From the desk 3/2

You know that scene in E.T. when the disproportionate alien waddles breathlessly to the window in a bright blonde wig and points with his bony, bejeweled finger to the window cooing,
“E.T. phone home.”
“E.T. phone home.”

Well, I know exactly how the little alien feels. In a sense, I’ve been working towards home my entire life.

I’ve never truly felt at home or settled in one place. I could be labeled a “rolling stone,” but I haven’t done a lot of rolling — I just know that I’ve always had the desire.

Up until this point in my life, I have done everything possible to speed things up and change my surroundings. I grew up in Charlotte, N.C. but I honestly feel little loyalty to the city. As a senior in high school, I completed my entire first year of college because I was so restless. Now, I will graduate Liberty a year earlier than I should but I couldn’t be happier. I began feeling the itch to move on as a freshman and another year in the same place could prove to be a challenge for me.

The feeling has always troubled me. If I dwell too long on what it could mean for my future, I usually end up as breathless as E.T. Will I ever be able to settle down with someone? Will I be happy taking a job and sitting behind a desk every day? Why do I feel this way in the first place?

I’ve always felt wrong for feeling this way. My family has always supported me in every life-changing decision that I’ve announced at the dinner table, but I don’t think they’ve ever understood why I would want to pick up my life and relocate to the unknown.

I was talking to a friend on Facebook chat last week, and he told me that as Christians, we are technically homeless until we reach our eternal home with the Lord. I had been paying minor attention to the conversation until he said this, but in just those few simple sentences, my self-doubt and years of feeling crazy were rectified.

I am an alien.

In John 17:16, Jesus says of his disciples, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

I could travel to every country and make my home anywhere, but I will never feel settled because, in a sense, I am only visiting. Sure, my eagerness to pick up and leave can probably be partly attributed to middle child personality characteristics, but it’s also who God made me to be.

As a Christian, I won’t ever feel like I am truly home until I depart this world. E.T. slowly gets sick while on earth and must return home, just like I will too. It’s OK though — aliens usually don’t survive very long on other planets and sooner or later they have to go back to where they came from.

I am an alien.