Caitlin Park-Davidson

Caitlin Park-Davidson

1) Tell us a little bit about yourself, your story and where you come from.

Where do I come from? That's always a complicated question for me. 

I was born and (mostly) raised on the east coast by the decision of the Navy. For 12 years straight I lived on the same street. 63rd street will always have a special place in my heart--I'll never forget the worlds my siblings and I created there, the noises of the shipyard across the street, or the great local flavor of the custard shop down the street.

In high school I experienced my first taste of culture shock as my family and I moved to small town Indiana. The Indiana diversion was not on my life plan and I vowed to leave as soon as possible. I knew I was supposed to leave when a well meaning Hoosier said to me, "When you miss the ocean, just go stand in the middle of a corn field. When the wind blows it's just like the ocean." Clearly, it had been a while since he had seen an ocean. 

God had different plans, and I ended up staying four years longer than my required stay in Indiana for college. I'm so glad that I did. During my undergraduate studies, not only did I meet some of my nearest and dearest friends (including my husband, Zach...I know, how cliche), but I also grew more certain of what I was made to do. God focused my passions for intercultural work and marginalized people through my classes, interactions with classmates and professors, and a semester abroad in Mongolia.

My family moved again while I was in college to another town in Indiana, and I've returned back east but to a new home. I now live with my husband in the Kensington area of Philadelphia--it's like Puerto Rico without the beaches. We work with a church called Urban Hope which focuses on community revitalization through building relationships, sharing the gospel and living intentionally in the Kensington area. 

Sometimes, especially recently, I feel a longing in my heart for home which I know no physical location can satisfy. I don't fit in my childhood home any longer and the midwest isn't where I belong either. Homesickness is a strange disease which causes me to forget the reasons why I am where I am today. I am learning to be thankful instead of sad--thankful for the many places I have called home, for the people all around the world who love me and are like family, and thankful for our ultimate home in heaven where I won't feel homesick anymore. It's the greatest cure for homesickness I've found yet, second only to calling home and making one of my mom's recipes.


2) What’s one of your best memories from the last year?

This: 

 

And this:

 

 And this too: 

 

It was a truly joyful day--I am blessed.

 3) How do you take care of yourself?

I'm a big believer in kitchen therapy. When life feels uncertain, I head to the kitchen. Or, I turn on some Over the Rhine and take a nap.

4) Is there a piece of advice that has been very influential in your life?

  

I'm not sure where or when I read this, but I know that at one point Jim Elliot said, "Wherever you are, be all there." These words have stuck with me through times of discouragement and discontentment. I don't want to live focused so much on the past or the present that I miss what God has for me now. I want to be all here.

   

5) What are you currently watching/reading/listening to?

  

I'm currently watching The Office on Netflix--yeah, I'm a little behind on TV. Zach and I have also been watching Cheers, on and off, since the summer before our wedding. Someday, maybe we'll go to Boston and everybody will know our names. I just finished reading The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri and am now reading her book of short stories, The Interpreter of Maladies--both are beautiful, poignant and raw. My go-to album for months has been The Long Surrender by Over the Rhine--perfect melodies for reflective days. I would recommend curling up with a nice cup of tea and turning on their music on your next rainy day. You won't be disappointed.

  

6) If you were handed a plane ticket to anywhere, where would you go?

I've pondered this for a while, and even though I've tried to come up with a more interesting and glamorous location, I think I would fly to Indiana to see my family. That's the truth. 

 

 7) If you could tell the whole world one thing, what would it be?

Don't give up hope. In continuing to hope there is power. My friend recently gave that encouragement to me and it is a lesson I am continually learning. When we give up hoping (for ourselves, or for others) we give in to the enemy and live defeated. I'm thankful for the ultimate hope that I have, knowing that one day everything will be healed and perfect through Christ. That hope keeps me going when life doesn't make sense.