I’ve been back in America for almost two years. And my body loves being back here. It loves warm showers, heat and/or A.C. depending on it’s mood. It loves pop tarts and fresh Dunkins coffee available anytime day or night. It loves hearing, smelling, and seeing the ocean.
My mind mostly loves being back here. It loves great conversations with good friends. It loves problem solving at work. It loves teaching and connecting with the teens at church. There’s just one little problem for my mind; it has to keep looking for my heart.
My heart was very unhappy to come home. It loved traveling, meeting new people, living in community, spending hours in God’s Word because there weren’t any distractions. So my heart has run away. It runs back to the places and Peoples it’s known and runs to places yet to be discovered. It seeks out places of intentional community and simple worship that is more powerful than anything I’ve ever experienced.
Everyday at work I stare at sand I collected from around the world and long to be back in those places.
And my poor mind has to go and find my heart and convince it that here and now, in America, is a good place to be.
And there’s a piece of my heart that loves America. Loves being close to my mom again. Loves having the friends who bring joy to my heart in driving distance. But it still aches and longs for other places.
So my heart and mind have conspired and gotten my body on board. Some of my favorite people from The World Race are working for a Christian school in Paraguay. And they need a High School English teacher. I was pretty convinced I would never use my English degree, nor my almost finished Master’s degree. But I guess God really did have a plan for all that education!
So in August I will board a plane for Paraguay, a country I’ve never been too but I love already. I will teach kids I have never met, who I adore already, a subject that brings joy to my mind and heart.
When I moved in to my cubicle I found a bunch of fun pictures and put them up around my cubicle. Without realizing it, I had Jesus pointing to South America for over a year. I only noticed it a few months ago.
And hopefully my heart, mind, and body will be reunited in the joy of pursing God and His plan
