A Comfort Zone

My family and I just got back from the best vacation in many years. This trip brought together two families of a brother and a sister. 

The odds to beat before the reunion could be achieved were great and almost insurmountable and the realization that indeed we got the reunion done renders the word “awesome” an understatement.

Our parents Eleazar and Priscilla couldn't have been more proud of this accomplishment if only they were alive.

I have been searching for the best explanation as to why this reunion felt so smug and comfy and it finally dawned on me that the best ingredient in the success of this event is best described by the phrase “unconditional love.”

The past decade saw me and my family tested in the turbulent seas of abandonment, rejection, treason, distrust, insult, loss of employment and uncertainty of work tenure that created within us a sense of wariness and suspicion. Anyone knows that it is virtually difficult to thrive in such an atmosphere, and persistence in this environment saps out little by little the joy of life from within unless one is firmly anchored in God.

This vacation actually transported my family outside this hostile environment into the home of my sister - like being teleported outside a time-warp. A eutopia - so to speak. It was a place where I could go about my activities without the fear of ridicule, rejection or censure. A place where I knew I would be accepted and loved without condition and where everything I did would be accepted and appreciated.

But like the song says – “nothing good’s gonna last forever,” we had to end this 3-week vacation and pack our things for home. Even if it meant going back to a zone of harsh reality, we knew we had a full-tank of renewed energy and zest and the thought that a family across the ocean was watching out for us and offering daily prayers in our behalf is more than enough to keep us going for years to come.

Thank you Jesus for shining your unconditional love through my sister and her family.