They Don't Understand

I recently met a family whose heart is completely immersed into missionary work. As I walked all around their home, I saw pictures of other families that they knew that were off in other countries. When talking to the mother of this family, we talked about the experiences that they and the other families had while out in the field. The people that go out there see miracles happen in small and large ways. They have close encounters with death, they lead people to Christ, they go to places that most people will never be able to even pronounce, then its time to come home. When they prepare to go home they reminisce on what home was like, the people around them, what they used to do for fun and how excited they were to continue those traditions upon their return. Except there was a problem when they returned, the traditions they once had are no longer what they used to be, the people they enjoyed the company of are not the same people they once spent time with and home doesn't have the same feel to it They came home with expectations of being able to enjoy some of their favorite past times, but those past times do give them the same feel that they missed when they were abroad. Something happened while they were gone; life happened, just as they experienced life away, the people they missed experienced their own life and had become new people that have grown without their missionary friends around.

This is where the meat of my conversation with the mother began. The transition home for the missionaries can some times be very difficult. They come home expecting it to be the way they left it, they expected people to have missed them and want to hear their stories, but not always is it that way. For some reason many times when they come home, people ask how their trip was but don't truly want to know but are doing such to be merely polite. Its as if they are asking while walking in the other direction, wanting a quick answer as they continue going on their way. A life altering experience cannot be said in a moment's word. Even when there are those who genuinely interested in hearing their story, they don't completely understand what happened there because they cannot relate to it. Only other missionaries can understand what really happened out there. People who have gone through what they have done, pored their lives into what they did there, can truly understand the change that happened in their lives. Their experience draws them together in a way that others may never know.

This makes me think about the experiences of life that we go through. Though it may not be a long missionary journey to another country, we do experience life changes through events that happen. I can say that through a study abroad that I have done, I have been able to have a such an experience that not many understand what I went through and can completely appreciate it unless they went through it. Those who did go through it know the feeling of the experience and can sit and talk away the hours of memories of what happened. These encounters pull us together though we may have never known each other. It is a hidden attraction to one another, and everyone else just stands on the outside looking in. Why does this happen? because the people that experience this crave other who have done the same and can relate to them, who listen to them and understand them.

Though people on the outside may try, there is something that blocks them from the comprehension of an experience. But that should not stop them from listening to their friend's experience, even pretending to be interested for a time places a smile on their face. Showing those who have been gone that they have been missed, and they will open up and share that experience with them. The wall of not being able to understand slowly falls down with each story that is told. Though complete understand may never be reached, at least a distant friend felt they were home when among their friends again.