Memories of Ireland

We moved back from Ireland almost a year and half ago and I miss it so much. Lately my husband and I have been dreaming about moving back, my kids not so much.

What do we miss? So very much. The people. The place. The craic. When you live somewhere for a significant chunk of your life, it always stays with you, becomes a part of you. I used to say, soon after we arrived in Ireland, that something about the place seeps into your bones. After ten years, our bones are definitely full and now every step seems difficult because it doesn’t seem natural.

My husband and I are both Australian and so coming ‘home’ seemed to be fairly easy compared with moving all those years ago to a totally new culture and territory. But reverse culture shock is real! And we have felt it intensely, even when we have been surrounded by the family we have loved and missed, the friends, the weather (wow, the sun!) and old familiar things. We came back to Oz for a number of reasons…family, ageing parents, health…all valid and all important. And we prayed about it as a family and all of us felt God wanted us to go ‘home’.

But the reality is, our heart homes are now in two places and when you leave one, though you are happy to be in the other, your heart hurts. You miss all you left behind. You crave the things you couldn’t stand (rain!) and you long to go back. But deep down we know this is where we are meant to be….at least in this season. Ireland will always be in our hearts, but so will Australia or the many other places we have been, sowed roots and left. Life is a twisting complicated journey and though we struggle and wrestle with our loss, we need to embrace what we have gained and learn to be content.

Creating is a way of finding contentment for me. I have been stitching landscapes inspired by ten years in another land. It is a part of me, it always will be. I am learning to embrace that, not to hide it or think I have to change it. And when the time is right, I’m sure God will direct my creative thoughts to the land around me now, the birds that were so familiar that I had forgotten how colourful they are. The complicated and intricate bush that I always thought never changed that much, but actually changes in multiple seasons. New places to explore. New people to meet and embrace.

I guess I need to create a new home in my heart for my ‘old’ home. Embrace this change, the new path. Remember the past with joy (and sorrow at times). Reflect on how my old life in Ireland has changed me for the better. I hope you will journey with me on this path!

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