[Introductory post] Caught Between Worlds: Where Does My Heart Belong?

Hello, friends!

My name is Bethany, and I am a halfling. Maybe not how you would normally think of that term, but it's true. Let me explain.

I grew up in America as a white-skinned, blonde-haired, English-speaking little girl. I was everything that you would think would make me belong, but somehow I never did. A culture of task-focus and materialism always felt strange to me. As I grew older, I tried to conform to the prevailing belief of what I was supposed to be, but it never felt right. I finished college and started trying to figure out how to use my degree and what I was actually supposed to do with my life. Two months later, my worldview was turned upside down by a 5-day trip to Honduras.

In October 2012, I got my first taste of Honduras - literally and figuratively. A whole new cuisine opened up to my taste buds: baleadas, pupusas, mantucas, torrejas, Honduran tacos and enchiladas (totally different than the Mexican ones I grew up with in Texas), and all sorts of exotic tropical fruits. But even more than that, I tasted a culture where family was the most valuable resource. Where time was less of a commodity and more of a suggestion. Where life was lived in community whether you liked it or not. It was so foreign to my American experience of spending the majority of time alone in my room/house as a home-schooled only child (don't judge... I'm thankful for it!), and being late was the ultimate dishonor. Yet despite its foreignness, there was such an attraction to this way of life for me.

I spent five months debating whether the feeling of "home" that I immediately felt Honduras offering to me was confirmation that I was supposed to go back. Long story short, it was, and I committed to teach for a year... which stretched into four years. Although I have been back in the U.S. for a little over three years now, my heart is still inextricably connected to Honduras and the children that stole a hundred little pieces of my heart. What is to come is the story that unfolded over those four years in Honduras and what I saw with both my eyes and my heart from 2013 - 2017. May it bless you and show you the goodness of God.