Strangers in a strange land

Finally a return after a VERY LONG break, and a baby boy in between! I get intermittent spurts of writing inspiration, especially when under the influence of a good cup of coffee.....life just always seems so much more positive, and possible after a cup of joe. Well after almost 5 years of our lives embedded here in Vermont, we have become "strangers in a strange land". We have decided to move...moving for various reasons, family, change in lifestyle, and politically. It has been a long process of praying, struggling with lists of positives vs. negatives, talking to friends and family, visiting different potential sites of occupancy, and finally praying for an everlasting peace that passeth all understanding. I have learned alot of things about myself these past 5 years. I have learned that living in the valley isn't always the worst thing, it makes you crave the River, and brings to light what is necessary, and lasting. I have come to the realization that ultimately we as Christians are strangers in a strange land, that we will never truly be comfortable or welcomed here.....and that is okay, painful at first to come to terms with...but okay.
I believe I have become more cynical, and a little burned out on all the welfare I see around me....I have come to know and believe when you pay people to be poor, they will be poor.
I think I have lost a sense of compassion, something I had only heard about from other nurse's and health care workers. I was always warned about losing it....losing what?.....losing the "it" of nursing...the care. The locals here are a strange folk, filled with pride in their state and land. If you are not a native you are known as a flatlander. At first I took offense to such a term, but now, I am thankful I wasn't raised here. Vermonter's tend to stay to themselves, they make up their own rules for things, most would give you the shirt off their back, and then call the police to get it back. I have a handful of close "Vermont" friends, that if we should choose will remain so, long after I have left this strange land. In some way I feel I have made a way in the desert, shed some Light into the lives of others. In the end...I reminded that God is good all the time....all the time inspite of circumstance or self.