There's No Place Like Home*
If you haven’t figured it out by now then I should probably inform you that I am safe n’ sound back in the good ol’ US of A. It came to my attention that my last blog entry was written before my plane departure from England. I am alive. My plane did arrive on schedule and my first stop was In N’ Out Burger to sink my teeth into that juicy deliciousness known as the Double-Double.
I’ve been home now for little less than two weeks. I didn’t experience jet lag to a great extent. As I’ve discovered, the best way to beat jet leg is to avoid sleeping the night before your plane departs. Upon arriving to your destination, one should just try to go to bed at a reasonable hour in the evening and immediately reorient oneself to a normal schedule. I did it this time around and it worked like a charm.
You could sense a major shift upon arriving in the States. I flew from Gatwick, which is one of the biggest debacles in transportation, to Dallas/Ft. Worth airport which is pretty much the crowning achievement of airports. It was good to be back in a nation where things are done right.
Like I said, I’ve been back for almost two weeks. The last few days have been spent adjusting myself back into the routine of seeing family, friends, eating inexpensive food in abundance, playing PS3, driving a car, and drinking cheap American beer. I’ve got everything pretty much in order. I’ve started my summer job; working for, surprisingly, a travel agency. I really got sick of traveling these past few weeks, so its very ironic that I have now landed myself into a position of assisting clients with their own travel disasters. I suppose it allows me to sympathize with them.
Yet again, I am surprised by all the little things here that bring me the most joy. My mother’s French toast (I still despise the French, but I’ll give it up for the toast), the little inside jokes that still and probably always will bring me to tears, giant SUVs rollin’ down the Californian highways, my brother quoting Rob & Big to me, seeing ex-girlfriends in the aisles of Target, Coke Zeros, games of Starcraft where I seem to be Bill’s only hope for survival, Safari coffee with the people I love the most, good looking females who speak my language, my double bed (with four pillows and sufficient blankets).
There really is no place like home.
But with all those little things that make me laugh, cry, shout at a computer screen, or just want to hug someone, there are those people who I left on my travels, or those who live back in the Midwest whom I won’t see for another three months, but who I eventually will leave behind more permanently. I find it interesting that all these people are professed children of God. I have come back into my home congregation to see the familiar faces, sing the familiar psalms and hymns, sit under the familiar preaching of that familiar gospel message which still breaks my heart and yet is the source of all my joy. It is wonderful to be back in church again. Over the past few weeks, I haven’t really had the opportunity to attend church, and even if I did it would have been in another language. It is wonderful to once again begin and end my week in the house of the Lord. It brings me joy to know that back in Oxford my friends gather together in the name of Christ, that up in Edinburgh believers unite on this Lord’s Day to worship God, that back in Chicago fellow brothers and sisters sit under the means of grace. Some of these family members I’ll see in a little while, others I may not see again in this life.
But I know we all have one thing in common, that we are engraved upon the palms of the hands of our Savior and that He who has began a work in us will be faithful to complete it, bringing us one day together around His throne where we will fall to His feet in blessed worship.
My travels showed me the unexplainable providence of our God; guiding and directing my paths, keeping me from danger and evil and bringing me back home again safely. What a joy it was to witness His faithfulness firsthand every single day of my trek across Europe. He guided me to another land and brought me home again safely. I am truly thankful. Some of my brothers will leave me this summer; others will start a new transition in life which may lead them to different, foreign parts of the world. I am here now in Escondido, but I don’t know where the Lord will lead me in a year, or two, or ten. But I know that despite my own uncertainty, despite my own doubts and fear, despite my own continued unfaithfulness, I know I have a God Who is the source of all wisdom and strength, Whose guiding hand has directed me in the past and Whose faithfulness will one day bring me home.
There will be no place like home.
[*Here concludes this travel blog. Of course, you can all feel free to keep checking back when you are bored at work, or home and glance at my really awesome pictures. I hope you enjoyed your time with me. Thank you all for your comments, your thoughts, and most of all your prayers. I look forward to seeing many of you, keeping in touch with some of you, and remembering all of you throughout the rest of my journey in the years to come.]
