When I say that I’m not ready to go home, I really mean it.
But it’s not because this country is any better than America (because really they’re quite similar). It’s not because the weather is any nicer. And, this may surprise many of you, but it’s not even because I haven’t seen half the places I came here to see.
I don’t regret the places I didn’t get to see; if I regret anything, it’s the time I missed spending with my friends.
And that’s why I don’t feel exactly ready to return home: I don’t know my friends here half as well as I would like. Now, my friends back home I don’t know completely as well as I would like, and I doubt that anyone really does. That’s why relationships are so dynamic, is because you’re always learning new things about your friends. I bet–and I don’t know this to be true, but I know that some of you might–I bet that even after you’ve been married for a really long time you still learn new things about your spouse every once in a while. Those of you I know from high school, we can practically finish each other’s sentences; my InterVarsity peeps, you know how strange I am, and I know how strange you are; my church family, I grew up with most of you, and you really are like family!; and my real family–well, there’s no replacement for you, of course. And I want all of you to know that when I say that I wish I could stay here longer, it’s not because I don’t care for all of you; it really is because I’m not ready to leave.
Because I feel like I’ve just started getting to know you all in the Christian Union, and at Oaklands, but suddenly my plane ticket says it’s time to go! And they say that “distance makes the heart grow fonder,” which is nice–but it doesn’t help me get to know you any better, and that’s the essential matter. My heart is already very fond of you all.
And all of this dreadful parting with my Christian brothers and sisters has made me really feel for the apostle Paul; he invested so much into the churches he visited, and he visited so many–that’s an awful lot of farewells to have to dole out to a great many dear people. And when you read his letters, he often mentions how much he wishes he could visit them, or how he’s always thinking about them, and very often he thanks God for them–actually, at the beginning of almost every letter he wrote to the churches! Well, I thank God for you, my friends, and I hope to visit you sometime.
And, again, I’m so grateful to be living in these modern times when technology can do so much to help us all keep in touch! There’s Facebook, and Skype, and e-mail, and Instant Messaging, and all sorts of similar conveniences at our fingertips. Let’s not be strangers.
And, to all of you back home, don’t worry; I’ll be on the plane coming home as scheduled. And it will be so good to see you all again!
Be seeing you!
