shalom at home

This blog post is purely informative:

I surprised my parents this weekend. My sister and brother-in-law were headed up to Michigan for the weekend, so I tagged along. They were shocked: mom squealed. Mom and dad kept hugging me and saying how glad they were that I came.

When we walked into our house, my parents started barking at our dog. In the living room, I screamed when I noticed my dad's computer. He uses an unattached keyboard for his laptop because he spilt coffee on it. (I get made fun of for my unattached keyboard at school :) Kayla calls me "keys" and Bethany doesn't let me near computers when I brush my teeth.) Then my parents made some obscure harry potter references and laughed heartily at their own wit. It's so apparent that these people made me. Home is so comfortable. It reminds me of why I am who I am. My family asked me questions and showed a keen interest in my life.

Mom and dad aren't content, but they are trying to be. They don't have friends here, they don't have a community. They feel like they don't have a purpose. They are sad. Mom started crying in Forever21 and told Bekah and I that she was so happy we were there, but so sad that we had to leave. She said, "I tell myself 'I can do this,' but when you come home I'm just reminded of what I'm missing out on."

Grandpa and Faith came yesterday. I read aloud my descriptive essay for advanced writing. I wrote about how hospitality has impacted my life through my grandparents' lives. I wrote about my experiences in London (where my grandparents were missionaries) and the people I met there. Grandpa cried and hugged me. I don't think he realized how impacting his ministry was. He and Faith said my essay was "phenomenal," which means a lot from grandpa because he is an incredible writer. I don't think my essay was phenomenal, but I think it scraped the surface of the message I was trying to vocalize. I am changing my major to writing because it communicates my heart to other hearts. I was affirmed in my decision. God's going to use it-- he already has.

Last night, dad, mom, grandpa, Bekah, Brett, and I sat around in the living room for a couple of hours. Dad asked me to share my testimony. I said, "you first." He did, so I did. It was shockingly difficult. I cried. Everybody shared their testimonies. It's amazing how we can know people forever without knowing their testimonies. We should ask people how they came to Christ.