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What’s It Like to Live in a Foreign Country?

Hello Everyone. We’ve been in Barcelona, Spain for 5 months now. Praying, seeking God’s will for why we are here and what we feel we’re suppose to do. It’s a beautiful country with amazing people…but it’s not at all what I thought. 

I’ve been all over the world – last count was 40 countries. The longest I stayed in a foreign country was 6 weeks. That was in 1998 when we adopted our daughter in Russia. Actually living in a different country is a completely different experience.

You feel like a tourist for months. The sights are brand new, the sounds of the city are not what you’re use to. But you enjoy it as far as being a tourist goes. Once it sets in that you’ve made your home in that place, it’s a completely different deal.

For all of us, it’s been difficult to get into the flow of life here. If I’m honest, all of us are lonely. We have each other – and that’s been amazing but we don’t really have many friends, we don’t have a car, we don’t know the language yet. And all of the things we were accustomed to finding solace in – the house we loved, our favourite restaurants in Colorado, the familiar places we liked to go, the friends we would enjoy – are all gone. I’ve taught for years about how much God loves the widow, the orphan and the stranger. I can tell you, I’ve had a new appreciation for what it means to be a stranger in a foreign land.

The one thing we knew about coming to Spain was that God called us here. Our move was about what He was doing in our lives. But we didn’t have the full picture of exactly what He was doing. It was terrible timing from a fleshly perspective. After serving widows and orphans for 20 years, I had stepped away and started a new business that was thriving. It didn’t make sense to leave that. Our kids were doing great in their studies and sports, it didn’t make sense to leave that either.

But at the end of the day, all of us are Kingdom people. We don’t want to be where it’s comfortable, we want to be were God has us. There are times in each of our lives when we need to be in places of dependency. Places where we are out of our comfort zones and we don’t have the answers. Then, there’s only one place to turn and there’s only one person who has the answers.

Emily and I did the best job we knew how to do in raising our kids, making sure their needs were met and they were safe and comfortable. What we didn’t realise is that they were too comfortable. Our big house was great, but it was also a great place to hide. Now, we are all crammed around a small living room where we have to look each other in the eye every day and have deep conversations and say we believe in each other. We have to face real issues in our lives about who we are, what God is saying, and what we are struggling with. It’s been incredible for our each of us.

For the Davis family, we all know we have one shot on this earth to make an impact. And we are in the perfect place for us to see what God is going to do next. We are in His hands and we couldn’t be more excited.

Thanks to each of you for joining us on this journey, for partnering with us and praying for us. We love and miss you!

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