We move across the world. Connect with new cultures. Plant our lives in soil so different from what we’ve ever known before.
Where is home?
The question crosses our minds. Simmers. Hangs in the air.
If we put down roots here, what happens to the other places we’ve called home?
Intentional immersion
With intentionality we struggle to immerse ourselves.
We learn a different language. Discern the hard D and the soft D and the aspirated D. The guttural Q.
Who knew the tongue could produce so many new sounds? Our ears strain to hear the differences. It numbs the brain some days.
We explore the local culture. Taste new foods with unusual spices. Discover the ins and outs of shopping. Learn appropriate ways to greet and converse and offer hospitality.
We read up on history that was barely mentioned in our own schools but figures deeply in the lay of the land here.
Becoming “home”
There are signs of our personal transition. Hints at a few roots settling in to the desert ground. Somewhere along the way we buy local fabric and furniture and carpets. The apartment interior transitions with us. An eclectic mix of cultures.
We find ourselves cooking with those new spices and changing up the dinner menu.
We choose color combinations at the clothing store that once seemed odd to us.
The music catches our ear, no longer strange and unappealing.
We drive…differently. And on the left side of the road.
The words spoken all around us in the marketplace and our neighborhood begin to make sense. Friendships are growing as we talk on a deeper level.
We call it home. For now, anyway.
Going “home”
Then one year we head back to our passport country for a few months. We’ve anticipated this day.
Can’t wait to see family. Can almost taste the food at our favorite restaurants. Look forward to the comfort of wearing western clothing.
Expect a joyful reunion with the fellowship of believers there.
It’s an exciting time. Yet, not as easy as we think. There are subtle and not so subtle differences in the culture.
Things have changed. People too.
We awkwardly join in what used to be the common routines. But we’ve changed. Temporary residents again wrestling with the question.
Where is home?
Rooted in the gospel
It’s a recipe for rootless living. This crossing between cultures and countries.
Peter writes his letter to the exiles, the scattered, the dispersed. Temporary residents living by faith in a foreign land.
And after the greeting that details the Trinity, he begins with a declaration of the gospel.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5).
The roots of these believers are firm in the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our living hope.
Our true home
In the shifting and changing across oceans and borders, we abide in Christ through prayer and the Word. Anchored by the living hope of the gospel. Guarded by the power of our unchanging God.
We are branches grafted into the Vine. Fixed firmly in Him, no matter what the address.
He is our true home.
What about you?
What are some choices you made to put down roots in a new place? How do you navigate moving between cultures?
Related posts: Living in exile ; Dust
10 replies on “Where is home?”
You are correct in saying this is not our home! We long for stability in our temporary places. Yet the reality is these homes are also changing–babies come, grow, leave. Aged parents need help, occasionally move in for short periods, leave. Job transfers move us to new places–not new languages, but definitely some new cultures/regional foods, new ways of greeting, new restaurants, new friends. Sometimes, God even leads us to leave our comfortable church family to plant or help plant a new church home.
One day this temporary space will leave our grasp and we will finally be HOME!
Love reading your reflections, though I don’t comment much.
Thank you so much for responding and sharing! These different seasons of life cause upheaval and change—so true. And someday we’ll be HOME. Yes!
Timely words, Susan. I’ve felt a bit homesick lately. I’m (mostly) homesick for my kids and family who are (mostly) in the southeast. But it does seem that wherever I am, there are glimmers of homesickness for other places and other people. It is part of the richness and the grief of our lives; you are blessed to have experienced so much, yet because of it, you are always missing some pieces. Heaven will bring them all together.
Amen, sister. I understand those “glimmers.” Grace to you in the midst of your homesickness.
Thank you, this is really good. We wish we could have read this a long time ago. We always wondered”why are they so far away”? it’s so dirty, crowded and hot. We wondered why it’s their home now instead of here where the grass is green. We finally “get it” (parents and grandparents of missionary’s) They love life and what they do in sharing God’s word. They are thriving.We are blessed.
Thank you for sharing your story. Great is His faithfulness!
Putting down roots in a new place: You make friends, learn how to cook the food, learn the language, participate in holidays and celebrations, decorate your house with items from there, learn the system of paying bills or shopping or whatever. Once you have experiences in a new place, you start having a root grow.
Moving between cultures: I try to keep up with news and happenings of both places. I have items that remind of both cultures. Culture shock is hard at times, but because my “home” and apartment are here, it’s often easier to come back here. In the USA, I’m usually in a temporary house…but family makes it home. Plus to make it more confusing, I try to keep up with news from Indonesia as well!
Yes, the TCK element adds another dimension to this as well😊. Thanks for sharing!
Yes! He is my home. Thanks for this reminder. Though I love my life in East Asia and the community that Father has helped me build here, I’ve been struggling recently (again) with the loneliness of constantly feeling “in between” cultures and never fully fitting into either of them – and recognizing that I may never. But this is just all the more reason to make sure I’m deeply, continually rooted in Him.
Amen—deeply and continually rooted in Him! Thanks for sharing your story, sister.