The Upper Daily Devotional from Nashville, Tennessee, United States for Thursday, 5 May 2016 with Scripture: Hebrews 11:8 By trusting, " Avraham obeyed, after being called to go out[Hebrews 11:8 Genesis 12:1] to a place which God would give him as a possession; indeed, he went out without knowing where he was going. 9 By trusting, he lived as a temporary resident in the Land of the promise, as if it were not his, staying in tents with Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov, who were to receive what was promised along with him. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with permanent foundations, of which the architect and builder is God.11 By trusting, he received potency to father a child, even when he was past the age for it, as was Sarah herself; because he regarded the One who had made the promise as trustworthy. 12 Therefore this one man, who was virtually dead, fathered descendants
as numerous as the stars in the sky,
and as countless as the grains of the sand on the seashore.[Hebrews 11:12 Genesis 15:5–6; 22:17; 32:13(12); Exodus 32:13; Deuteronomy 1:10; 10:22]
13 All these people kept on trusting until they died, without receiving what had been promised. They had only seen it and welcomed it from a distance, while acknowledging that they were aliens and temporary residents on the earth.[Hebrews 11:13 1 Chronicles 29:15] 14 For people who speak this way make it clear that they are looking for a fatherland. 15 Now if they were to keep recalling the one they left, they would have an opportunity to return; 16 but as it is, they aspire to a better fatherland, a heavenly one. This is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
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They are seeking a homeland. . . . they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.[Hebrews 11:14, 16 (NRSV)]
I am “Omo Ogbomoso” — a child of Ogbomoso — born in a mission guest house in Nigeria. My family left my childhood home when I was twelve, and I thought I was never to return. Imagine my joy when the opportunity to visit presented itself nearly 40 years later.
When I visited, the house I grew up in was still there, and I introduced myself to the Nigerians who lived there. They invited me inside. How awesome to go through the house, looking at rooms where I used to play!
There’s a phrase that describes people like me: Third Culture Kids (TCK). To us, the term “home” gets confusing. Is home America? Or is it Africa? Or is it a mixture? Home is Arkansas, Mom’s home, where we lived when furloughed from the mission field. Home is also Missouri, where I visited Dad’s parents, and Texas, where I’ve lived most of my adult life. And home is also a city half a world away in Nigeria.
Today’s reading explains that all believers are TCKs; we are all searching for our home — our heavenly one. Imagine our joy when we finally reach it and are united with Christ.
Read more from the author, here."More from Ron Wasson"
If you look up the term “Third Culture Kid” (TCK) in a dictionary you will find a definition similar to the Wikipedia definition: “a term used to refer to children who were raised in a culture outside of their parent’s culture for a significant part of their development years."
The term is not constrained to only children. It also describes adults who have had the experience of being a TCK as a child. These adults are sometimes called “adult third culture kids” or ATCK. Wikipedia adds other terms for TCKs including cultural hybrids, cultural chameleons, and global nomads.
As I mentioned in my devotion today, I am an adult third culture kid. There are millions of us in the world today. Children of foreign missionaries, like myself, are TCKs, but there are others too—children from military families, government-employed families such as diplomats, or even families who are employed in the private sector whose businesses have international offices. As modes of transportation have increased in the past few hundred years, so have the number of TCKs.
Our reasons for being raised in a country different from our parents may be varied but we share common traits, some good and some not so good. As a child of Nigeria, I will always have a bit of Africa buried deep inside my heart, bringing with it a subtle yearning, almost an ache at times, for home—an ache that may never be quenched. Like many TCKs, I ended up living in a land different from that of my birth because this land, in my case the USA, was the place of my citizenship. The adjustment was difficult at times. And there were moments when I felt like a stranger in a strange land.
But with time, age, and maturity, I have come to realize what a blessing and a privilege is mine to have experienced life on two continents. I know the thrill of the first rain of the rainy season when all the world is hot and dry and the earth seems to drink up every precious drop that falls. But I also know the beauty of frost glistening on grass, or trees covered in ice shining like crystals in the afternoon sun. As a child I climbed guava trees and ate guavas straight from the branches … and then a year later, on another continent, I did the same with an apple tree in my grandfather’s yard. Mine has been a life of myriad experiences and I am thankful for them all.
Now, as a grandfather, I watch my preschool age grandson play happily on the swing I hung for him in my Texas backyard. And when he is old enough, I will entertain him with stories of baboons charging from the nearby trees, stopping only at the bank of the river where my siblings and I played and the time we barely escaped a herd of angry elephants.
What have I learned though it all? God is good all the time and all the time God is good.[Ron Wasson]
The Author: Ron Wasson (Texas, USA)
Thought for the Day: How will my life today reflect my longing for God’s heavenly home?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you that by your grace we will someday be home. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Prayer focus: CHILDREN OF MISSIONARIES---------------------
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