The hero’s journey of coming back home

Hi Soul 🌻

I’m sure you’re familiar with the hero’s journey, which is what our life often holds a pattern of. We grow through the departure, the initiation, and the return, often in cycles. This Sunflower Selah letter reflects on the final stage of the hero’s journey, the return, through a Christian lens.

Wandering on the hero’s journey

This week I’ve been wandering the streets of Oslo, mostly Majorstuen and Gamle Oslo (Old Oslo). I’ve located and visited parks, museums, churches, and cafes, just kept myself open.

For those who don’t know, I am born Norwegian but has over the last decade grown more and more internationalized after travelling the world.

Since I came out of new age spirituality, living in Tulum, Mexico, I had the calling to return back home to Europe, and then to my homeland, to bring my faith to the faithless.

The “return” to one’s homeland grows easier and more appealing as we “return” to Christ, because what we previously escaped from has been healed by accepting Him in our hearts.

It’s like the hero’s journey. You have to go far away to return back home, sometimes.

Therefore, the intention has for me this week been to see Oslo and its people with my new eyes, and to look beyond the pride that I’ve held that says “I know Oslo”, projecting past experiences and views onto it, which has limited me from experiencing it anew.

It’s led me to find an international church and to find a sweet corner of the city I can imagine myself living and creating, studying, and living in.

Time fades away as a factor when we abide in Christ

The version of me prior to Christ would have been pessimistic about committing to 6 years of Clinical Psychology studies in a city that “I know.”

Now, God has redeemed me to be a new creation, so in reality, my eyes are new, and He has made me look from eternity instead of from the point of now.

In that way, 6 years become just a blip and an opportunity for sanctification and growth that I am excited about.

With Christ at the center, it’s less about what I get out of a commitment [to studies], and more about how I can be used by Jesus for the good, the service, and the love of others on the journey.

Crucify yourself to the resistance until you know Christ is “home”

Since I came to Christ, it’s become my mission to immediately crucify myself to that which causes resistance, because that’s where I know I can grow in humbleness.

So, do you resist something? Lean in. Do you feel off about something? Ask questions, seek answers, knock by exposing yourself to your fear.

I’ve this week spoken Scriptures over myself, reminding myself that my Home is in Jesus, that God is my dwelling place, and that any place I find myself, can be a reflection of that.

I see what a gift it is to take all the memories from the past decade of world travels, and come to my home country to share it with people I meet and get to work with here.

I get to hold hope also for the perishing and those without hope, because I have seen what faith can do and where it can bring me with my own eyes and my own heart.

What a blessing it is to now actually desire to create a home for myself and my dog, and for the family I am praying to God to receive.

Lessons from this week…

→ Remember to not make an idol out of a location, but be receptive to receive the why behind God planting you where you are. Sometimes you know immediately why, other times, you get to wait for it to be revealed. Take that first step, and dwell in that.

→ It’s okay to acknowledge that you long for safety and home. It’s the definition of being a human. But, our spiritual challenge here on Earth is to find rest in the home of Jesus, and to create a reflection of that around us and for people we meet. A home is made by the people who make it upon Christ.

Join The Gardeners in the Worthy Waiting

If you haven’t already, join women (The Gardeners) inside The Garden community to build each other up in the waiting season and walk through it constructively, consciously, and with faith in every step on your unique hero’s journey. 31/40 free spots now taken.

Glory to God,

🌻 Martine | Bloom Beyond