If there is anything that I’ve learned the most on this race that has carried through each country I’ve been in, it’s that home is not a physical building with your permanent address. It’s so much more than that.
I grew up in just two houses. One of them until I was about 10 and the other one is still where I go when I visit my mom and sister. My mom always hated when I was in college and I’d be on the phone and say something like, “I’ll be home around 6.” because she’d always think I was coming to see her. When I said home, in her eyes it meant where my blood family is. I used to agree with her and tried to avoid saying it. But the more I lived away from what was at one point in my life “home”, the more I’ve come to see things in a different light.
My home is with the people I love. It is not a permanent place or building. It is solely the people God has surrounded me with. Right now, I feel most at home when my whole team is together. I feel home when we are laughing so hard that someone is inevitably crying of laughter. I feel at home when I take a step back and realize I never knew so much joy in my life. I feel home when I know I can trust these women with anything now, even though we’ve only known each other since July. I feel at home when I feel the absence of a missing teammate when we’re separated for more than a few hours. I feel home when I see that my teammates know so much about me and I know so much about them. I feel home when I’m sick or hurt and my team knows what to do. I feel home when my teammates give me a hug, just because. I feel home when I get a quick glance at a teammate and I see a genuine smile coming my way. I feel at home when I know that without a doubt someone on my team will always join me for ice cream. I feel even more at home when they join me for a brownie a la mode at our favorite coffee shop in Nicaragua at 7:30am (true story, on more than one occasion). I feel home when my teammates go out of their way to love me so well.
I feel home when I have hosts that feel like mom and dad in Costa Rica. I feel home when Bryan cooks us food that I didn’t even know existed (shout out to that chocolate gravy, though!). I feel home when Beth tells us to be good when we leave the house for a walk. I feel home when I’m in Nicaragua on an island with a family that literally gives us all that they have to offer to make us feel welcome. I feel home when I’m in Honduras and my 6-year-old sister, Abi, is asking for pancakes for the 4th meal in a row. I feel home when my other Honduran sister takes the time to teach me how to make tasty hot chocolate. I feel home when I can wake up and it’s normal to go visit our pet monkey. I feel home when for the first time in my life I live in a place where a beach is less than 15 minutes of walking away. I feel home when my Filipino family cooks for us like we will never eat again.
I think it goes without saying that home is more than the physical structure that surrounds you. It can be found anywhere and everywhere if you’re with people that make you feel the way my team does and the families I’ve stayed with do. Who makes up your home?
UPDATE: We don’t really have wifi this month and honestly, I’m totally down for that! It is absolutely beautiful here. It’s pretty humid, but worth it when you’re staying where I am. We are working with Threads of Hope and I really love it! We are doing more of the admin side of things, which is cool because we get to see all the products that get brought in, and let me tell you, they are so stinkin’ cool! Food rocks. People rock more. Our bigger team is the bomb.com. You guys will love this month’s tour video, it may even come in 2 parts! So keep your eyes peeled.
We have a lot of Christmas things planned! It makes being away from home a lot easier. Christmas Eve our hosts are planning a feast with many of our favorite foods and Christmas Day is for the kids! We have been singing a lot of Christmas songs and listened to the Michael Buble Christmas album a few times (okay, a lot of times). Most of us are wearing Christmas colored Threads of Hope bracelets too! It’s been a good holiday season so far. It is weird to be so hot in December, but I guess there are worse things in the world.
PRAYER REQUESTS: Threads of Hope is working to build a birthing center in this community. Please pray for the funds and approval of the building to come through smoothly. We go to a church of almost 500. Many of them are the women that make the bracelets to keep them from other lifestyles to earn money. Please pray for them. They are wonderful people and it’s awesome that God has made a way for them to experience a life of freedom from that. Also pray for our team as we spend another big holiday away from our families in the states.
