the back burner

(That quote is from Jennifer Daniels, by the way.)

Or we have some sort of assumption about what "putting down roots" is! I've moved a bunch in my life time and as I look towards my future I find it hard to imagine living in the same place for the next 40 years. It just isn't going to happen nor do I want it to happen; and that doesn't mean that I'm using it as some sort of "safety mechanism". Its just a part of who I am and the way I live. I put roots down in my own way.

Some people do that, it's true, but there is certainly a kind of maturity that doesn't seem accessible apart from an extended duration in the same place. If you move every year or so, as most 20-somethings these days seem to, then you're pretty constantly starting fresh and never have the chance to build anything larger or longer. And since it's the early stuff that's the easiest, this can indeed be a way of avoiding the responsibilities and realities of adult life.

Relationships work this way as well. Getting to know someone for the first time is fun and not all that hard. There's the realiziation of common interests and aquaintences, the exploration of each other's personality, and the sharing of experiences. But once that's out of the way and things start to get established, you're faced with the long task of constant daily maintenence. This isn't generally as exciting, but I've come to believe that this is where the real meat of a relationship is to be found.

If we aren't willing to do this kind of work with the places that we are, there's an argument to be made that marriage isn't a particularly good idea. Rootedness in the former does something to demonstrate readiness for the latter, and refusal to "settle down" in the former can be an indicator of immaturity for the latter.

Still, I think it's important to make a distinction between planning a lifestyle that's constantly moving around, and simply moving around a lot. I think that shifting from short-term assignment to short-term assignment, always with a clear and predetermined end, is unhealthy and immature. At some point you have to stop preparing for the future and actually start doing things.

For example: in 2004 I knew I was going to be in Chattanooga for about six to nine months. But instead of finding some internship or short-term project, I took a job that I could conceiveably still be doing now. I didn't particularly like it, and would have almost certainly moved on to something better had I stayed in town, but there wasn't anything preventing me from staying there forever.

I think it's important for people our age to start doing things that we could do for the rest of our lives, even if we don't wind up doing any of them for very long. It shows a willingness to commit yourself to something long term to even accept an open-ended assignment.

There are lots of hard, character-building, maturity-enhancing qualities about maintaining "long-distance roots." This seems to be the kind of thing that jkrue does well.

And you're absolutely right about commitment, Ryan. The term "open-ended assignment" sends chills up and down my spine.

(That must be why I'm not yet married.)

Coming from someone who, with only a few months lived here and there in other countries, has lived, worked, and gone to school in the same county of childhood residence, Bloom where you're planted!!!

Some do not have the honor of living in the same town all of their lives and others do not have the privledge of seeing the world. However if you do it correctly - you get both. But this is not because one has this secret talent. NO it is because one follows the lead of the Almighty. He is the one that provides committment to the intercity as well as those in other countries without making it look hard.
The Lord places us where He wants us which does not always make sense now, but years down the road we might be blessed with a glimpse of the impact He has had on the people around us, while using our inconsistancies and lack of commitment as His tool to reached those we did not think He could.