Arrival

Have you ever had the feeling that where you are is exactly where you are supposed to be? I don’t mean that you walked in to the grocery store to get crackers and cheese and you left with crackers and cheese. For me, that in itself is an accomplishment as I typically leave with crackers, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, apples, pickles, wine and ice cream! But, again, that is not what I mean. I mean the feeling that you get when your entire being is so deeply connected with a place, a person or an entity that you know there is nowhere else in the entire world you are supposed to be at that time? It doesn’t happen to me all that frequently, but when it does happen the feeling cannot be ignored.

I didn’t cry when the airplane took flight in Atlanta. Maybe it was the 2 “drowsy” Dramamines that I took before boarding the flight that were lulling me toward sleep. Maybe it was because the week/weekend before had worn me out and I wasn’t very focused. Maybe I was simply too excited about taking 6 amazing families down to Fortaleza to experience PRECE and other partner churches. But, whatever the reason, I did not shed a tear about leaving the place and people who have been home for the past 6 years. It's not that I wasn't going to miss my condo and Atlanta and the conveniences of the U.S. I will. And it's not that I don't dearly love my friends and family. I do. But, for some reason not a tear was shed. However, the moment we touched down in Fortaleza the tears began running down my face. Instantly something about this place- the land, the people, the music and dance, the ocean, the culture, the poverty and the great riches- called to me and I felt the peace and calm of being “home”.

It’s a weird thing to call “home” a place where I barely speak the language and have never spent more than a month at a time. But, maybe the cliché saying “home is where the heart is” has more truth than I ever before acknowledged.