Including next year, our family will have transitioned 5 times in 4 years. We will have moved intercity, interstate and soon overseas as well. Transition has become the new normal for this season of our family life. There are both joys and challenges. But particularly transition provides an opportunity to grow in self-awareness. We are thrust into new situations constantly and are learning much about ourselves (often painfully).

One of the benefits of our training in St Andrews Hall is that it can be seen as a dry run for next year. Moving interstate (while not as hard as moving overseas) still mimics that process for our family. Taking note of how Sam and I and the kids reacted and related will give us clues about what to watch out for. The way we solved things at St Andrews might provide good strategies to implement in Cambodia. Practice won’t make us perfect, but hopefully we’ll learn from our mistakes for next time. In that sense a ‘practice’ move is gold.