Through the Facebook posts, Instagram pictures, and blogs, you'd probably never guess that I am homesick.
Ha.
There are mornings that I wake up wanting to be back in the Quad Cities so badly. I often think about how I miss sitting next to my dogs in the morning drinking my Starbucks, going to my Dad's for a Papa Murphy's pizza, showing up unexpectedly at Ben and Megan's house, helping my Mom with her daycare kids, or getting a workout in at the Y. Sometimes, all I can think about is home.
I was reading in Proverbs the other day, and I read a verse that I've read countless times but have never really understood.
"A person who strays away from home is like a bird that strays away from its nest." – Proverbs 27:8
And since I am in Nicaragua. Here is is in Spanish:
"Como pàjaro que vaga lejos de su nido. Asì es el hombre que vaga lejos de su hogar." – Proverbios 27:8
So, as I am reading this, I think to myself, "Okay, God. Here I am on The World Race. We're pretty far from home being in Central America. However, in three weeks, we'll be on the other side of the planet in the Philippines. Am I doing the wrong thing straying this far away from everything I know?"
On a side note, I don't want to be like a bird…basically because I have an immense fear of them. The World Race isn't helping matters either. Last week, I was in someone's home. I'm sitting on her couch when all of a sudden, two ducks and two chickens come strutting in on her dirt floor. When I told her that I was scared of them, she picked one up and chased me around her backyard.
"¡Rosa, tengo miedo!"
Okay. Back to the blog. Through thinking about Proverbs 27:8 verse and praying over it, the Lord changed my definition of home. Home is not a place. It isn't a certain group of people. Home is where God has called you to be in that specific moment.
God said, "You aren't straying away from home by being on The World Race. You're straying away by obsessively thinking about what you THINK is home. This IS Your home. Remain present in it."
I'm not going to rob myself, my Team, and Newsong by daydreaming about things that will be there when I return next May. As of right now, Nicaragua is my home.
"Hold on to Me as we go
As we roll down this unfamiliar road
And although this wave is stringing us along
Just know you're not alone
'Cause I'm gonna make this place your home."
