Never-Never Land

What does our new home look like? From inside Heather and Pavel’s home it is not so different from America. What looked strange to us when we visited for two weeks last year is no longer unfamiliar. The propane tank next to the tiny oven blends right in. The ceramic heating stove in the corner is part of the furniture. (Today it is full of wood as the rain outside keeps descending, and our clothes hanging on a rack in the middle of the living room need to dry. )

There is no trace of America when you look outside, however. Color splashes from walls, and ornate windows peek out from steeples. Carts are pulled by horses, and Mercedes rush by. Chickens roam in the street, and our eyes are wary as we direct our feet around remnants that squish.

It feels like a never- never land. Never could we have imagined what is beginning to look like home, and never could we have prepared for the sense of total dependence that seems to drape around us like the clothes hanging on the line. Sometimes that dependence clings to me, tangling my hair, my arms, my stomach. Other times (the times I suppose you are praying) I’m still surrounded, but a breeze touches my cheek, and I feel His Smile.

His Smile. It shines even in never-never land. I guess He knew someday I’d be here. “NEVER will I leave you, NEVER will I forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5) Maybe never-never land isn’t such a bad place to be.