We're home. We arrived home on Monday evening, tired and not too sure what to do with everything we experienced in China. Now I sit here sipping a cup of vanilla coffee, with my fuzzy puppy curled up on my lap, and I wonder, where is home, really. For the first time in my life I travelled away from "my home" and felt strangely at home in China. This has never happened to me before, as I tend to be a home body, and whenever i go away, I think about home and long to be there. China was not like that for me this time, I wanted to be there, and not once, save for missing my husband and children, did I long to go home. And now that I am home, I'm not to sure I want to be here. Now please don't get me wrong, I am so happy to be back with my family, but I wonder if this trip did not change my perspective on how I view what I have, and what's really important.
I spent a lot of time in China observing the directors of Morningstar, a young family from the US, who have lived in China about 5 years. Becoming part of a foreign culture is not easy, raising children far from any kind of family, sometimes feeling unsupported and misunderstood, not only by the culture they are living in, but by friends and family on the other side of the ocean. Not things to envy, for sure. But I observed a faith, far beyond anything I have ever known, a strength that can only come from God, a grasp of language and an understanding of how to drive in chaos that I just cannot comprehend. They have made China their home, and they love that country. Yet deep inside their hearts, they miss America, their loved ones, the freedom they can enjoy there, the vastness of inexpensive ice cream, amongst other things. I don't know if I could ever make the sacrifices they have made, and yet their lives are so much richer because of their sacrifices. To see the beautiful children whose lives have been changed because of their commitment and love is just unbelievable.
I know that wherever we are on this earth, we just need to be where God has called us to be. I think this trip has given me a greater understanding of what really is important, of the need to pray for those who are battling on the front lines, of the vast number of children on this planet who have no families at all to love them, no place to call home, and very little hope for a promising future. Of very small sacrifices I can make today, that could have a huge impact on the future of another person. Of knowing that my home is not here, and I can never find true comfort in what I have, or where I live, because my real home is in heaven, and everything that I do, every person who I can impact, is not for me, but for my God, and for eternity. "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ," Philippians 3:20.
I spent a lot of time in China observing the directors of Morningstar, a young family from the US, who have lived in China about 5 years. Becoming part of a foreign culture is not easy, raising children far from any kind of family, sometimes feeling unsupported and misunderstood, not only by the culture they are living in, but by friends and family on the other side of the ocean. Not things to envy, for sure. But I observed a faith, far beyond anything I have ever known, a strength that can only come from God, a grasp of language and an understanding of how to drive in chaos that I just cannot comprehend. They have made China their home, and they love that country. Yet deep inside their hearts, they miss America, their loved ones, the freedom they can enjoy there, the vastness of inexpensive ice cream, amongst other things. I don't know if I could ever make the sacrifices they have made, and yet their lives are so much richer because of their sacrifices. To see the beautiful children whose lives have been changed because of their commitment and love is just unbelievable.
I know that wherever we are on this earth, we just need to be where God has called us to be. I think this trip has given me a greater understanding of what really is important, of the need to pray for those who are battling on the front lines, of the vast number of children on this planet who have no families at all to love them, no place to call home, and very little hope for a promising future. Of very small sacrifices I can make today, that could have a huge impact on the future of another person. Of knowing that my home is not here, and I can never find true comfort in what I have, or where I live, because my real home is in heaven, and everything that I do, every person who I can impact, is not for me, but for my God, and for eternity. "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ," Philippians 3:20.
This is part of the memorial wall on the roof of Maria's Big House of Hope. These children have found their true hope, healing and home in the presence of Jesus Christ their Saviour.
Angie.. I just said to Bill after looking at all of your China photos that you looked so at peace. More so than I've ever seen you. I wondered how that could be, knowing you were working so hard, and your heart was being stretched, and emotions were raw. Yet there in your face is pure contentment and love. Thank you so much for sharing reality. love A&B
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