the heart of a global nomad

Not long ago I was given the opportunity to give a guest lecture in a college class on intercultural communication. I was asked to talk about growing up inter-culturally as a third culture kid (TCK). In preparation I briefly looked over the chapter from the course textbook focused on culture shock and living across cultures. There was a short section on TCK’s. The term was defined and alternative names were given, one of which was global nomad. Global nomad. When I read it, I knew it was exactly how I saw myself. Those two words summed up the transient lifestyle that I know so well and the perspective that I have tried to explain to my more “settled” friends. A nomad is defined as a member of a people having no permanent abode, a person who does not stay long in one place, a wanderer. I am a global nomad. I can’t quite find that place to call “home”...at least for longer than a few years. I’d rather be going and doing. I’d rather be exploring and learning.

The more I thought about those two words, the more I identified, and the deeper the meaning of those two little words ran. Being a global nomad does not merely refer to the international lifestyle that I was born into and continue to maintain. Though I love that life, a global nomad is more than that. I am a global nomad because I am not of this world, this world is not my home. Are we not all wanderers to some extent, making our way through this life longing for that “permanent abode”? Throughout scripture, God’s people are referred to as aliens, set apart, only finding peace in having a home when in His Kingdom. Whether living in one place for the entirety of life or not, may we never become so comfortable in life that we forget we’re on a journey, this isn’t the home intended for us.

No matter how “settled” I become in life, I will always be a nomad at heart. I will always love the journey, and I will always be looking forward to home - this is my heart.