Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Coming Home

As we swiftly approach the time for us to board 2 planes that will take us back to Texas (in 10 days to be exact), I have been asked if I was excited about going home to America.  
Quite frankly, that is a complex and multifaceted question.  

Where is a missionary's home?  Truthfully, a missionary's home is Heaven.  We live a life where we never really fit in.  We have been radically changed by living overseas so that living in America, even for a short time, is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole but also, our blatant American-ness, is never fully disguised here in Zambia. 

Are we looking forward to 5 months in America?  I speak for myself, when I cautiously, say "I think so."  Why am I cautious?  Well, for one, life in America - for all of us - is just a pause button on our real life here in Zambia; a very busy pause button at that.  Yes, I am totally looking forward to time with our families, every convenience imaginable, toilets that flush all the time, conveyor belts at the grocery store, electricity full time, shopping, and worship with my church family but really, it is very easy for me to get overwhelmed by the everything-ness of America.  Also, as missionaries, we have learned to go deep into relationships very quickly and sustain those relationships at all costs.  When we return back to the States, it is like we are trying to re-insert ourselves back into the lives of the people that we left almost 7 years ago and it doesn't always work they way we hope.   

We are not spiritual giants.  We are just people who live in obedience to the Lord at all costs but to tell you the truth, we desperately need encouragement, refreshment, and authentic relationships, too.  We will spend a lot of our time while in the States speaking to Southern Baptist churches about what the Lord is doing here in Zambia but we also need people to come along side of us to prop us up and choose to live life with us while we in America.

So, are we coming home?  No, but let us all rejoice that none of us are home wherever we are on this planet called Earth.  However, we are all looking forward to that celestial home of Heaven.  
Let's live each day to glorify the Lord and share His gospel at every opportunity.
We can do this together...