Farm & Fleet

I nearly had an emotional breakdown in Farm & Fleet.

Don’t worry, to save face for men everywhere, I held it together. If you’ve been following our journey, you know that we moved from Waukesha, WI to the Elkhart, IN area about 6 months ago. When we lived in Waukesha, I would often run errands in the evening after we’d put the kids in bed, because shopping is so much easier without little kids, and Katie doesn’t really like shopping anyways. I’d go to Farm & Fleet — who doesn’t like a store that carries auto supplies, candy, and shots for barnyard animals.

This week, we were back in Waukesha, staying at a hotel while we visited family for Thanksgiving. I also needed to change the oil in the van, which was a good excuse to go visit Farm & Fleet. While in the store and looking for a Packers shirt, which are impossible to find in Indiana, emotion flooded over me. Emotions of life — how it was and how this used to be “home.” The realization that going back isn’t an option. We already said goodbye to our friends here once, visiting seems to reopen wounds. It is the life of a missionary.

We’ve been in Michiana for 7 months now. Building relationships, creating new friendships, and serving when and where we can. And it’s dawning on me that soon we’ll be saying goodbye to these friends as well.

I’m taking this as mini field training time for when we’re in Papua New Guinea. Then we’ll be really far from here and by the time we return in 4 years, a whole bunch is going to have changed!

Home really is where the heart is. I may not sure what geographic area is “home” anymore, but I do know that where my wife and children are, that’s where my heart is. Together we follow the path that Christ has laid before us.