Home and Family

I had the rare opportunity to go home (to my parental unit in Texas) this summer for about 3.5 weeks. I have not spent that many consecutive days with my parents since I graduated high school about 8 years ago. Needless to say it was a blessing. Family is something that is really really important to me, yet the places that God has called me to in obedience continues to lead me far away from my family. That was one the hardest parts about living in India and continues to be difficult now as I settle in California. Being in Texas these past 3.5 weeks was awesome because I got great quality time with so many members of my family. It was exciting to be an active participant of my family and not just an observer from afar. The older I get, the more I long for family and a place of belonging.

For the first time in my life, the thought of settling down in one place sounds so appealing(Especially if that involved getting to be settled near my parents where they could love on their completely hypothetical grandchildren). I have been really fighting God lately and telling Him I want my will for my life and not His. I always know it's only a matter of time before He wins, but I have been particularly stubborn this time around. However, I think God might have finally knocked me down and officially one when He spoke very clearly through a book I am reading. I came across this...

"God's call was to mobility. The first word that God spoke to Abraham was "Go..." Here he continues the theme laid down in the first command given in Genesis 1:28, repeated in Genesis 9:1 and forced upon man in Genesis 11 at Babel. God's people are to be mobile so that they may fill the whole earth. Harvey Cos makes some thought-provoking observations about mobility and its relationship to theology. 'When we seek to understand the phenomenon of mobility from a theological perspective, it is well to remember that the whole Hebrew view of God arose in the social context of nomadic, essentially homeless people... In short, when they were wandering and homeless, the Hebrews seem to have been closest to fulfilling their calling.... They key characteristic of Yahweh, the Old Testament God, are linked to his mobility. ' .... This statement highlights the fact that God is not bound to one place and will not let his people be bound to one place. The whole earth is his domain"

Whether you agree with this theology I could care less about. But what I loved about this passage in the book is that it made my somehow really abnormal life seem somewhat normal. I don't know if that makes sense, but for me I know that God has not called me to settle. I know there will be seasons of settling (like Cali right now), but ultimately I know that I always want to be in a place of mobility. That when God says go, I am ready and most importantly willing to uproot... again.

All this to say, is that I will probably never live next door to my family and get to attend every Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Fourth of July celebration. But that is part of the sacrifice and joy of obedience in my answer to say to Jesus' call "Follow Me." I treasured this past month with my family and thankful for this sweet gift.

God, I pray that you would help me keep my eyes focused on You, Your kingdom, and Your global purposes. I ask that my life would be marked by mobility as you move me to the nations here and there. Thank you for this calling in my life and I ask that days that I am not thankful for it that you would give me eternal perspective.

So this video here is random. But it's me giving a tour of my home in India. I came across it while at home. This was done the first month or two that I was in-country. It's about 15 minutes long, but its pretty entertaining and I even sing at the end which might make it worth your time. :) Please enjoy my Indian Home- which I also long to visit.