Forever Homesick

In 2011, I wrote a blog entitled “Home Is Where My Sleeping Bag Is.”  Little did I know, four years later I’d still be toting that same tattered sleeping bag around the globe.  My fluffy blue companion has now traversed nearly thirty countries, and if it could speak, it would have wild stories to tell.  Spending the last few months in Oakland has been an interesting addition to my travels.  In some ways, it feels more like another stop on the journey than it feels like home.  Yet, I suppose at this point, anywhere could qualify as home.  I almost don’t know what that word means anymore.

In Philippians 4:12, Paul says, "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want" (NIV).  

In a way, I understand exactly how Paul feels.  I believe I can learn to be happy in almost any environment.  Throw me into a jungle, a village in the middle of the bush, a crime-filled ghetto, or a laidback beach town.  I’ll find something to like.  Feed me delicious American food or feed me rice and beans every day.  I’ll be okay.  I am a chameleon who can fit in anywhere; yet somehow that translates to not really fitting in anywhere.  I don’t quite know where I belong, because to belong everywhere means to belong nowhere.  (Only another nomad can truly understand why that makes perfect sense).

I never planned to be a vagabond and really don’t think this lifestyle is sustainable long-term.  But for now, it’s just kind of the way the cookie has crumbled.  God has given me both the opportunity to travel as well as a heart that is able to fall in love with different cultures easily.  This is a gift, but it’s also the most challenging part of my life to manage.  I perpetually feel pulled in a million different directions.  I have family in Connecticut and New York, a church and community in Southern California, ministry connections all over Latin America, missionary friends scattered throughout the entire globe, a current job in Oakland, and of course a ministry in Uganda.  

Of all the different directions my heart is pulled, the tension between America and Africa is by far the most drastic.  When I’m in America, I yearn for Africa.  At night, I see my sweet friends and children in my dreams and feel sad when I wake up and they’re not there.  And when I’m in Africa, I dream of America – of familiarity, friends, and family.  When I experience lack in Africa, I sometimes feel frustrated and desire comfort.  Yet when I’m experiencing excess in America, I feel choked by the first world’s abundance.  My body, mind, and heart are not always in the same place.  Some days, I am physically present in one world and mentally present in another. 

There’s just something about Africa that gets in your blood.  It’s hard to understand for someone who’s never been there.  I certainly never imagined I could love such a difficult place before I moved there the first time.  Oh Africa, it drives me crazy, but I’m addicted to it.  There are days in Uganda when I want nothing more than to walk down the street without drawing the attention of every person in the village – every stare reminding me of how obviously different I am.  Blending in and having privacy is a luxury I seldom experience in Africa.  Yet, being noticed can also be a gift.  It is common for curious young children to greet me on the streets and burst into giggles when I greet them back in their language.  I can’t help but to smile when I hear those squeaky little African voices singing the word “mzungu” as if it’s a song when I pass by.  But then there are plenty others who I’d prefer didn’t notice me or even acknowledge me at all.  I will never learn to feel comfortable with strange men gawking at me, following me, or touching me as if it’s their right.  I hate the fact that I know exactly which intersections to avoid crossing and that I’ve had to learn those lessons the hard way.  The men who laugh and mock and make disgusting sexual remarks to women who pass by will always bother me.  Yet, as twisted as it may sound, I am weirdly satisfied when I beat these guys at their own game.  When I am able to make a sassy comment back to a mocker in his tribal language or outsmart a taxi guy trying to rip me off or grab a pickpocket’s arm before he gets away, I feel an odd rush of adrenaline.  There are moments when I think to myself, “Yesssss.  I’ve finally got it.”  Uganda’s chaos really makes no sense at all, but somehow I kind of understand it.  I’ve learned to function within a wild system – to recognize that it’s absolute madness yet somehow feel completely at ease inside of it.   

On the other hand, America offers me a culture that makes sense in a totally different way.  Life is orderly and efficient.  The predictability simultaneously bores me and brings immense comfort.  One of my favorite feelings in the world is walking into Target after being in Africa for several months.  I love that I can buy a block of cheese, a bathing suit, a greeting card, and a grill in the same place.  This type of efficiency does not exist in village life.  An errand I could finish in an hour in America could take an entire day in Uganda.  I’m not exaggerating.  Chores that I dread completing in Uganda take just minutes in America.  It feels like a miracle that I can throw disgusting, smelly clothes into a washing machine, and thirty minutes later, they come out clean without me doing anything besides pushing a button.  Oh, sweet America, I love its magical machines.  And I love that electricity never goes out, hot water is always available, and food can be kept cold in a fridge and then instantly made hot in a microwave.  I love that I can choose the variety, speed, and temperature of my food virtually every time I eat.  I love that I can walk around and no one stares at me.  I love that I can wear shorts, show my thighs to the world, and it’s not taken as something offensive or sexual.  In America, I’m so free to dress, speak, act…to live like I want to. 

