Aliens in a Foreign Land

As I contemplate the day, I have no choice but to pay a tribute to the new little girl staying our home. This sweet girl, just 11 years old, has traveled over the Atlantic Ocean to visit America. She traveled without her parents as part of a program to seek medical and dental care. My mind is spinning as I think about this. We hold onto our children so tightly and I cannot fathom sending my own 11 year old to a distant land to stay with strange people. But that is what our friends in Belarus do...they greatly desire for their children to visit America. Some want their children to receive the free medical care. Some want them to have the experience of international travel and know that it will be difficult for them to leave the country under normal circumstances. The radiated areas of Belarus have probably settled a bit over the years, but there is still danger there and these trips away from the country can only help their health.

These kids and their parents have an amazing courage to separate for a whole summer and while the journey can be fun, it is long and frightening. The language barrier is challenging at best...we must be creative as we try to help each other understand. As I have contemplated possibly traveling to Belarus in the future, I measure everything so carefully, but these Belarussians have the spirit of adventure and are ready to make the journey. I am not a risk taker, so I think I have much to learn from these amazing kids, their families and their chaperone.

I, too, am on a journey. I need to remember that I am not really home. Home awaits me in heaven. I am really just an alien in this land...a land that is not as it should be because it has been marred with sin. People don't act as they should, talk as they should, love as they should...again, marred by sin. We are truly in a foreign land and if you think about it, the language spoken in this foreign land is selfish, nasty and ungodly (a foreign language for the Christian -- hopefully!). The language we are to speak is that of Christ, His sacrificial love. So, if the things you see on TV or in the news cause you to cringe or recoil in anger, it is because you are in this foreign land. But be encouraged, fellow traveler; God will bring us home. I love the song by Keith and Krysten Getty: There is a Higher Throne. One of the lines is 'and there we'll find our home, our life before the throne, we'll worship Him in perfect song, where we belong..."

So, if you get discouraged on the journey, remember that it is just that -- a journey to another destination. This earth is NOT all there is. God is creating a new heaven and a new earth for us. So, just for a time, we are aliens in a foreign land.

June, 2013