Our good friends Meena and Jason are moving overseas tomorrow, and I’m equally sad and elated. I’ve known the two of them forever – Meena since kindergarten, Jason since 9th grade – and they’re finally departing to the life they’ve prepared for as long as Kyle and I have. This is obviously why I’m elated for them, but I’m sad to see them go. They’ve lived in Austin as long as I have, and I’d probably call them our most stable and loyal friends. They are near and dear to us, and they will be sorely missed.

That said, I’m so excited for them I can hardly sit still! Their new life in front of them – the adventures, the laughs, the weeping in frustration, the anger – and that’s just the first few weeks. Their home is now overseas, not Austin. They are the foreigners, the ones who speak a different language, the white ones. They’re sailing for the work they’re convinced God is calling them to, and they can rest in the knowledge that God has paved their path. This next year for them does not involve mortgage payments or lawn maintenance, it involves learning a weird language and acclamating to strange food.

It naturally conjures up personal feelings of antsyness and, if I’m not careful, frustration. We’ve been at this preparation stage for 10 YEARS, and I am so ready to unpack our suitcases and boxes, figuratively-speaking. There have been many times when Kyle and I have said, “Forget it. Let’s just buy a house and stay here.” Obviously we haven’t caved, and our rock is knowing that “the mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). So I’m not talking about doubting God’s calling in our life, or that overseas is where our real life is and Austin is just a pit stop. I’m talking about a rested heart, wanting to be wherever we are that day. Kind of like what Jesus prescribes.

It’s got me thinking about what Jodi and were talking about the other day, our temptation to always want something ahead of us. In high school, I just wanted to be in college. In college, I just wanted to be out. While I was single, I just wanted to be married. When I was married, I just wanted to have a baby. And now that I’m here, I just want to be there. CS Lewis talks about this in his concept of Shadowlands – I won’t go into details, but essentially, what we’re all longing for in life is Home. As in Heaven. That feeling you get what you’re traveling and you just want your own bed? You crave wholeness, completeness, being Who You Were Made To Be. And you’re not that person until you’re at home with your Maker. In my case, when you finally travel to Ireland, but now just just want to see South Africa? That’s my heart’s craving for Paradise. In essence, our heart’s desire is to be in Eden, and we just won’t find that here on Earth.

So what does this mean about me right now, and what does it mean about my friends moving tomorrow? I have to believe that this is Home-hankering deep within, really longing for being with Jesus and being at peace. It’s not really wanting to be overseas. It’s wanting to be whole. I crave that now, and I will crave that when we move overseas.

I’m just rambling now, but thank goodness I’m on my blog, which is my personal rambling perch. To sum: I’m both happy and sad my friends are moving tomorrow, and I wish I was moving, but I know it’s just a longing for Something Bigger.

posted: 06 February 15
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