Home

Home- usually such a comforting word. But for me, in the past few years "home" has been a confusing word. Since I can remember, home was my parent's house in Lithia, Florida. And then in May 2009, home changed when I married my husband and moved to his house in Duette. This past January we packed up our home to prepare for the mission field, and now joke that our car is our home. A very common question we get asked on the road is "Where is home?" I've started just saying "Florida," and then explain what part I grew up in. But then my mind begins to think, soon, my home will be in Thailand. Or will it? Where is home?
When we packed up our house to leave for deputation it was a very emotional time for me. This was the house we lived in our first years of marriage! We had so many memories in that place, and no matter when we might go back, it will never be the same! My parents have talked for years about moving out of my childhood house. And this is quite emotional for me, too. We have so many memories in that house and as time goes by, it can never go back to the way it once was.
I struggle with wanting things in life to "freeze". If nothing ever changed I would feel less anxiety and always be confident in what was going to happen next, and moving causes me to stir up whatever frozen picture I have in my mind titled "Home" and create something new. This has been on my mind a lot recently since home seems to be sort of non-existant at this point. So I decided to look into what the bible says about home.
There are quite a few references to home in the Bible. Most speaking of a house; like "then they went to their own home". But this verse sticks out to me. Acts 17:24 says "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;" And this is right! He dwells in me, and he dwells in Heaven. So this makes me think- since God is my heavenly father, (this happens after you accept Christ as your Savior) and my name is written in the Lamb's book of Life, then I am really going to end up with my home being heaven one day- living with my Heavenly Daddy. So should I really worry about not having a specific address or house to call home? No. I should really just be looking forward to the one day when my home will always stay the same. It will be Paradise!

What is Deputation??

I get asked this all the time. Growing up in church, I know it's something all missionaries do and I can explain it to people- but I realized the other day I didn't really know the definition of the word. Missionaries.org explains "A "deputy" is one appointed to represent another person or group. Newly-appointed missionaries travel across the country presenting the challenge of their field and seeking churches who will "deputize" them, send them as their representatives to the field." This is a great explanation of what we are doing. We are traveling the U.S. looking for churches to help us with our mission work.
Now help comes in many forms as we have found. Some churches can support financially. One of the most important supports we can get is prayer. Another help we have received is through meeting people that can teach us new things. Growing up in two closely located and similarly run churches, I really started out with one view of how a church should be. But traveling and visiting has opened my eyes to a whole new side of "types" of churches. And they're all ok! (if Biblical :) ) Not one is better than the other. Some have young pastors, some old; some have choirs, some have worship teams; some have mostly youth; some are mostly older folks. This all varies depending on the environment a church is started in. Seeing this is going to help us so much with accepting that a church in a different culture can in fact be DIFFERENT! It will be ok if we don't sing out of the blue book every service, or if we only meet once a week. What makes up a church is not the traditions. It's the group of people and what they're doing for the Lord.
Now deputation is hard work. It is like a never-ending road trip. Some days we drive all day, just to stop at one church, then do it again the next. It can be very tiring, but it also has so many benefits to the new missionary. One major benefit of traveling on deputation is meeting so many different people. We have met many people of the culture we will be moving to and we are learning how to communicate with them, and getting a lot of advice. Another benefit is learning to trust God with your day to day needs. Jared and I both quit our jobs in December and I'll be honest, I was sick thinking about how to pay the bills and where we would live, what we would eat. But it didn't take long for me to realize that God can take care of it all! He has provided us with the food we need, places to stay, safety, and given abundantly above what he promised with blessings of seeing new places and visiting family we hardly get to see. My faith has grown tremendously as we travel. I have less and less control of my schedule, and just have to trust that God will take care of it.
I hope this gives you a little idea of what deputation is all about and why we haven't just jumped on a plane and headed to Thailand right away. As with any big decision, it takes preparation. God Bless!
P.S. That is not our car- but sometimes I feel like it is!

My first post!

Welcome to my blog! I've been really thinking about how I can keep everyone connected with our lives, and thought I might give this a try. I love to write, so maybe this will be fun!
My husband Jared and I are on deputation preparing to do mission work in Thailand. We have been working towards our goal since September 2011, and on full time deputation since leaving home in January 2012. We hope to leave for Thailand early 2013. Please keep us in your prayers as we are busy traveling around the U.S. and making preparations for our big move.
I am hoping this blog will help me stay better connected with my family and friends back home, and give just a small view about what it's like to do what we're doing. God Bless!