Then again, this freedom is America’s worst enemy.  Everyone feels so entitled to whatever the heck they want.  At times, first world culture suffocates me – the entitlement, the materialism, the obsession over smartphones, the lawsuits over the most ridiculous things.  But the worst part is how easily I get sucked back into this world – how in a matter of weeks, I can go from bush woman to the girl who feels entitled to hot showers, instant food, clean laundry, and high-speed internet.  It frightens me how easily I can forget the simplicity of the world I’ve come from and get sucked right back into a culture of overindulgence.  It seems like we Americans never believe we have enough; we always want something else.  I’m just as guilty as anyone.  But I’ve seen the way the other side lives, and it’s undeniable that we have way more than enough.  Americans have so many privileges and freedoms that many people in the world do not have.  We are far more blessed than most of us recognize. 

But on the other hand, America is broken too.  These past months I’ve spent working in the inner city are proof of that.  I can’t tell you how many lost, hungry, drugged-out-of-their-minds people I’ve interacted with throughout this season in Oakland.  The United States is full of poverty – sometimes spiritual poverty, sometimes literal poverty, sometimes both. 

Now this leads me to perhaps my biggest struggle with Ugandan culture.  It seems to me as though the majority of people in Africa believe America is some type of dreamland with no problems.  It is commonly believed that all white people are rich.  I work long days in California, sometimes fifteen hours, and I make pennies.  My goal is to be able to pay my bills, and it hurts me when Ugandans look at me like a never-ending supply of money.  Even when I am outside of Africa, the demand continues.  My inbox of endless manipulative emails (often from people I barely know) asking for money makes me feel diminished to nothing more than a bank, and I hate it.

Yet at the same time, Africa has given me far more than I’ve given Africa.  The developing world has taught me much more about generosity than the first world ever could.  I’ll never forget last Christmas, families from the village who had close to nothing showering me with gifts – literally laying whatever they had at my feet.  More often than not, when I visit a village, I leave with more than I arrive with –whether it’s groundnuts, freshly laid eggs, a chicken, or a sack of sweet potatoes.  Giving out of lack is something that I know moves the heart of God, and experiencing such generosity will never cease to humble me.  Receiving such pure love makes me feel like the richest person in the world.  I can’t stay away from Ugandans for too long; their hearts always draw me back to Africa. 

This wild tension between different cultures both drives me crazy and makes my heart come alive.  There are parts about Africa and America that I can’t stand and parts that I can’t survive without.  Parts that make me feel right at home and parts that make me dreadfully homesick.  And when I add in every person, ministry, and church I’ve gotten connected to in other countries as well, the tension just gets crazier.  I miss so many places.  I am happy where I am, but I miss where I am not.  My heart beats for nations.  I belong in more than one world. 

To be perfectly frank, I don’t always know how to manage all of this.  Sometimes having a foot in more than one place completely overwhelms me.  Practically, I don’t know what it looks like long-term to have a calling to multiple locations.  I know that my musings might cause some people to judge me as scattered or spread thin, but I'm just being honest.  I'm learning as I go, and it can be pretty challenging to try to balance it all.  But then I remember that my love for Africa and my fascination with the inner city and my excitement for the jungle and my heart for nations didn’t come from me.  God gives us desires and callings and dreams that are way too big for us to handle on our own.  He wants us to live a life that is impossible without Him showing up.  Jesus himself said that those who leave their family and home for the sake of the gospel will receive a hundredfold homes, mothers, brothers, sisters, children, and lands.  Perhaps being pulled to different lands and people is actually a biblical concept – and even a gift from God.  So, in the midst of questions, I choose to believe that God is in this.  And I’m confident that when He pours His love out, it won’t run dry or spread thin.  There’s plenty to go around, and I’m happy to be a vessel He can pour it through – wherever that happens to be. 

I can let the contrast of my life overwhelm me, or I can embrace it as a gift.  As I wrap up my season in California, I sincerely view it as a gift – the people, the food, the culture, the laughter.  Serving in America has been an absolute treasure.  As I leave the States, I know that I will be homesick for the place I’m leaving behind but also confident of the gift that lies ahead.

Though it's true that I am forever homesick, I suppose it's also true that I am forever home.