I got to come back to the United States for about 24 hours during our travel time coming from Central America to Europe. During these 24 hours I went through so many different emotions. Landing back on American soil after being away for 3 months felt good, so good that I almost felt guilty for being so happy to be back to all the familiar comforts that I had given up for this year. I knew that this was only a short time to be back to “normal life” so I didn’t want to get too used to it but at the same time I wanted to enjoy every minute. Our squad got through customs, baggage claim, and security in Miami just in time to make our connecting flight to New York. Our travel day had started at 2:30am and we finally arrived in New York around 9:30pm.
My first emotions were excitement, tiredness, and anxiousness. As we walked into baggage claim in New York we were greeted by signs and smiles from friends and family of some people on my squad. It warmed my heart so much to see people reunited with their parents and exchanging hugs and tears of happiness. Being tired didn’t help my emotions and I felt like crying right along with them because it was such a special moment. It was also a sad reminder that I won’t be able to experience that moment for 8 more months. To get my mind off of being sad I took advantage of eating some homemade cookies and treats that one of my squad mates’ moms made for our squad. I was overwhelmed by the moment and excited for the night ahead of me.
After retrieving my bag, three other girls on my squad and I took a taxi to our hotel near Times Square. I was extremely blessed by my teammate Alex’s parents; Mr. and Mrs. Johnson who so graciously put us up in a hotel for the night so we did not have to stay at the airport overnight (THANK YOU). We arrived at the beautiful Manhattan at Times Square Hotel and we had extremely comfortable beds with wonderfully hot showers that I had been dreaming of the past 3 months. I was feeling so blessed by these comforts that I normally take for granted. My friends and I decided to check out Times Square at night since we were right down the road from all the action. All of a sudden I was caught up in the bright lights, the people walking in every direction, and the familiar stores that were unavailable in Central America. We happened to walk past a food vendor that was closing and we all got free donuts! I tried to act like everyone else so I wouldn’t look out of place and might blend in with the rest of the New York crowd but with my sweat pants and tired eyes I must have stuck out quite a bit because several people asked us where we were from so I guess we weren’t fooling anyone.
Thoughts were running through my mind about how much excess there was in the city. There is so much there that people have decided to be necessary in one way or another. After living in communities with very little it made me question how we as Americans define necessity. As wonderful as it is having everything I could possibly imagine at my fingertips, how much of it do I actually need and how much of it is excess, especially compared to the millions of people in the world who don’t even have the basic necessities to survive. While I had these thoughts I didn’t dwell on them because I have learned that I don’t need to feel guilty for living a blessed life because this allows me to bless others which is what I am on this trip to do.
My friends and I enjoyed nice meals and I even got a mini spa experience getting my fingernails and toenails done. It’s the little things that make me feel pretty even for a couple days when I don’t always have that opportunity while we are in poor communities doing ministry. I also restocked on some familiar toiletries that I was running out of at Walgreens. I have never been so excited to shop at Walgreens as I was today! Every part of my layover in New York was even better than I could have expected it to be. I am glowing with how happy I am with everything I was able to do and experience in this short 24 hour period.
I am thrilled I got to experience a little taste of home but I also will have to detach again a little bit from the American lifestyle. It is so easy to fall back into a comfortable routine with comfortable things. I have realized that comfortable doesn’t necessarily mean happy though. An example of this was when I was going through security in between Miami and New York and I overheard some security workers talking about how much longer they had left of their shift. They sounded so depressed and like they were really unhappy with their jobs and even their lives. This reminded me of how I felt working some of the jobs I had before I left. Just going to work and surviving the 8 hour shift before I could go home and watch TV or something else unfulfilling. This race is difficult, it really is. Life is not always easy or comfortable or fun. At times I can get caught up on all the things that aren’t comfortable but at the end of the day, the work I am doing right now is fulfilling- way more fulfilling than anything I could be doing at home.
So life is good, and I am very excited to continue on this adventure to Europe and share the love of Jesus with people in Albania, Bulgaria, and Romania. This is a great job to have- doing God’s work is better than any other job that I can think of.
