Leaving home to go home

It is a bit of an oxymoron if you think about it; but it perfectly describes where I am emotionally. I have two homes; one here in the States and one in the Dominican Republic. Sadly, I cannot be in both places or even split my time between the two. It makes my trip bittersweet on both sides (arriving and departing), as part of me is in both places. I have spent 12 wonderful days here just resting and visiting but 2 days traveling making a total absence of 2 weeks away from my husband.

I miss Jonathan a lot, and I miss my family a lot. I need my Mom as I experience my first pregnancy and all the stages of it (all day morning sickness, sonograms, listening to the heartbeat, etc.) but I also need to be with my husband, he doesn’t want to miss these milestones either. I want to be by his side as his ministry is getting underway, but at the same time, I miss certain parts of the American lifestyle that I don’t have down there.

I was amazed how easily I slipped back into my way of life. I enjoyed having independence and being able to drive to the store on my own, when I wanted too. I enjoyed being able to understand 95% of what people were saying, and to be able to get the weird American food that I crave spontaneously during this pregnancy. But at the same time, I did not want to get completely comfortable with the lifestyle again. Here in Tennessee, there is a lot of driving. It seems like things are stretched out a lot and you spend more time just trying to get to place to place. There is nothing other than a car lot and an Autozone within walking distance of the apartment. Whereas in the DR; I have a lot of stores within several blocks of my house.

I am torn about my departure tomorrow morning. I want to see Jonathan, but I want to stay here too. I am not looking forward to flying and I know that it may be a good portion of time before I can return to the States, which is difficult for me. It’s hard to say good-bye, especially when you don’t know when or if you will see some of these people again.

But I must leave my American home and return to my Dominican home, where I have a loving, God-fearing, hardworking, and cute husband, eagerly awaiting my return….oh yeah, and two cats.

So, I would appreciate your prayers for me this week. It will be difficult emotionally for me. I think even harder than my official move in December. Thank you all. Blessings