Transient Life

There are many ideas for blogs running through my head at the moment, but I have settled on this one for today: Transient Life.

Life is about stages and about changing and growing. Part of that changing and growing will be discussed in my next entry, but today is about how moving changes things.

I spent my afternoon with a group of people that is spectacular. Three sets of parents, a single mom and then myself... the kids were there as well... when it comes down to it, I think that there were seven kids there. After lunch, somehow the women ended up in the living room having discussions about family, family units, and home. We were discussing how some people are chameleons, with no "home" to go to. There is not one place they think of that is home. And others, their whole family lives on one compound together and cousins are like brothers and sisters.

There is something to be said for having lived around the world. It is an amazing experience, and you can't learn many of these lessons in any other way. But there is also something lost when you are away, or when a family is separated. When I lived up north, my family was all pretty much living on one street. There was always somewhere to go, someone's house to walk into uninvited, and a dinner to be shared. When we moved south, there was no longer family around. When we visited, things were different. We visited often, but it was not the same as it was before.

As I grew up, neither place was 'home'. I would go up north for vacations and say I was going 'home', and then I would leave after the holiday was over and go 'home'. I hadn't been out of the US yes, but was already what is considered a "third culture kid". At 20, I moved to New Zealand for a while, and learned so many things there and eventually left huge parts of my heart there. Relationship-wise, that has been a huge 'home' in my life. I think fondly of that place and the people I met there. I miss them often as much as I miss my own biological family.

I moved back to the states at 21, only to leave when I was 22 to a foreign land. This split my life up quite nicely. I spent about 11.5 years in NY and then 11 years in NC with a six month stint in NZ. Now I've been here for almost two years. My life is split up pretty neatly. But it has left me with an altered sense of 'home'.

There is a Kyle Matthews song that has a line that says: "My heart knows where home is". I may have written about this song before, but increasingly, it is a song that means a lot to me. While some people might consider it a burden to not know where 'home' is, I consider is a blessing. I ascribe to the burden idea at certain times, but it truly is a blessing. I have two towns that I could fly back to right now and have open arms and homes waiting for me. I could fly to New Zealand tomorrow and have dear friends to stay with. And of course, there is here. I have friends in all corners of this country. I have been blessed with people all over the world that I love.

And then I come back to a word that H* said during our conversation this afternoon: chameleon. Chameleons can blend in wherever they are. In a way, that is a huge blessing in itself. People able to adapt to the different cultures and surroundings is a huge benefit. ESPECIALLY if God is calling the people that were in that room to work overseas. Having that ability really changes how you adapt and grow in a new place. It has allowed me to be really comfortable in a society that many people find stifling.

What about you? Are you a chameleon or are you "set in your ways" as far as life goes? Did how you grow up influence the way your life is structured now?