Displaced Persons

Displaced persons. That's the phrase that came to my mind after reading my daughter's Morning Coffee Blog called  A Trip Down Memory Lane. 

November 2 was the 29th anniversary of our family's return to the United States after living sixteen years in Switzerland and Germany.  Or, as this same daughter would correct me, even then, at age twelve: "Mother, you and Daddy are returning.  This has never been home to us kids."  And she was correct. 

Our son had been born in Zurich, Switzerland; the daughter speaking, in Munich, Germany; and our youngest, in Basel, Switzerland.  The United States of America was the place where they visited grandparents and cousins ever three years or so.  Once we had had a long furlough when the older kids were four and five years old, staying in the States for about nine or ten months, but even at that, we all knew it was temporary, because all our 'worldly goods' were in storage in Switzerland awaiting our return.  But our return to the States on November 2, 1982 was for good, a forever return--and we all knew that.

With our memories jogged a few days ago by our daughter's recollections Thomas and I realized how similar our present circumstances  are to those of our family back then!  He wrote responding to our daughter's thoughtful reminiscing, "And 29 years later, your parents wake up again on November 3 'betwixt and between'--living out of a suitcase; uncertainty about the future, but certain about God's faithfulness; hoping for a church to call us into their ministry as we move forward on this nomadic missionary journey.  The three off-spring who were with us 29 years ago are today amazing adults as well adjusted to life as any MK/TCK is probably ever going to be."    [MK/TCK means Missionary Kid/Third Culture Kid]

My descriptive phrase: displaced persons.

• Displaced in this present scenario means reaching for a light switch in the closet just inside the door that was in the house we left on July 20th. 
• Displaced means buying the items to make meat loaf and, a few days later when you get ready to make it, realize the pan to cook it in is in mover's storage in Springfield, MO, 95 miles south of where you are standing. 
• Displaced means having to buy a skillet large enough to make stir-fry because our skillet is in mover's storage.... 
• Displaced means going to the 'junk drawer' (Yes, even this temporary apartment has a junk drawer!) ...so, displaced means going to the junk drawer for a bread twisty and being aggravated that there isn't one there. (We are off carbs for a while so, no bread, no twisties!)
• Displaced (for me) means leaving precious, supportive relationships behind when I completed my responsibilities at 'my' congregation the end of August, in the transition worshipping with Thomas' congregation; all the while hesitating to expend emotional energy to establish or nurture new friendships because this time is temporary. 
• Displaced means occasional waves of uncertainty rushing over you as you begin to wonder if the present circumstances are the new normal. 

Yes, we are displaced persons.

To end on a more positive, up beat note I will reach for a scripture that points us toward hope.  Can we identify with  the faithful wanderers described in Hebrews 11? 

13 "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God....