Saturday, May 10, 2008 - Home
Home again, Home again...
Home sweet Home,
Hogar dulce Hogar,
There's no place like home...
Yes, 'tis true.
We arrived back in Trujillo at 7am, after spending the night sitting up on a bus, holding little ones... ALL NIGHT. But tired as we were, it didn't change the sweetness of getting back HOME. We've been gone for a WHOLE month. We are SO glad to be here, together - just us.
What is HOME? Home is a strange term, because it doesn't have to mean where you grew up (though it can), or where you spend a majority of your time (though often it is). Home can mean lots of things. Home can mean where you're staying, where your loved ones are, where your stuff is. It depends on the person and the context. Sometimes home is a place where you are temporarily, (like when we were in Bolivia, after taking a walk, my kids say, "Can we go home now?").
We've only lived in this new city, in this new house for 6 months. Strange how a month long journey away can make this place seem so comfortable, so longed after. But I'm still not sure it's the place that makes it home. Even though certainly that is a part. There is a place element.
For me, home is where Micah and my kids are. Home is where our special belongings are. Home is where the heart is. :) In this case, that's pretty true. At times, home has been a hotel room, a room at our parents' house, a friend's house, a tent or even just a little niche for our little family with our suitcases.
Valiant as that sounds, there is not many things my heart longs after more on this earth than to have a home. Somewhere to be... for a long time. A home where everything runs smoothly. A place that is lovely to look at, and peace reigns. Where all my favorite people long to be, and a place where I belong.
Praise the God in Heaven that He has thought of all of that and He's the one who's given us those longings. He has not intended for us to live here. We are on a journey. Granted it's a long one (shorter for some than others, to His glory). Our destination isn't earthly, this is not where we belong. He's waiting for us, at HOME. That's where everything runs smoothly, it's lovely and peaceful. It's where we're made for, it's where God is.
Home on earth in reality is sort of an ironicly transitory idea. Most of us, before traveling much, or who've lived a normal American life may not feel as strongly aware of that dimension. The idea of home, to some may seem very fixed and unchanging. But all of us as Christians need to be reminded of the fact that this earth is not our home! It's a transitionary place. We thank God for the blessings He's granted to us on earth, but we must be mindful that these things serve as a reminder to us of our REAL home. Home in Heaven.
So go hug the person you love most, sew some curtains, make dinner, bake your bread, love your kids, write a letter, appreciate your bed, or whatever it is that you like doing most at home,
and remember...
this isn't our real home...
but it sure is nice.
I am my Beloved's and He is mine.
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