Missing home

There's no place like home...
Dorothy's got that right!

I knew it would happen, time and time again, but it has been especially hard this week to be far away from home and from all of the people and places that are familiar and comfortable. Each day, I wake up in our new home and remember that today will be another step in our journey here in Singapore. I've had some tough moments, when all I want to do is book a ticket back to the US, pick up my belongings and go. Of course, I would never do that, but the idea is still always lingering in the back of my mind. I know that my emotions are perfectly normal, but that still doesn't make them easy to cope with. My saving grace is of course Jacob and Juliana...they are my "home." I guess I just wish I could add a few people to that list, to make this transition a lot easier!

During dinner the other night, Jacob and I were talking about what we missed from home, specifically material things. It's amazing how easily you become attached to your belongings and how the idea of living without them is simply absurd. Then, you pack everything up into a ten by fifteen foot storage unit and start a new life halfway around the world...certainly brings a lot of clarity as to what really matters in life. Yes, we miss a lot of things from home, but I think we were both surprised at how easy it is to let it all go and move on. If we could go back, we probably wouldn't have made such a big effort to keep and store so many of our belongings. In hindsight, we see that most of it really doesn't matter as much as we thought it did at the time. Things can always be replaced (well, most things!), but life experiences and relationships cannot...how many times have you heard that?? This opportunity is a once in a lifetime chance to explore a part of the world we would have never visited otherwise. It's a chance to immerse ourselves in a different culture, learn new ways of life and meet people from all around the world. She may not know it yet, but Juliana is getting an opportunity that most children never have. These are the thoughts that help me cope with the heartache of leaving behind my family and friends.

As for material things, I never imagined that I would feel the way that I do now. Now, I feel like I have always put way too much value in my "stuff" and how quickly I got caught up in the "keeping up with the Jones'" philosophy. I mean, does it really matter what kind of car you drive? Or how green your lawn is? Or how many expensive things you have hanging on your walls? NO! Sadly, a big part of American culture is the obsession with image. People work hard to make money in order to have more stuff...so sad really. I realize that I am being general in my blog about this, because there are many people who live their lives very differently than the majority and strive to focus on what is truly important in our lives, what God intended for us to value. I don't want to offend anyone, I'm just venting away about all those racing thoughts in my head. For me, I hope that as I grow throughout this journey, I hold onto these ideals and learn to live a more simple life. As parents, Jacob and I want to display to Juliana that life is not all about money, success and materials, but about experiences, relationships and learning from our mistakes as we grow. Humans are not perfect and thank God for that! Otherwise it would be a pretty boring life.

"When you've come to the edge of all light that you know and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly”
Patrick Overton