Welcome Home

We returned back to the United States from Argentina about a month ago. Although I have traveled with my husband before, this was the longest duration of time I have been out of the country without returning. Being part of another culture for over half of the year is very interesting. The way you view things drastically changes because of what you are exposed to on a daily basis. What I did not expect is to see things in the United States in a different light.

This past season, we were in Mar Del Plata, Argentina which is a vacation city. The city is surrounded by miles and miles of beaches. This country is one that embraces the physicality of the human body and the accompanying sexuality of those humans. This resulted in a large number of people strolling around the city in attire that is only appropriate for the beach. Men would be shirtless and women would be bottomless. This was not exclusive to the streets; the television flashed prolonged images of scantily clad men and women advertising children’s clothing. This was not our first time being in Argentina and I was not too thrilled to be there.

But God had a plan for us. He put us where we were uncomfortable so we would be forced into a situation where we could hear clearly from Him. We were both religious but had no true relationship with God. All of that changed during this past basketball season. We changed so much that we could barely recognize ourselves. By the time the season ended, God had placed so many new things inside of us we were so excited to get home and share them with everyone. We knew that we were better people and we wanted to give these new Truscotts a chance to shine. Argentina was a thing of the past, so we thought.

Within the first few days of being home we went out for a day of lunch and shopping. As soon as we walked into the mall, we were met with scantily clad young women, foul language, and other things that brought me to shame. What we hadn’t realized is not that Argentina was so full of skin but we had different eyes and ears. All of the time we had been spending with God had changed us in a way we had not expected. Our spirits were no longer comfortable with the usual, our hearts were becoming like His. We saw things the way God now wanted us to see them. What was okay before now made us uncomfortable. Initially, I was in shock that I was not prepared for what I should have already known but once that passed it encouraged me.

I was able to get a better understanding why God worked on us in Argentina. We would never have been able to see things the way He wanted us to had we remained in a familiar environment. If we wanted to be changed in an extreme way, we had to be willing to do extreme things. Like travel all the way to another hemisphere just to hear God’s voice. We are thankful for being able to see the world through different eyes because it has ignited a fire in us to do God’s work throughout the entire world. There is work for us to do that would have never been done had we gone somewhere else. We have been welcomed home in a way like never before.

With All My Love,
Mrs. Truscott