"You are not letting go of home or belonging"

This is my temporary home...

The title of this post was spoken by a fellow TeachBeyond missionary preparing to serve as an english teacher at BFA this fall. In her testimony, Kristi explained to the new staff that she too struggled with the idea of leaving her home in Seattle for an opportunity to teach in an unfamiliar country.

And yet, Kristi's heart was comforted as she began to understand that the Lord was not making her let go of home or belonging because she knew that He would also provide these things in Germany. Just as she loved her life in Seattle, the Lord assured her that so too would she love this next step...this next country...this next school...this next spiritual family that He would raise up on her behalf.

I too cling to this promise. When the thought of goodbye seems terribly painful, I remember Jesus' promise to His disciples in Luke 18 where He explains that whatever they give up, whether family or home, for the sake of the kingdom of God (and to follow Him) will receive one-hundred fold in this age and in the age to come, eternal life. A missionary wife explained recently that I could join this 100-fold club now. She encouraged me to claim this promise of Jesus and expect Him to provide a spiritual family in Germany that can invest in me and love me while I am away from my (biological) family in Maryland. It is certainly in His nature to provide community and I trust Him to do this. I know that I am not letting go of home or belonging. Over these next two years, Germany will be the place where I belong...it will become home.

Before I wrap up this post, I am reminded again about this concept of "home." I am about to leave Frederick, Maryland...it has been my home since birth. I just left Grove City College...it was my home for four transformative years. I left Muskogee, Oklahoma, and Muskogee Church of Christ last August...it was my home for two summers. Naturally, transition is hard and saying goodbye to a community involves a grieving process. Seasons of life coming to an end are heartbreaking. And new seasons beginning are sometimes difficult to embrace.

My spirits were lifted in a moment of grief and brokenness when I was reminded that despite all of this change in the past year, leaving three beautiful heart homes, our Lord is constant. He is unchanging! And this place, this physical world is not my home and it will never be my home. The reality of our citizenship in heaven is very real and the reality of the Spirit dwelling in us is undeniable. We have heaven to look forward to and all of these transitions, moves, and changes will be worth it because He has promised to go before me, beside me, behind me, and with me...

As one of the TeachBeyond staff reviewed the difficulty of transition for missionaries, he quoted fellow missionary, Howard Dueck who said "if we do not come through our transition having met Christ in new ways, we have missed on something beautiful." I am ready for this something beautiful...ready to be refined...

"Commit your way to the Lord, trust in Him and He will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him."
Psalm 37:5-7a


My prayer today is that our God would use a challenge, a struggle, or any painful aspect of our lives to show us something beautiful.