As some of you may know, a little over a week ago I had to fly home to the U.S. for an emergency eye doctor appointment. (It’s a long story involving a softball accident during middle school …I’ll spare you the details.) I wasn’t able to receive the proper treatment I needed overseas, but my ophthalmologist in GA could…all in just one little across-the-world visit.
At first, after buying my plane tickets, it was hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I would be taking a week-long hiatus from the Race to go all the way HOME. Like any daydreaming World Racer, I had envisioned a glorious, long awaited homecoming in early September…including Welcome Home Posters, friends and family at the airport and a big re-entry dinner at Chick-fil-A. Instead, the idea of an abrupt homecoming was almost disappointing and left me saddened about leaving ministry and my team.
To my surprise, my week-long venture home reminded me of the many reasons I love it so dearly. Close friends dropped everything to make time for me. The weather was a perfect 75 degrees and sunny. The countryside of North Georgia was green peaceful (much unlike the major Asian cities we’ve been). Sentimental country music played on the local radio station. I could drive wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Chick-fil-A never tasted better.
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Driving into my driveway…sweet and peaceful Plainville, Georgia!
Why is it that when I am immersed in ministry overseas, I seem to crave the familiarity and comforts of home….and when I am home, I seem to crave the cultural experiences and challenges that the third world mission field offers?
God knew that my heart was experiencing these unsettled emotions in full force during those few days in America. It just so happened that my church was hosting a Disciple Now….with a focus on third world missions.
What perfect timing. I spent some time helping out with D-Now, and in return received clarity from the Lord about my heart’s state. I sat in on a couple of the sermons for the weekend, and the speaker, Pastor Mitch Jolly, spoke about our heart’s longing for Home. With the analogy from The Chronicles of Narnia, he painted the picture of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy’s love for the land of Narnia. Once they discovered it, they always longed to return to it. As Christians, we experience that same longing…once we have discovered God’s greater story and the hope for Heaven, we long for it.
Maybe that’s why my heart always longs for a life serving God in both third world missions and my home in Rome, Georgia. I’m never fully content because the true source of my longing is to be a part of God’s greater story, which won’t be complete until I reach my true Home….Heaven.
God,
I long to be written into your great story. I crave to serve you in ministry…wherever that might be. Guide my future steps, on and off the Race into the places I can glorify you best. Help me to appreciate my surroundings and keep my thoughts focused on the blessings of the present. Thank you for taking care of my heart during my visit home and teaching me about where the greater desires of my heart source from…you.
