When I was in junior high I used to travel four hours to my aunt and uncle’s house in Oklahoma for a week or two in the summer. I remember my parents asking me to call every night while I was away. One time during our conversation I said, “I love ya but I don’t miss ya.” Apparently I was having a really good time with the cousins. In all my church camps, softball tournaments, vacationing and other travels when I would be away from home I never had a lot of issues with being homesick.
As of today I have been gone for exactly seven weeks.
I miss home a lot. I really miss hot showers. I miss showering more than once a week. I miss our lake house. I miss my dog and two cats. I miss my Kitchenaid. I miss Andy’s frozen custard, Netflix, and NFL. I really miss my church and my friends. Shout-out to Jordan and Sydney for your engagement! Whoop!
Most of all I miss my family.
My family and I are very close. My parents have been happily married for thirty-three years. I have a brother who is eight years older and a nephew who just started third grade. Back home my family would grab lunch together about once a week. We spend many weekends together at the lake house. I also visit with my grandparents frequently and see my extended family many times throughout the year on top of holidays.
Last week I finally was able to Facetime with my mum. In these past seven weeks I’ve only seen my mother’s face once and heard my dad’s voice for a brief instance before our phone call lost connection. I haven’t had much communication with anyone else except for some Facebook messages, texts, and emails. The lack of communication is not due to the lack of access to Wi-Fi (except in Bolivia) but mostly to my lack of time and effort.
I have felt the emotions of homesickness often these past seven weeks. But they have not been overpowering… at least yet. We will see how I feel over the holidays. I think I am going to handle it okay though. I heard these points in a sermon by John Piper:
- Relationships in Christ are more permanent and more precious than relationships with families.
- Faithfulness to Christ defines the value of life and all other relationships get their significance from that.
- Marriage is temporary and secondary and finally gives way to the relationship that it points to, the primary relationship that is Christ and the Church.
I hope to get married and have a family someday. But I have to remember never to put my marriage or family above Christ.
God called me to the World Race. I could have chosen not to come. I could have chosen not to give up the comforts of home. When it comes down to it however, there wasn’t a choice. There wasn’t a choice because I knew God has big things in store for my life that will come from the World Race. There wasn’t a choice because my relationship with Christ is the most important thing on this earth. I was given this journey as a tool to work on that relationship. How could I not take it?
To my mum, dad, Chess, Tristan, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends: I love ya but I don’t miss ya.
Just kidding. I do miss you. But I’m not ready to come home yet.
P.S. Funding update. I’m just under $8700 meaning I only need $2300 to meet my next deadline! Woohoo! I need your help to stay on the race!
Much love!
Leesh
