Homeward Bound

"For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country." Hebrews 11:14

Good morning, dear friends!

I am sure that I am not alone, but as a missionary, ex-pat or MK, there is one question that we ALL hate to answer.  Unfortunately, it is one that we are asked on almost a daily basis.  Are you ready?

The question is...drum roll please...

"Where are you from?"

If we are in the U.S., many well meaning people come up to me (or worse yet, to my kids) and ask this seemingly innocent question. It always throws me into a tailspin.  Do they mean, where was I born?  Or, what country do I serve in now? Or, where did I leave from that morning before arriving at church?  My children invariably look at me with panicked eyes when asked, because, quite frankly, they are as confused as I.

(Just an FYI:  Even though it's a difficult question at times to figure out, please come and talk to me!  I'll always ask a follow-up question if I'm not sure which "from" you are talking about!)

When we are in France, the question is just as difficult to me.  When someone here asks me where I am from, many times it is polite curiosity prompted by a foreign-sounding accent.  I have been Polish, Jamaican, Russian, British, but very rarely American to their ears.  Now that I have the dual citizenship, I usually answer, "I have American origins," so that leaves people wondering as well.  Does that mean that I am French like them, but lived in the US, or am I an American pretending to be French?

SIGH.

The painful part in all of this is the constant reminder that whether I am in the US, or in France, I just don't fit. I don't even know where I'm from.

But, that's okay.

I know where I am going.

I love this portion of Hebrews 11, where today's blog verse comes from.  I love reading about the "heroes of the faith" mentioned in this chapter, and reliving their stories on the pages.  Their stories on earth may have had many unexpected twists and turns, summits and valleys, but in the end, their journeys all ended the same:

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country."  (Hebrews 11:13-14)

Many times the "foreignness" of this world is very obvious.  Sin is rampant, evil appears to triumph at every turn, right is called wrong and wrong, right.  Other times, when I am not "paying attention," I get too cozy in this world that is supposed to be as strange to me as, well, a foreign country.

I am NOT supposed to fit in.

I am NOT supposed to close my eyes and get comfy here.

I am NOT supposed to get caught up in temporary pleasures and lose sight of the eternal blessings.

My husband in our Tuesday night Bible study is finishing a series of lessons based in II Peter 1: 5-7, listing the Christian virtues that we are to add to our faith.  This week he paralleled the verse with the passage in II Timothy 3: 1-7, which reminds us of all the ungodliness of this world from such we are to "turn away." (v.5)

Instead of regretting my foreignness, I should be ever mindful of just how much a blessing being a "foreigner" is:

"But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly:  wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city." (Hebrews 11:16)

The next time someone here, or in the US, asks me the question, "Where are you from?" I hope I will answer with graciousness and kindness, thankful that someone cares enough about me to ask the question.

And I hope that I will care enough about them, to ask the question, "Where are you going?"