Why I Don't Talk About MK Life - Guest Post

As the mother of MKs (missionary kids), I field lots of questions about MK life and how the kids are doing. My middle daughter, Julia, is the author of her own blog - about being an author, not about being an MK. But whenever she posts about MK life, she receives a great response. This prompted her to write this post, which I have invited her to share here on my blog. If you'd like to read more of her work, you can find her at her Julia Witmer, YA Author page.

For those of you who don’t know, I am an MK (missionary kid). People tend to enjoy reading my posts about my life as a missionary and are confused when I don’t write about that. After all – I’m a missionary! Why shouldn’t I write about my thrilling life living in a tropical climate spreading the word of Jesus? There’s only one answer for that, really:

It’s not thrilling.

Believe it or not, my life is no more exciting than yours. I spend my days doing school and trying not to die of the heat. Don’t believe me? I’ll give you a quick run-down of my day today.

1. Manage to get out of my bed and go downstairs; hopefully pretend to be awake enough to eat breakfast
2. Eat cereal
3. Do some school
4. Take a nap
5. Do more school
6. Eat lunch
7. More school
8. Hide in my room some

Wasn’t that just exciting? The thrilling life of an MK, right? Honestly, I’m here because God told me to come and support my Mom and Dad as they spread God’s word. I’m not doing any “missionarying,” I’m hanging out with my siblings and being silly and supporting my Dad and Mom as they go out and be awesome. But the truth of the matter is that even they don’t go out yelling about Jesus 24/7 – that’s not how it works. 

Dad’s job is just like anyone else’s in the States. He goes to teach on his work days. When it isn’t a work day, he stays at home and prepares lessons for work days, hangs out with family, goes to church, and, occasionally, goes to meetings and events of some sort.

The only differences between my life and yours are that I live in another country, and you have my family’s picture on your refrigerator.