What is home to you?
Is it a place, a certain building, a town…?
For me, home is where the heart is.
(Ok, JK ‘cause that is waaaay to cheesy)
It’s actually along the right lines though. For me, home is where my people are.
One thing that is certain when you embark on the World Race is that you will make friends; and not just any kind of friends but incredibly close, loyal, life-long friends.
Going back to training camp almost a year ago, I went in not really knowing anyone yet but definitely with an idea of what people were like based on our limited interaction up to that point. And, it’s safe to say that all my expectations of what people on my squad were like was blown out of the water, and that has continued through today.
There are some I knew I’d be close with right way and others I wasn’t sure about, but we’ve become close anyway. My first team was put together at training camp, and honestly, I wasn’t sure about a couple of them at first, but now we all look back at those first four months together as some of the best times on the Race. Similarly, my second team has people on it I never really thought I’d get to know very deeply, yet God had other plans and placed me on a team that has been insanely fun and healthy in our dynamic.
This squad has become and will stay my family.
This isn’t to say I don’t miss my family and friends back home; I do! Some days all I want is to be back in Minnesota, but I’ve come to realize that that’s because of the people there, not the actual place. Yes, I love the U.S. and my state, but at the end of the day, I really don’t care where I am if I have my God and my people.
My people, or better yet, my chosen family (consisting of all my friends/family both here and back home) challenge me, support me, have fun with me, and let me open up and be myself; and that’s why I don’t miss home.
I don’t miss home because my home is with me wherever I am. It’s the people around me that I get to do life with whether we can’t get away from each other (Nate and I haven’t been separated for more than a half day since Jan. 3) or if we’re on opposite sides of the globe. I’m realizing the deeper sense of what Jesus said, in Matt. 12:48-50:
“… Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
This is my heavenly family. They live all over the world, but they are (you are) my family forever.
God Bless!
-Ben
