HOME.
What is the first thing you think of when you see this word?
Is it pulling off your shoes after a long day, eating dinner with the fam as the sun sets on the horizon?
Is it your family running wild and kids laughing and it’s loud and chaotic?
Is it the physical structure you grew up in?
Home could be another country that grabbed your heart and never returned it.
Maybe home is the community and friendships that have supported you when life got hard, and they provided safety and comfort for you.
Is it your best friends house or your grandma’s gravy and biscuits?
Maybe after reading these you are stumped by this word home.
I’ve been challenged by this word here lately. I’ve always considered Tennessee my home but I’ve felt like my home is multiple places now. Tennessee is where I have grown up all my life, gone to school, graduated from college, and have my family and lots of sweet memories here. With that, my brother and his family live in Ohio. Although I don’t necessarily think of Ohio as home, the family there is home without a doubt.
After living in Seattle though, I consider this place my home. I love this city and of course Mount Rainier, but the community I was surrounded by holds special people that have impacted my life an unexplainable amount. This was home to a time in my life that I felt most myself.
This summer and throughout the year, I had the opportunity to go visit my best friends home. Her family lives on Oahu and after spending a lot of time there, learning more about the culture, and background of my best friend and her family – I feel a sweet sense of home there too.
This does not include the places that have a sweet place in my heart and places that were home for me for smaller portions of time (ie. Swaziland, Africa where I spent almost three months or the Dominican Republic where I’ve been several times)
So yes, I have been wrestling with this word: Home.
Where is home? Where do I belong? Where am I suppose to be? My heart feels torn and separated between so many places. Because I feel so torn – I feel like I have no place at all. I feel like I don’t belong anywhere or have any sense of home. The people, place, my community, nature, the actual house: are all spread across different states or countries. There is not one singular place I can point to, right now, and say “yes that is my home.”
I have recently come to this realization though that in the midst of the confusion within my heart, that my home is not here on this planet. My home is not a physical house.
My home is Jesus.
Wherever I am in this world, I’m always home when I am with Jesus. That sense of home will change often, where you live, where you are, and the people around you. Those places and people you can take with you in your heart, but the ultimate home is Jesus. This is where you find incredible peace, safety, endless comfort, unending love, and JOY. Everything you seek to find in a home, you can find with Him.
I was awestruck the other day as the Lord revealed and reminded me of a scripture. I had worked all day, rolling my ice cream, cause ya know skills (but really though, I have always wanted to learn how to do it and work at an ice cream shop since I was little) and so I’m rolling for the world race trying to raise money for fundraising. Anyway, haha, after work, I went for a quick swim and I saw the waves crashing against the side of the coast. The waves were massive and were rolling at increasing speed and intensity. One after another. Constantly tearing at this coastline. I was reminded of the scripture of the man who builds his house on the sand and the man who builds his house on the rock. The one who builds his life on the solid foundation, will not be shaken by the storms. As waves and winds rise and try to tear away at you, you know your foundation is built strong and will not waiver.
As I am thinking about this word home, I’ve been thinking about “how am I building up my home in a strong foundation?”
Am I standing firm with Jesus? Am I building my foundation strong to not waiver in the storms? Thinking about and preparing for this next year of life, home will be a new place every month all around the world. A piece of my heart will find its home in these countries with incredible people I haven’t even met. But the home I have with Jesus, never changes. It’s the same yesterday, today and forever. It’s something I can stand firm with, in both the storms and the beautiful sun-kissed still waters. Something I want to remember when on my journey around the world. When I miss home; wherever that may be. Whenever I feel lost or feel like I’m being hit by storms; remembering my strong foundation. When I am sad leaving pieces behind in each country and wishing I could have more time. I always know my strong, firm, foundation, and my home and the blessing it is to walk with Jesus around the world visiting others’ homes and bringing my home with me.
“…And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.”
MATTHEW 7:25
As always, sending lots of love and HUGE HUGES your way!
