Feeling foreign

"Okay, Mommy is going to have 'mommy time' now so you get to watch the kids.  The little one is sleeping in that room and you might want to make sure the older two don't go in there unless you want to watch three kids.  Thanks!" I quickly called out as I disappeared into my room with my coffee in one hand and a fresh cup of taho in my other hand.  Ready to sit down at my computer and blog to you guys.  ha ha.... I don't know when it happened, but I have really come to enjoy writing, it is something I look forward to, it refreshes me and I find comfort and familiarity in it.

Familiarity and comfort are an odd thing.  Lately I have been yearning for American apple pie.  I have been itching to watch American television commercials about things I don't need or don't want. And a weird reoccurring day-dream about drinking brewed coffee in a kitchen decorated in plaid with too many ducks hidden all over with over sized country-blue bows tied around their necks.  Its a desire to walk down the street and blend in with my background. 

Its not quite homesickness and its not loneliness.  And its definitely not a desire to escape my new home.  Just a desire for comfort with what is familiar.  I don't really care for apple pie, although I eat my slice eat Thanksgiving.  And I never really paid attention to commercials.  And decorating in plaid and country ducks is definitely not my style.  So why all these weird longings?  My sweet husband understood completely.  He said I am going through what all people go through who move to a new country not their own.  He could relate to going through similar things when his family moved from the Philippines to the US.

With such a silly longing for pie and commericals and out of date decorations I wondered if God understood my desires? Oh, Sandi, dear Sandi He does indeed.

"You shall not oppress a sojourner.  You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt." Exodus 23:9

"He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food (apple pie?? ;) ) and clothing.  Love the sojourner, therefore for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt." Deuteronomy 10:18-19

"By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.  And he went out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he went to live in the land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.  For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God." Hebrews 11:8-10

If there was a country whose citizens best understood the heart of a sojourner it would be the Philippines.  It is the number one country that sends OFW (overseas foreign workers).  It is impossible to live here without meeting someone who has a family member or loved one living overseas, or they themselves lived overseas for a time.  Because of that I believe Filipinos has a special and unique love for the heart of the sojourner.

"...acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.  For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.  But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city." Hebrews 11:13-16

Where is my home?  Citizen of heaven.  A sojourner.  Someone residing temporarily in a place.  Learning to slowly wean off dependency on earthly things and instead long for heavenly eternal ones. 

"For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.  So we do not lose heart.  Thought our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.  For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

So dear dear Sandi.  Longing for such silly transient things.  Don't you know that your God is preparing you for something beyond all comparison!  So "be strong and courageous... only be strong and very courageous...this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in in...be strong and courageous.  Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go!  HAVE I NOT COMMANDED YOU?" Joshua 1:6-9 selected

Where will my courage and strength come from as I strive to change my longings for earthly things to longing for eternal things?  How do I fight the fear that tells me I need ducks with blue bows?  It is with the Word of God.  And it is the very commands of God that give comfort.  God does not command what He does not first enable and provide.

My citizenship is in heaven and it is such a beautiful blessing to "feel foreign".  For it is that very feeling that is my fuel towards "desiring a better country, that is, a heavenly one!"

What is the fuel in your life that is causing you to long for a heavenly country?  Let us give thanks for it and take comfort in the commands and Word of God that enables us to do so.