This World is Not My Home

No matter what your idea of beauty is, nothing will compare to the beauty of heaven.

One of the reasons the title of my blog includes the words "Living in a Foreign Land" is because of the concept in Christianity, that "this World is not our home".

After living in Egypt for over 7 years now, I struggle with knowing where to call "home". Do I call Egypt my home? That's where the majority of my material belongings are. It is also the place where we live our daily lives, with many friends and "work" responsibilities. Or, do I call Springfield, Missouri my "home"? This is the area where I was born and raised. It is where the majority of my family lives. We also own a small home on a 3 acre tract of land in this area.

Well, as a born-again Christian, there is another place I call "home", and that is heaven. There is a popular Christian hymn that goes like this:

This world is not my home,
I'm just a passing through,
My treasures are laid up
somewhere beyond the blue;
The angels beckon me
from heaven's open door,
And I can't feel at home
in this world anymore.

As a Christian, I strive not to get too caught up in living my life in the "here and now". I am not to live my life for myself, but for the One who created me. I am to live my life for His purpose. I have found, in doing this, true happiness and meaning. Our life on this earth is so brief compared to what our lives will be in heaven. Our lives there will last for an eternity. I am so blessed that God has allowed me to have these 2 different places in the world to reside for a time, but I am even more blessed, to know that I will have a beautiful "home" in heaven for eternity.

Colossians 3:1-2 says:
1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

More Surprises

Seems like my family loves to surprise me. Last March, my son Levi and I were the only ones in our family, and amongst some of our friends, that did not know my daughter Kaily was coming to Egypt for a visit. I was sitting in our apartment, waiting for Tim to get home. I heard the front door open, and assuming it was Tim, just kept watching TV. All of a sudden, someone came up behind me, and started kissing me on the cheek. I almost had a heart attack when I turned around and realised it was my daughter. What a wonderful surprise!!

Well, a couple of days ago, I was surprised by my family again. As you all know, we recently returned to the States for a visit, and I was at my sister's house. Someone knocked on the door, and I did not think anything of it because we were expecting my sister's best friend and her kids. Well, imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw one of my favorite uncles, who I had not seen in 12 years. Then in walked my cousin, and an aunt who I had not seen for a very long time as well. I have to say I was very, very close to tears.

Again, my whole family knew about this. From what I heard, my sister had let it slip a couple of times in front of me, but I was so busy playing with my niece that I didn't hear her.

My uncle, aunt, and cousin that were here are from Oregon, and I am sad to say that they are already on their way back. But, I am so glad that it worked out they were still here for a couple of days after we arrived. It was such a blessing.

In the picture above, I am standing between my aunt and uncle (who are brother and sister). Also in the picture is my cousin with her husband and their little boy. The other picture is one of my favorite pictures of me and my daughter Kaily.

My Newest Niece

Hi everyone! I haven't posted in several days because we were traveling back to the States. We arrived at 11:00 PM Monday evening, and I have been too exhausted to do much on my computer, but I had a good night's sleep last night, and thought I'd better get busy.

Another thing that is hard about living in a foreign country, away from family and friends, is that sometimes, friends or family members have a baby, and you have to wait a while before you can see them. This is my newest niece Natalia. She was born last December, but I did not get to see her in person until yesterday, June 30th. Of course I had seen pictures, but that is just not the same as getting to hold, hug and kiss. As you can see, she is totally adorable. I'm so glad that she is not a shy baby and scared of strangers. She came to me right away, and I think I held her pretty much the whole day. If you know anything about me, you know that I love babies and children. Well, I was right in my element yesterday, as my sister has this baby and a 4 year old daughter as well. Then, my sister's best friend came over and she has 4 daughters, ranging in age from 7 to 2 months. Boy did I have a ball.

It will be hard when we have to leave the States again and she changes so much before the next time we get to see her, but for the time being, I will try to spend as much time with them as I can, holding and hugging all of my nieces to help them remember me.