OUR SEVEN CORE VALUES:
Shelving the Suitcase
Diana Lynde, 20, recently returned to a junior year at Columbia College after a semester spent in Dortmund, Germany. Her current fields of study are communication, philosophy, and business administration, but they could easily change tomorrow. Favorite locations include moving trains, coffee shops, and gutters after rainstorms.
During my last days as an exchange student in Germany, I spent quite a few moments anticipating changes that would be difficult for me to accept upon my return home. I realized that many of the aspects of living abroad which suited me so well would have to be left behind in Europe.
I would lose much of the independence I had enjoyed—making decisions about my time without having to balance anyone else’s schedule, picking up and traveling to other countries nearly on a whim, starting conversations with new faces that could last for hours. I would also be leaving behind a culture that I found enormously interesting, both for its history and for its modern society. Most painfully, I would be leaving good friends from across the globe.
At almost every turn, I encountered something new to add to my “Things I Will Miss About Germany” list.
So it was with mixed feelings that I stepped off the plane on that muggy day in August. I felt ready to enter back into South Carolina, to see familiar places, to be with my family, but not necessarily eager.
At the first glimpse of my family, however, my attitude began to change.
My seven-year-old brother’s face erupting in a huge grin beneath his two enormous blue eyes. My sister of nine all dressed up for the occasion—bright cotton skirt over a pair of cowboy boots with a scarf to match. My 14-year-old brother who wasn’t little anymore—he was huge, almost as big as the hug he gave me.
Their ecstatic glee seemed so pure, I felt like my moodiness would have been a crime against joy itself. I couldn’t help but leave my private pity party to share in their excitement. “I am home—Yes, it was for a very, very long time. I’m happy to be with you, too!”
That first meeting was a sign that my worries about re-adjusting weren’t quite as terrible as my imaginings across the sea had suggested. I began to take delight in my hometown, grateful for my travel-seasoned eyes that spotted new wonders and joys. I also rediscovered many satisfactions. Entering church and sitting under Bible-based teaching rather than watered-down Christianity, surrounded by outstanding examples of faith rather than nearly empty pews, filled my soul in a way I had forgotten it could be satisfied.
When I walked into my old Sunday School class, where—because of my personal choice in classes—I am the youngest by at least two decades, I was instantly greeted with a bevy of creased smiles and mild inquiries from the ladies within. One dear soul pulled me aside and earnestly asked me if I had liked Europe. In a moment, I had a picture of her thirty, forty years ago, riding a slow plane across the ocean as I had done, meeting wonderful people and having the time of her life. I imagined her revisiting those joys as she asked about mine, and, in that second, it was just fine to be back home if it meant sharing a quiet smile with a friend.
As the semester began, I quickly resumed my regular life as a college student, biting off the usual unchewable amount of commitment. My initial disorientation faded quickly into the regimented royal four of life: school, home, church, and work. These became my distractions from thinking about Germany.
I’m not sure if “culture shock” is the right term for the longing to be back abroad. It is more of a backwards focus, a gigantic wad of gum stuck to your foot as you try to walk forward. I may have thought I was moving forward, but I was proceeding like a tortoise on an airport’s automated walkway. My dreams and desires were oriented entirely in the wrong direction.
Psalm 37:4 holds a promise that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts. In addition to granting us deep satisfaction for our hearts’ contentment, He gives us the desires of our hearts, literally shaping our hearts and molding them to dwell on and long for what is good and profitable.
How can one resist such an invitation to delight in the joys God has provided?
After all, I am not in another country anymore. I am home.
I have a church where I can grow in knowledge and understanding. I have a family that continues to love me even when I return to them tired and cranky. Best of all, I have a God who orchestrates my life so that I do not need to cling to the past, but rather look forward to the joys in store.
6 Responses to “Shelving the Suitcase”
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DIANA!!!!! This piece is FABULOUS!!!! The Lord has given you have a wonderful gift of writing!!! Your honesty is refreshing; and your descriptive examples are fascinating!! I also liked your appreciation of both travel & home; family & multi-generational friends! The letter shows a real maturity!
Keep using this talent for Him!
Love – Mrs. L.
Diana, we’re so glad to have you home!
Love, Daddy
Diana, Germany sounds awesome! You are so great! I miss you!
Emma
I agree with the previous post (Mrs. L post). You are only 20? Your writing is fantastic. I also pray you will use your gifts to glorify God — whether by staying home and raising wonderful children, or whatever career path you choose. Please keep posting!
Diana!
bravo! sehr lustig!
you seem to have a great talent to capture ‘the generally neglected’ but very true emotions, with your words..very refreshing description of the minute details!
ride on!
Regards
Vinn
Diana! I got tears in my eyes reading this… I miss the trains, the freedom, the extra time to always fit in a long and meaningful conversation, the laughs, the simplicities, but yes, mostly the people, you included.
This was also very, very well written. Thanks for sharing! Love you!!!!
Wendy