Many Hats

 I’m not sure where the saying ‘wearing lots of hats’ comes from, but the saying came to new life for me one day when I was traveling and I saw a man with literally lots of hats on his head. It was bizarre. There was this man walking through the airport with a stack of around 10 hats. Soon I could understand the probable circumstances. He was probably going to sell the hats and didn’t want them crushed so instead of packing them, he wore them. This theory seemed to be supported by the fact that all the hats were brand-new and they were all women’s hats and didn’t seem to match the older man’s style otherwise.

Man wearing many hats

We wear lots of different hats in our lives— each representing a different role that we have— we’re parents, we’re homeschool teachers, we’re team leaders for our team, we’re unit leaders over all the island teams, we’re English teachers, we’re friends, we’re mentors… With each role, we have different goals and priorities and tasks. Combining them together it can be confusing.

One of our teammates mentioned that it is sometimes hard to know which ‘hat’ we are wearing at any given time, since we function as both a team leader and the unit leader to our team. For every other team on the island those two roles are distinct people, but for our team it’s only us. And it is true that some things we communicate because we are wearing our team leader hat, other times it is the unit leader talking to the team (whether they know it or not).

Another situation is with our youngest son and homeschool. Sometimes it is harder for him to accept us in our role as teacher because we are also his parents. We see the respect he gives to the opinion and instructions of his local school teacher, when he will often challenge or question ours.  It is hard to separate our different roles with him.

Preparing to help us de-ice the freezer

There is also our good friend Ma Nadjma, with whom we long to have real and meaningful conversations. But we are also her boss (she helps us with laundry and chores), so we find that our friendship with her is always mixed with this power dynamic that means that she will always agree with anything we say instead of truly thinking about and interacting with the things we say.  While we see her as a friend, I don’t think we can ever fully take the ‘boss hat’ off with her.

Sometimes our hats fit together well and it doesn’t matter that we are wearing multiple hats because the priorities are aligned and the decisions that we would make are the same in the different roles. But other times, they are in conflict. The parent wants our son to be able to relax and play after local school, the homeschool teacher knows he needs to get things done.  Ma Nadjma can perhaps be honest and open with a friend, but with a boss she feels the need to be careful and respect them by agreeing with them.

Then I look at our relationship with God— we are children-servants-sheep-brides before our Father-King-Shepherd-Bridegroom. Perhaps it is actually more common than not to wear more than one hat in our relationships with others. Most relationships end up being complicated and multi-faceted given time. Maybe that’s just what makes each relationship rich and unique.

Tom has to don winter hat (in colder country for conference)

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Megan was able to go to the plateau and do a day of language study with our medical team there. We are thankful that her back has bounced back well after the long day of taxi-bus rides. Tom made the same-day connection on the big island is safely in mainland Africa attending a conference with other leaders. There hasn’t been any more unrest on the islands. . Muki has come with stories of having needs, praying and seeing immediate answers which have greatly encouraged him (and us!).

PRAYERS REQUESTED
There has been a number of illnesses making the rounds on the islands. Both of our teammates were ill this past week and are thankfully doing better. Pray especially that our one teammate would recover completely as she is in her last week on the islands. Pray that she would have good times saying goodbyes— may she share lots of truth in her final visits. We have also heard that some people from mainland Africa brought cholera to the islands. They have been quarantined, so hopefully it won’t spread, but the government is encouraging good sanitation.  Pray that there would be protection from further illness and healing for those who are sick. Pray for Megan and our youngest as they are alone for the next week. Pray for Tom’s leadership meetings and for his travels to visit our kids for the boarding school midterm break before he returns to the islands. There is a religious holiday on the islands on Thursday— pray that it would provide opportunities for us to share truth.