I’ve been home now for little less than two weeks. I didn’t experience jet lag to a great extent. As I’ve discovered, the best way to beat jet leg is to avoid sleeping the night before your plane departs. Upon arriving to your destination, one should just try to go to bed at a reasonable hour in the evening and immediately reorient oneself to a normal schedule. I did it this time around and it worked like a charm.
You could sense a major shift upon arriving in the States. I flew from Gatwick, which is one of the biggest debacles in transportation, to Dallas/Ft. Worth airport which is pretty much the crowning achievement of airports. It was good to be back in a nation where things are done right.
Like I said, I’ve been back for almost two weeks. The last few days have been spent adjusting myself back into the routine of seeing family, friends, eating inexpensive food in abundance, playing PS3, driving a car, and drinking cheap American beer. I’ve got everything pretty much in order. I’ve started my summer job; working for, surprisingly, a travel agency. I really got sick of traveling these past few weeks, so its very ironic that I have now landed myself into a position of assisting clients with their own travel disasters. I suppose it allows me to sympathize with them.
Yet again, I am surprised by all the little things here that bring me the most joy. My mother’s French toast (I still despise the French, but I’ll give it up for the toast), the little inside jokes that still and probably always will bring me to tears, giant SUVs rollin’ down the Californian highways, my brother quoting Rob & Big to me, seeing ex-girlfriends in the aisles of Target, Coke Zeros, games of Starcraft where I seem to be Bill’s only hope for survival, Safari coffee with the people I love the most, good looking females who speak my language, my double bed (with four pillows and sufficient blankets).
There really is no place like home.
But with all those little things that make me laugh, cry, shout at a computer screen, or just want to hug someone, there are those people who I left on my travels, or those who live back in the Midwest whom I won’t see for another three months, but who I eventually will leave behind more permanently. I find it interesting that all these people are professed children of God. I have come back into my home congregation to see the familiar faces, sing the familiar psalms and hymns, sit under the familiar preaching of that familiar gospel message which still breaks my heart and yet is the source of all my joy. It is wonderful to be back in church again. Over the past few weeks, I haven’t really had the opportunity to attend church, and even if I did it would have been in another language. It is wonderful to once again begin and end my week in the house of the Lord. It brings me joy to know that back in Oxford my friends gather together in the name of Christ, that up in Edinburgh believers unite on this Lord’s Day to worship God, that back in Chicago fellow brothers and sisters sit under the means of grace. Some of these family members I’ll see in a little while, others I may not see again in this life.
But I know we all have one thing in common, that we are engraved upon the palms of the hands of our Savior and that He who has began a work in us will be faithful to complete it, bringing us one day together around His throne where we will fall to His feet in blessed worship.
My travels showed me the unexplainable providence of our God; guiding and directing my paths, keeping me from danger and evil and bringing me back home again safely. What a joy it was to witness His faithfulness firsthand every single day of my trek across Europe. He guided me to another land and brought me home again safely. I am truly thankful. Some of my brothers will leave me this summer; others will start a new transition in life which may lead them to different, foreign parts of the world. I am here now in Escondido, but I don’t know where the Lord will lead me in a year, or two, or ten. But I know that despite my own uncertainty, despite my own doubts and fear, despite my own continued unfaithfulness, I know I have a God Who is the source of all wisdom and strength, Whose guiding hand has directed me in the past and Whose faithfulness will one day bring me home.
There will be no place like home.
[*Here concludes this travel blog. Of course, you can all feel free to keep checking back when you are bored at work, or home and glance at my really awesome pictures. I hope you enjoyed your time with me. Thank you all for your comments, your thoughts, and most of all your prayers. I look forward to seeing many of you, keeping in touch with some of you, and remembering all of you throughout the rest of my journey in the years to come.]
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