A Bit of Home

Sometimes homesickness hits me like a punch to the stomach. The day before my birthday, it was a brutal one-two combination.

I awoke on my birthday with homesickness still clinging to me, threatening to suffocate the day. But my day turned out good. I got to teach (which I love), I got to watch "Boy in the Striped Pajamas" which broke my heart (which I love), and my husband took me to eat Mexican for dinner (which I love love love.)

Then came present time.

This is a handmade bowl with lid from my father-in-law. The beautiful workmanship would be enough of a gift. But it gets better.

When we first moved to Virginia, we cut down a large Black Walnut tree in our backyard to make room for a garden. My father-in-law took big pieces of the tree back home to Mississippi to use with his woodworking. This bowl is a piece of that tree.

A piece of home.

Next. We play a lot of board games here in Jakarta, especially during the rainy season. Our new favorite game is Dominion which we've been borrowing from our friends. My husband surprised me with it! He actually surprised me. Usually I ask for things (okay okay mostly I buy things for myself and ask him to wrap them), so I was so pleased with his effort and success.
Finally, came the care packages.

Two boxes had arrived from Virginia the week before. I had been uncharacteristically disciplined and hadn't opened them.

When I opened the first box and saw the picture of my dear friends, I burst into tears. The care packages were filled with gifts, each gift representing a different time of day.

Running socks & shower stuff for morning

homemade granola for breakfast

a gorgeous pink sweater for the day

a teacup and book for afternoon

kitchen items and a CD so I can boogie while I make dinner

and a bathrobe and nightie for nighttime.

Plus more!
It was a bawl fest as I opened gift after gift. "Home" was all around me in the form of gifts from these amazing ladies.

Here's the thing. These ladies get me. They know me. Their gifts were spot-on when it comes to my personality and interests. And that means something. Being known, really known, and still loved...that's a miracle.

I was humbled that my friends went to so much trouble for me. It is no small effort to organize the gifts (in such a clever way) and mail packages across the world! I had this moment of feeling unworthy. That perhaps I didn't deserve their effort...I was, after all, the one who moved away from them to live on the other side of the world! But oh, how I needed their love and friendship to help chase away the terrible homesickness that day.

It boils down to this: family and friends (aka LOVE) make all the ups and downs of this existence bearable. And on occasions such as this, not just bearable, but downright wonderful.

Today I'm grateful for family, for friends, and for bits of home on the other side of the world.