Passing Through

I was due any day and I was rather large. In fact the doctor said I was measuring generously. I was so ready to welcome Samuel into this world and be done with the pregnancy. That's when it happened- that's when I saw a truck full of migrant workers pull up to the trailer next to ours and begin tumbling out on to my lawn. There were 100s of them- ok maybe I am exaggerating a little but it sure felt like there were 100s of them. Somehow they were all supposed to live in the double wide trailer that was only 20 feet away from my home.

We had already dealt with the drug using neighbors on one side and the revolving door of drunken men on the other side and gotten somewhat used to the booming bass zooming past our house at all hours of the day and night, but this pushed me over the edge. My in laws watched me as I completely unraveled and panicked as I watched this all unfold literally right outside my window. I was a mess!

Once my ever calm and loving hero of a husband got the low down on the situation and my in laws got some food in my ever growing body I was able to regain my composure and stop panicking. I guess I should say at this point that I don't have anything against migrant workers per se. My panic was based on the fact that the other trailers full of migrant workers were loud from drunk men partying and a little creepy as the men stared you down as you drove by- even when I was so swollen I looked like I might explode.

So, anyway, it all worked out and I even made an attempt to be neighborly and brought over some groceries to the women and children who lived there. As I continued to give the situation over to God and plead with Him to rescue me from the hell I lived in, other wise known as a trailer park, I became really interested in the life of migrant workers. One day Father God showed me that soon these hard working people would be moving on from the blackberry harvest to the next field of produce ready for the picking. I saw that these people- mostly young men but some older and some were complete families were living here but this wasn't home. They knew it was a temporary home. A place to rest and enjoy while there but that they were only there to do a job and nothing else. It wasn't for them to get involved with the happenings of that town or for them to invest too much in the trailer they were living in for the season. They knew it was temporary and everything would soon change for them.

Then it hit me- I am a migrant worker. I have been called by God to go where the harvest is. To keep myself ready to go when my season is up. To enjoy where I am but never get so attached to any one place that I can not get up and go where He is sending me. This was so liberating! Rob and I had moved quite a bit up to that point and I had always felt the need to explain why to people and make excuses. But no more! I realized that were doing exactly what God had for us. For some people their harvest season may be longer and keep them in one place longer but for us He had us going several places. We had several harvests to tend to.

So, now I work to remind myself of those migrant workers laying all over my "yard". The ones who made themselves at home but knew they were only passing through. I am enjoying where God leads us but I know it's only for a season. I am to go where He sends me and when He sends me. I am only passing through and where I live is only a place to lay my head as I get about working on the harvest! I am looking forward to the day I get to return home with my Father God.