Two Worlds

We live in two worlds. The contrast felt stark as we stepped off the plane in Columbus, OH just three short weeks ago...

We left temperatures in the 80s, with dust flying everywhere from no rain for months.

We entered into temperatures below 0, with everything covered in white.

We left a place full of financial poverty everywhere you look.

We entered a place overwhelmed with financial wealth.

We left a world where options of things to buy are fairly simple – much of the same thing everywhere you go.

We entered a world of endless options in nearly every store.

We left a world of bartering for a world of fixed prices.

We left a world focused on relationships – where everyone greets you and stops to talk.

We entered a world where everyone is busy and minding their own business.

We left a world where you have to raise, kill, pluck, and cook your own chickens for food.

We entered a world where you can buy a frozen chicken breast dinner already prepared - for your dog. (still trying to process this one..)

We left a world where my children are always the center of attention (for good or bad) when we just step outside our house.

We entered a world where my children are often ignored by the strangers they are trying to greet.

We left a world full of old junky cars and motorbikes.

We entered a world full of shining new cars all over the place.

We left a place where opportunity is hard to come by.

We entered a place where opportunity is everywhere if you are looking.

We left many wonderful friends for a few weeks.

We were welcomed and loved on by our amazing family and friends for those same few weeks.  

Both worlds are full of cell phones and vehicles and people heading to and from work.

Both worlds are full of good food if you just know where to find it.

Both worlds have many hurting people who are longing for purpose and meaning in their lives.

Both worlds are full of desire, creativity, and hope.

Both worlds are also full of challenges, frustrations, and despair.

Both worlds are full of people who need to be loved - - really loved - - by Jesus’ followers – so they will know that they are already completely loved by Jesus Himself.

So which place is home?? When in Cameroon, I call America ‘home’. When in America, I found myself calling Cameroon ‘home’ now.

It feels strange. Neither place feels fully like home at the moment. Yet both places feel like home at the same time. Instead of worrying about the former, I’ve decided to embrace the latter.

We have two homes. We will always have a home in America – where our families are – where we grew up – where our friends and loved ones welcome us and give us a place to stay – where we know the comfort of familiarity and the joy of deep relationships.

Yet we now also have a home in Cameroon – where we live most of our time at the moment – where we have already established new friends and ‘family’ – where we have work that is full of purpose and long-term investment – where we know we are supposed to be right now.

So which place do we belong??

We belong with the Lord and each other. We are celebrating the gift of having two homes and getting to live in two different worlds. We are also celebrating the MANY incredible people we have to love, be loved by, and walk through life with!