Coming Home

We are finally over jet-lag and are able to fully enjoy "being home". I think in my last post I wrote that I hesitate to call it that. I suppose I was feeling that to call one place "home" would make another one seem less so. We are truly very happy where we are living. Our spot in the world feels like home to us now. But, I forgot how much this spot in PA is deeply rooted into my heart as "home" also.

This is the place that holds all of my childhood memories. All of the people and experiences that formed the woman I now am I found here. My old neighborhoods, my school, my church, my friends, and about 95% of my family come from this tiny spot of the world. This is my culture. I learned everything here from walking, to reading, to driving, to kissing :-) Even my maiden name is 100% Pennsylvania Dutch.

Settling in back here has felt like a breath of fresh air. Of course some thing have changed but the most important things haven't. My dad's hug, my mother's amazing way with children, my sister's laugh, and the scattered farmland all over this massive suburbia. A few things have changed for the better like the birth of my adorable niece Caedence.

In keeping with Pennsyvlania Dutch Traditions, the celebration of the 4th of July, and the joys of family, we hiked on up to the Kutztown Fair for some good old fashioned food and fun. The kids had a blast watching the puppet shows and visiting the farm animals. We adults enjoyed our Bratwurst, Flowering Onions, Funnel Cakes, and Homemade Ice Cream. There are so many joy inherant in being a citizen of this free nation. It's a little easier to see them when you've lived in a different world for a bit. This land has been truly blessed by a gracious God through the sacrifices of so many.

As much as I love my new home, I also adore my old one. There is nowhere on earth that I am more relaxed than in my parents home. My children can play with joyful abandon, with no worries of being too loud, making too much of a mess, or not being understood. They are treasured and adored here. My parents go out of their way to prepare the house to make it the most comfortable summer possible. They buy all of our comfort food, stock up on toys for the kids, and spend the summer treasuring our moments together. My sister, her husband, and my most precious baby niece come and go a million times every day. It is the most wonderful rhythm of life to me. There is laughter and chatter coming from every room. Our hearts are truly at rest here. And even for all my love of our "China home", this truly is "coming home" for me.