A Tied Heart

It happens every time. My heart gets tied. 

I was born and raised in the North. I breathed in industry, metals, rubber, plastics and oil. I drive through smoggy cities and jammed roads. I've grown up walking under the shade of buildings rather than that of trees. 

And I've loved it. It's my life, it's all I've known, it's the familiar. It's where I know I fit in, because it's in my blood. 

My first trip south was a culture shock. 

Life was completely different. The slow pace, the landscape, the houses, the fields, the roads, the people. To be honest, I couldn't wait to return North. I didn't belong in this Southern place where my voice gave my identity away and animosity towards the Civil War still ran strong. The climate was vastly different. The way of life was vastly different. No one could relate to my love of the city. My life was foreign to the South, and their lives foreign to me. 

But time has a way of changing things. 

Expectation is the killer of joy. My expectations of the South can make or break my enjoyment of any trip there, or a trip anywhere else for that matter. I've learned to let go of expectations and accept circumstances for what they are, as either a blessing or a lesson from God. I've learned that people need a few days to forge friendships in the South, unlike our fast-paced relationships of the North. I've grown to love the people with every trip I've taken, and every time I leave, half my heart stays behind. 

So when I packed up this week and headed out for the long trek home, tears came and I didn't want to go. 

Home is where family is.  And these people, these people have become my family and make the South a home for my heart. 

Back home in the North, my heart is still trying to adjust to the life I've always known. Life without the people who have become so dear within such a short amount of time. 

Funny how a vast city can feel so empty. Funny how there was a time when I dreaded to go to the South, and now I'm counting the months, weeks, days, until I'm reunited with people whose hearts are bonded to the same cause as my own. 

We're bonded by faith. By love. By grace. 

That's what makes people family. But the South doesn't have to be the only place that holds the fellowship. The beauty. The community. I have people here- family here- too. 

I've returned North with a vengeance. To reclaim and rebuild and to restore. To do my part to bind us all in unity. It's a lot of work. It's an uphill battle. But the South is not the only place in the world that can hold the love. 

Our hearts are big enough to hold it all, too. 

So while my heart is tied, torn between two places that I cannot be at once, I'm doing my part.... how about you?