A Sense of Belonging

Last night Dan and I went out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary (16 years, in case you wondered). We went to one of our favourite restaurants, which is in a shopping mall on the other side of Pretoria. While there we ran into two different people that we knew, stopped and had a conversation, and then continued on. On the way home, it suddenly hit me:

We made it. We belong here now.

This might seem like a random fact to you but consider the following:

• When you move to another country there is nobody who knows who you are or what your name is. You are completely anonymous and alone.
• Pretoria - the city proper - is a city of 1.5 million people.
  
• It takes time to build relationships and even longer to make lasting friends.
• I think it was five months before I went to the shops (near my house) and ran into someone who greeted me by name.

But now... here we were on the other side of a large city and we ran into TWO people we knew. I know this sounds silly to most of you but I felt so blessed. When you get to the point where you can go just about anywhere and realise that people know who you are, accept you, are happy to see you and are there if you need anything... that's huge. And it makes me feel like we're finally home in South Africa.