“Who wants to go camping?”
When our fourth-grade teacher asked that question, the class exploded. Everybody was ready to go. Except for me.
The trip was for six days. During this time, they would be “roughing it.” I may have been a farm girl/tomboy, but I liked my electricity and running water.
Also, unlike most of the other kids in my class, I didn’t have a sibling that I wanted to get away from for a while. I knew I would miss my family. The teacher even said some kids would get homesick for a couple of days and then they would grow up and get over it. That didn’t appeal to me at all.
Over the years, I did go on trips where I was away from home for a few days. To be honest, it never bothered me. Why? Because I was always with a family member.
I didn’t realize that until I attended a Christian writer’s conference in North Carolina. I went with my friend Paula who was one of the instructors as well as a fellow author. It was from Sunday evening until Thursday morning. There were no TVs in the rooms, so we were roughing it that way.
When we first arrived Sunday, I was so excited. There was so much to do and so many people to meet.
That first evening was great until we went to bed and turned out the lights. Now, I had called home and talked to Tim and Sara. But as I lay there, I began to miss them so much that it literally and physically hurt. I even felt a little nauseous. I understood why it was called home sickness.
If it wasn’t for me being the chauffeur, I may have gotten in the car and headed back home that night. At one point, the words of my old teacher rang in my head. “They grew up and got over it.”
Unfortunately for me, I was getting over it any time soon. I prayed myself to sleep.
During the next day, I was fine. Maybe I was over it and that first night was just an adjustment from being away from my family. Nope. After we went to bed the next night, I felt just as homesick as the previous night.
I desperately wanted to go home. It felt as if time had stopped and I was stuck there. Wednesday evening, my homesickness wasn’t near as bad. I was very surprised. That being said, I was still ready to drive over the mountain and back home to East Tennessee.
“Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Exodus 22:21 (KJV)
That experience taught me a big lesson: compassion. We should always try to understand what others are going through. And just maybe God allows us to experience situations so we can better help others dealing with the same.
The next year, I wasn’t sure if I was going back to the conference. That changed when I discovered my book “Deadly Doll” was a Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel.
On Wednesday evenings, there was the awards banquet. I had watched and was so excited for my friends who had won various awards. It was now my turn to walk across that stage and receive my recognition. Nope, I wasn’t missing this.
And you know what? I wasn’t as homesick that time. I even told Tim about it after I got back home. He pouted and said, “Well thanks a lot!”
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.