Are We Home Yet?

"Thank you for flying with Jet Blue. If this is home, we welcome you. If not then safe journey to wherever you're traveling." These parting words from the pilot on a recent flight in America reminded me that even though I arrived at my destination, I wasn't really home yet.
We have spent five years living overseas and the moving, packing, flying, and transitioning have never gotten easier. The saying hello and good-bye only gets harder. Our job makes us feel like permanent travelers. And, traveling with children is always a FUN adventure! Stephen enjoyed singing for all the passengers (above). When we first moved to Hungary, one of our children asked with a trembling voice at bedtime, "Where is home?" I explained that home is wherever we are - together. Home is not the location, the house, the rooms, the stuff....it is the "us." Our home is our family, and that means wherever we are, we can be home. But the truth is that we really are just travelers in this life...on a journey to our real eternal home with God in Heaven. There is a longing to be in that perfect place, a longing that this earthly home doesn't fully satisfy. How can we long for a home that we have never seen? Because it isn't about the location, the home, the rooms, the stuff...it is about the "us" - that perfect relationship we have with God. A longing to be fully at rest and in union with our Father. We enjoyed our time at home in America. Everyone in Florida, Texas, and everywhere in between were so wonderful to us. The time really did go by so fast. But for now, we are back at home in Hungary, and time is not slowing down.
"Wherever you are, be all there! Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." - Jim Ellliot

Life in America



So, what's so different about living in America? Many people have been asking us that question. After living three years in Hungary, we are readjusting to life back in the States. We've been here 3 months already, and by far the best thing has been reconnecting with our family and friends. We have also had fun watching the children react to all the "new" things in this culture, and I've had a few laughs at myself too. Here's a quick run down of some differences:

- how to flush an American toilet,
- grocery carts that don't require a deposit. (In Hungary, they require a 100 forint deposit)
- free condiments and free drink refills at restaurants,
- the churches are so HUGE here, so large, so many resources, so many people, so many staff,
- comments like this, "Mom, everyone speaks English here!" and "Do we have to show our passports in Texas?"
- dealing with the American healthcare system, UGH!
- trying to figure out how to pay in the check-out line, "Which button do I push?"
- enjoying having someone bag my groceries after check-out & take them to my car!
- having to cut coupons in order to save money at the store (a necessary evil which I never liked)
- sudden craving for Krispy Kreme
- introducing the kids to things like Dairy Queen, Pop Tarts, Doritos, etc..
- and having trouble making decisions in the grocery store...there are too many choices
- people leave their shoes on inside the house

It is so automatic now to remove our shoes when we come into a house that we can't stop doing it no matter where we are! We had to explain to our children that here it's not rude to leave shoes on inside the house! I know, these are just tiny differences, but what we really have experienced is the sameness - the same love for Christ and the same need for Christ is evident everywhere we go. And that is what life is all about!