"Welcome Home, Mrs. Dundon"!

There really isn't much of anything that exciting about the actual event of "traveling" between the two countries. On one side you are painfully saying good-bye for six months to what has now become your surrogate family, and you try so very hard to hold back excitement in your voice and actions because you really are so excited to go home and see loved ones, you almost feel guilty. In flight, your thoughts race (at least mine do) about changes you might experience. How much bigger is my grandson? Is he walking? Does he say any words? What size clothes does he wear now? What's the yard look like; the trees we planted before we left, the shrubs? Since we don't have one in Costa Rica it's always exciting to see ours!

One thing that I never remember, but it gets me every time I get to come home, are the Immigration Officers who stamp my passport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We get the usual questions; "What were you doing out of the country"? And we get the same responses..."A missionary?!? Really? How do you like that"?

And then the moment happens.

The stamp is placed on the passports which are then passed back to us and we hear, "Welcome Home, Mrs. Dundon"! And my eyes produce crocodile tears! Why? It sounds so comforting to hear those words. It feels welcoming. You feel wanted. For a moment, you feel care-free and like you have a "place" to call home because quite honestly, it's true what most missionaries say, you never feel like you have a "home" anymore once you start serving in another country. Neither country feels quite "right".

And my mind shifts quickly to thoughts of our military. I wonder, who didn't hear those words this past year? I wonder if they feel the same way when they do hear them. And I say a prayer as I walk to baggage claim for those who are actively serving and their families.

The military fights in some ways the same battle the missionary fights. They fight physically with their bodies, but like us, they fight psychologically, spiritually and emotionally.

Please don't forget our military! And don't forget your missionaries! It's a battle out there! We need to keep fighting on!