about yourself lately?

What are you learning?

What would you say to a future generation if they asked what it was like to live through the Covid 19 pandemic?

Mentioned in this episode:

Nurturing Wanderlust

Noteworthy Quotes:

“Everything began to change that first week of March. We found out we were pregnant, we started hearing all this information on lockdown and mask wearing, and the seriousness of it was escalating.”

“We had about 12-18 hours to pack up our house, pack up our things, get everything arranged, and leave.”

“It felt like it had already been a journey by the time we even got to the gate.”

“As you can imagine, having three young children who are starving and tired and had just been through a lot of travel, it was crazy. “

“All of these expectations that my children had for coming back to the U.S. were stripped away from them. They couldn’t see family like they thought they would be able to, and all of these places that they looked forward to coming back to were not available.”

“A lot of our homeschooling looked the same, and because of that I felt like it was just a comfort zone for them that gave them freedom to open up to us.”

“Leaving our home in India was probably one of the hardest decisions my husband and I have ever had to make.”

“One of the things I’ve had that’s been a challenge and I’ve had to grow and learn about in this season is how to give myself grace and how to allow myself to receive help when I’ve needed it.”

“I can trust that whatever happens, we’ll be taken care of.”

“How can we help each other in this time; how can we unite in this time to really support each other?”

“Something I’ve continued to remind myself of in this season is that I’m not the only one going through this.”

“Because of our life of transition, we can then come alongside those who aren’t as used to so much transition and just be a support for them, be a source of encouragement.”

“I think an accurate way to describe much of what many people are going through is loss.”

“So walking through that loss, one, is recognizing that it’s not just something I have to get through but it’s actually ok to mourn it.”

“Our plans were taken away but we weren’t given new plans as a replacement.”

“This time has allowed me to see the need for educating myself on others’ perspectives.”

“I do not understand everyone’s circumstances and I have to learn to stretch myself to be able to love others well.”

Related episodes and articles:

Episode 32: This Global Pandemic with Kim in Ukraine | show notes

Episode 31: Leaving Your Host Country During the Pandemic with Alicia Boyce | show notes

ITTS #9: All About Staying During a Pandemic | show notes

Show credits: 

Hosted by Denise James, Alicia Boyce, and Melissa Faraday // produced and edited by Melissa Faraday // content managed by Heather Fallis.

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