About Unlost Wanderer

The title of this blog comes from a poem in J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of The Rings about legend and future. It is a tying of two worlds together, one of Independence to one of community and responsibility. The full poem is this:

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

To me, the first stanza especially is a great reminder to live with strong values, to hold on to things that matter, and to be rooted. But the second line is a reminder to me that though I have traipsed across the globe, though sometimes I wonder if I can ever be my true self if my self is so scattered, that I am not lost. 

TCKs (Third Culture Kids) are my passion. With the globalization of the world we are becoming more common, more avid in society, and yet many of us don't even realize who we are. I can't count how many missionary kids, embassy kids, oil kids, and their parents that I have met who don't even recognize that they are different. So many who have never heard the term TCK or who don't think they belong. 

The resources out there are good. My favorite book on TCKs, Third Culture Kids, is like reading my very soul poured out on paper. But it is technical. This blog may have technical aspects but the purpose is more than that. I hope that in reading this you will hear the words you feel already. That you will find yourself nodding your head, crying with me, smiling with me, and that in the end you will say "I am a TCK". That you will recognize in me what you have in yourself. That parents will see their kids in my words. That people who have settled down and buried those feelings because they felt the need to belong will dig them up and hold them dearly, knowing they do belong. 

This blog, I hope is one that you will share with others. I hope you will share it with other TCKs who can read it and agree. I hope that you will share it with nonTCKs so that they can understand what it is like on the other side. I hope that you will share it with your church who sponsors missionaries, I hope that you will share it with your family, your friends. And I hope that more people will see TCKs for who they are, not strange, but beautiful. People with different struggles but similar feelings, looking for home. Finding it everywhere and no where. Wanderers who are not lost.

This is a photo by Iain Anderson, a very talented high schooler in California. When he shared this with me he probably had no clue how deeply it would speak to my soul.
I feel like TCKs are like this, looking at the world through a magnifying glass and seeing everything clearly but from a different perspective. Upside down if you will. But look how beautiful that can really be.