At that moment, you realize you’re torn. You feel their unease because you’ve been there. You know you should reach out. But there’s another part of you that hesitates. You’re comfortable. You’re occupied. You’ve got friends…
I don’t know why God has placed you in another country. But don’t be afraid that you won’t be accepted or that your story isn’t “cool enough.”
I never expected the parting to be so hard. I never expected to still feel homesick every day three months later. I never expected my heart to feel as though it were trapped in another continent, another country, another home.
God grants us His grace to not only sustain us and enable us to journey well but for us to also extend that grace to others. Grace lights us up so that we can be the light of the world and share His love with even the most undeserving.
We also learned to make use of our heat efficiently by maximizing the number of people in the bathroom. One could shower, with one on the toilet, two brushing their teeth, and another using the washing machine…
Although our emotions sometimes overwhelm us like a storm, they are a passing storm – not permanent – and they do not change the reality that we are loved by God and precious to Him.
It was very relieving when I changed my perspective on success because I no longer had to try to fit into society and have the perfect life that others tried to define for me.
As TCKs, we have a unique advantage for reaching out to foreigners. We know what it’s like to be a cultural misfit, to not quite fit in anywhere. God has given us the incredible gift of understanding what it’s like to be a sojourner. Likewise, He can develop in us the gift of compassion.
You may feel too young, untalented, inexperienced, timid, ill-equipped, underqualified, untrained, needy, or sinful to do whatever it is you think God wants you to do….But we serve a God who is so much bigger than you or me.
As a person, and especially as a TCK, there will always be something about you that is considered “weird,” “uncomely,” or “annoying.” … As people, when we are constantly faced with direct and indirect messages to change ourselves, we tend to frantically try to do just that. But I urge you to calm down just a bit.
