Back in the day, a LONG time ago, Kermit the Frog sung a song called, “It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green.”  I really don’t remember hearing the actual song, but I just remember the title.  Recently a poem made me think about that phrase, “It’s not easy being green.” 

Here’s the poem:

There once was a man from the land of yellow.

Everything around him was yellow—

the trees, the houses, even the food.

And so was he.

One day, God whispered to his heart:

“Go to the land of blue. Tell them about Me.”

So he packed up his life and left.

But when he arrived in the land of blue,

everything was different.

He looked different.

He sounded different.

He felt out of place.

Still, he stayed.

Not to fit in—

but to reach the people for Jesus.

So he began to change.

He learned their ways.

He spoke their language.

He walked their streets and sat at their tables.

But something strange happened.

He was no longer fully yellow.

And never truly blue.

He had become something else.

Something in-between.

Green.

This is the missionary secret:

Missionaries become green.

And there’s no going back.

They no longer have a clear “home.”

They carry two cultures in one heart.

Always missing someone. Somewhere.

Pray for the green ones.

Those who gave up a place called home,

so others could find theirs in Christ.

-author unknown

This poem just resonated with me.  This is such an accurate description of a missionary’s “home.”  When we first moved to Washington state in 2005 from North Carolina, it was quite a different culture.  Most of the people in our little town in Washington have been there all of their lives.  They came from generations of farmers who had been in the area for years and years.  Words were pronounced differently.  Food was prepared differently.  People were different in many ways.  However, we tried so hard to become part of the community.  We attended local events, got to know people, got local jobs, and slowly and surely earned the people’s trust.  The Lord put such love for those people in our hearts.  We grew to love our little community, and it was home.  We still had family in North Carolina that we loved and cared about.  Our hearts were heavy when there was sickness or death in the family, and we were not there.  Sometimes we wished we could be on both sides of the country at once.

After 19 years in Washington state, we came back to North Carolina to start a new ministry.  Our hearts truly broke the day we left our little town.  It was harder to leave Washington after 19 years there than it was to leave all of our families when we first left North Carolina. 

Now, back in North Carolina, this world is different than when we left it.  I didn’t even recognize the intersection leading to my mom’s house.  The stoplight was taken out, replaced by a roundabout.  A new interstate crossed through the road.  We drive to places where we grew up, but it is such a surreal feeling.  It seems like another lifetime.

This past Christmas we were in North Carolina after having left Washington in September.  I went through my address book and wrote out my Christmas cards.  (I love sending Christmas cards!)  After writing them all out, addressing, and stamping them, I looked at my pile and decided to sort them by state.  I had a few to California, a few to Florida, and one here and there to other places.  However, what stuck out to me was that I had the same number of cards going to Washington as I did to North Carolina.  Half of my heart is on one side of the country and half is on the other side. 

We truly become green.  It is truly the Lord that puts an unexplainable love in our hearts for the people He sends us to reach.  And yes, our hearts are always missing someone, somewhere.  However, the Lord seems to expand our hearts each time He crosses our paths with another to show Christ’s love.

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:34-35

Love and prayers! ❤