Dear TCK friend (you know who you are),
Every time one of you moves back to the US after having
served with your family overseas, I feel a mixture of emotions for you. I feel excited about the new adventure on
which you are embarking, and the unique experience overseas that you carry back
with you. But I also feel a little bit
sad for you, knowing that just as our society will never truly go back to the
way it was before Covid-19 (though we may long to), your life will never truly
go back to what you remember before your time overseas (though you may wish it
would).
You’ve experienced life in a way most people in your home
country cannot relate to. You’ve been
forced to discover who you really are when your friends, belongings, culture,
and language are all stripped away. You’ve
balanced two worlds at once while discovering your own identity between them. Your experiences overseas have broadened your
understanding of humanity and of God. Finding
others who share your perspective will be rare.
When I was young, my family frequently moved from one place
to another—one school to another—one church to another—I always felt like I
didn’t fit in. I always felt I was
missing some crucial common group experiences or prerequisite interests in
order to truly be one of the group. I have
often let these feelings push me toward pride, imagining that I’ve become more
open-minded or more aware of the world because of my travel and interaction
with different peoples.
I often assumed that my peers who had spent the majority of
their lives in one place were more comfortable in their skin and had a stronger
sense of belonging than I. However, the
older I get and the more I interact with people and the brokenness of this
world, the more I realize that very often that just isn’t true. My peers may have been more practiced at appearing
to belong than I was, but that in no way implies that they truly felt known and
understood.
To be human very often means to be misunderstood by everyone
but your heavenly Father. You have
grappled with this profoundly overseas.
You will continue to do so wherever you go. As you do, I hope it will push you toward
compassion for those around you, because each one of us on this planet is truly
a fish out of water, created for a much better world than the one we find
ourselves in now.
I hope that on the days when you grieve over the life you wanted
to have (that you may have thought you’d have), you will remember that you do
not grieve alone. All of creation groans
with you.
For the creation waits in eager
expectation for the children of God to be revealed…. We know
that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right
up to the present time. Not
only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan
inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our
bodies. (Romans 8:19-23)
I hope that when you encounter people who seem to have the
social life you long for, that you will cast your gaze upon eternity, and
remember…
what great love the Father
has lavished on [YOU], that [YOU] should be called [a child] of God! And that
is what [YOU] are! The reason the world does not know [YOU] is that it did not
know Him…. What [YOU] will be has not yet been made known. But we know that
when Christ appears, [YOU] shall be like Him! (1 John 3:1-2)
I have been so incredibly blessed to know
you. I cherish the times we studied the
Bible together, learned American history, anatomy, earth science, and English
composition together, and took outings to Chilis and Pinkberry together. I have been so honored by the way you loved
on my children like they were your own younger siblings. When I was figuring out how to lead Sunday
School in Spanish, you were there to help me with the little ones and interpret
their words that I could not understand.
When I needed help decorating and preparing crafts for VBS, you were the
first to volunteer. When I was
struggling with morning sickness you brought me notes of encouragement. You have blessed me immeasurably, and in that
I rejoice. But none of that compares
with the way the God of the Universe rejoices over you. The one who knows you fully loves you more
fiercely than humanity has ever loved.
He has appointed you for greatness and
equipped you for a mission only you can do, and only you can
fully discover. Remember that very often
the greatest victories for God’s kingdom come about in subtle ways,
unrecognized by most. Lean into the
approval and delight only you and your Father can together experience for these
victories. Live each moment for Him, as
your audience of one, and one day soon the rest of us will rejoice with you at
the glory and honor with which He has crowned you!
Sincerely,
Miss Laura
