Back to life
I'm back from France...definitively.
There are so many things running through my head, and I'm sure many more things will be popping in within the next few days or weeks.
People keep asking me if I'm done in France.
I guess I am for now, even though it doesn't feel like it. It doesn't feel like an eventful school year has passed away since September. It doesn't feel like I should have to readjust to family and friends that have changed a lot since I left in the summer. I don't feel like a lot has changed. But feelings can be deceiving, and in this case they are. I came home in time for a wedding of a friend that I haven't spent significant time with in months. I came home to another friend and his wife that he wasn't married to in September. I came home to a Dayton that a lot of friends have left, and the remaining friends accept this as completely normal. Weird.
What a difference 7 months makes.
But with the weirdness of homecomings comes a lot of good too. For example, after months of practical spiritual isolationism, I can feel the numbness lifting again. Please don't let me fool you into thinking that I've had tons of deep heartfelt conversations since my St. Patrick's Day arrival, but there's something about receiving a hug from a friend, a smile from a brother or sister, an inquisitive "How are you" from someone who really means it. There's something about those things that automatically touches you, wears away at the numbness, and rekindles the fire of joy in a heart that was struggling to stay lit.
Once again, I am reminded of the need for fellowship - the expression of Christ's love for us in the love of His children for us - and vice versa. It's an incredible thing really.
I'm vachement (French word for really really really) looking forward to the next few weeks as I'm to be reintroduced to my own culture and language, and I'm looking forward even more to the love of the Church that can melt ice that feels unmeltable.
Praise God for His people.
More repatriated thoughts to come.
There are so many things running through my head, and I'm sure many more things will be popping in within the next few days or weeks.
People keep asking me if I'm done in France.
I guess I am for now, even though it doesn't feel like it. It doesn't feel like an eventful school year has passed away since September. It doesn't feel like I should have to readjust to family and friends that have changed a lot since I left in the summer. I don't feel like a lot has changed. But feelings can be deceiving, and in this case they are. I came home in time for a wedding of a friend that I haven't spent significant time with in months. I came home to another friend and his wife that he wasn't married to in September. I came home to a Dayton that a lot of friends have left, and the remaining friends accept this as completely normal. Weird.
What a difference 7 months makes.
But with the weirdness of homecomings comes a lot of good too. For example, after months of practical spiritual isolationism, I can feel the numbness lifting again. Please don't let me fool you into thinking that I've had tons of deep heartfelt conversations since my St. Patrick's Day arrival, but there's something about receiving a hug from a friend, a smile from a brother or sister, an inquisitive "How are you" from someone who really means it. There's something about those things that automatically touches you, wears away at the numbness, and rekindles the fire of joy in a heart that was struggling to stay lit.
Once again, I am reminded of the need for fellowship - the expression of Christ's love for us in the love of His children for us - and vice versa. It's an incredible thing really.
I'm vachement (French word for really really really) looking forward to the next few weeks as I'm to be reintroduced to my own culture and language, and I'm looking forward even more to the love of the Church that can melt ice that feels unmeltable.
Praise God for His people.
More repatriated thoughts to come.
posted by Andy at 6:36 PM
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