Spiritual Immigrants

Sometimes you end up in places and on paths you never thought you'd be.

All the pieces you thought you had figured out, are blown away and you are left in a dust cloud trying to figure it all out.

New beginnings are scary.

Walking away from all you ever knew.

Relearning basic truths you thought you understood. Rejecting religious traditions that have been handed down from generations.

Judgement, misunderstanding, the sharp sting of wrongly misinterpreted motives

Losing lifetime friends and even your own blood family members.

A spiritual misfit, an immigrant, on an island of isolation.

And all you wanted to do is seek truth,

seek freedom

seek Jesus.

You are looking at a girl who is a pure blooded Italian.

( I even talk with my hands.)

When my grandfather was 40 he packed up all he owned and fit it into a steamer trunk.

 Its weathered and worn Napoli tags boast of a long and adventurous trip to a new land.

He did it to give his family the opportunity of a better life.

He did not know one word of English.

He did not know one single soul.

With $40 and a dream, he began a journey that allowed me, his granddaughter, a chance to live in a land of opportunity, freedom and grace.

Eric Hoffer, in,  Between the Devil and the Dragon, talks about a similar situation,

"The millions of immigrants dumped on our shores after the Civil War underwent a tremendous change, and it was a highly irritating and painful experience. Not only were they transferred, almost overnight, to a wholly foreign world, but they were, for the most part, torn from the warm communal existence of a small town or village somewhere in Europe and exposed to the cold and dismal isolation of an individual existence."

I relate.

I do.

Two years ago my family was ripped away from all that we knew and transplanted in a small town in nowhere Iowa.

We left our church family and our church staff positions, we left  friends who we knew since our college days, we left our home and our children's school. 

We left a system and way of thinking that was deeply ingrained in our hearts, minds and psyche.

We did it because we were following His Voice, searching for freedom, jumping into grace with both feet.

And the journey has been excruciatingly hard.

The isolation at times beyond unbearable.

We have had to relearn everything we thought we knew and all that has guided us was the unmistakable voice of Jesus. His grace pursuing us in a 

wilderness wandering that has brought us to a test of our faith like no other.

Do you relate?

Here's the thing beautiful beloved friends. The strength of the immigrant was his ability to keep his dream of freedom alive. 

Despite the arctic conditions, the opposition, the isolation and the culture shock these immigrants had hope for the future.

If you beloved one have made a decision to walk out on faith, to turn from all you've known in search of  truth, grace and freedom, do not lose hope!

The most beautiful people I know have been broken and then rebuilt. Their frailty is their strength. For they understand the need for God. - Mark Brown

You are not alone!

I would love to hear your voice- not only for me, but especially for the others here who may feel like they are the only Spiritual Immigrants in this new frightening place. 

Would you care to share?

Would you take the time to vote? It would mean the world.
You are loved dearly!