"Relateable", "Same", "Actually Me"

Hey y'all. I'm back :) Here's some scatterbrained thoughts of mine ;)

You may be wondering where in the world I thought up the title of this blog post. I have never said those three words more than I have this past weekend when I attended at  retreat  for TCKs (Third Culture Kids). I had initially been dreading it because I only knew one teen and I didn't even know him that well. My thinking was why would I want to go to a weekend retreat with people I don't know when I could just stay home, hang out with the people who I've been investing in and go to my volleyball tournament. I was done. I didn't want to make the effort to invest in people and have the chance that we wouldn't click and it would be awkward.

Well, I see now how selfish my thinking really was. I walked in the building and was immediately made welcome by my "m" aunt and uncle. They directed me over toward a group of three teenagers who I had never see before. As soon as I walked up to them I felt welcome and comfortable, it was a little awkward at first but we quickly got over that. As I asked questions about where they had lived overseas I found that I was born in one of the countries one had served in and had visited another of the countries. As more kids started to join us throughout the night we all included them intermediately. We clicked.

After thinking about and getting to know such amazing people I know why we clicked. We clicked because of our experiences and because we are all a part of the Body of Christ. We had all lived overseas, we had all moved back to the States somewhat suddenly, we spoke different languages, had grown up in multiple countries and so much else, These were the things we already shared before we got to know one another.

I had forgotten how amazing and refreshing it was to be with people who really understand you. There is just something about being with teens who immediately relate with you and share a lot of the same experiences and hardships. I felt at home with these new friends. They reminded me of home and all of my friends in EA who also related to me. While being around other TCKs made me miss home I couldn't be sad for very long. The joy of being with such beautiful people who loved me, and I them, was phenomenal.

This past weekend was a blessing, refreshing and brought me so much joy. This retreat made me think about heaven. 'Cause if something as beautiful and diverse as this weekend could happen on Earth then how much better is heaven going to be! <3


-JO