WoW - Let me Come Home

 

Home.  Where is it?  What is it?  It is absolutely fascinating how vastly different people can identify this term at large, and what it may mean to them individually.  Growing up, your grandparents provided a very steady home environment for Katie and me.  So much so, that we were safe in our little bubble of familiarity.  Even when traveling, it wasn't so bad because we were always all together (This shows the value of a steady home life, but that's a topic for another time).

For my first quarter of college, your grandma and grandpa dropped me off a week early, as I was participating in a Habitat for Humanity build that week in conjunction with my English class.  Therefore, I didn't have all the activity and life typically found in dorm life, but it was rather empty and lonely.  Therefore, the absence of home is what made me yearn for some aspect of it more (while also enthusiastically embracing adventure and experience - the common paradox).  After that, I developed a sense of even the slightest feeling of home in different ways.  Here are a few:

- While interning in India, many things were foreign - almost all things, in fact.  Food, the side of street you drive on, culture, language.  One day my flatmate who was also an intern was sitting at the kitchen table, writing and listening to Christian contemporary music.  I'm not the biggest fan of most of this genre, as it feels cliche bordering cheesy, but it was so very familiar, that it took my spirit to a great place of calm and peace.

- Being part of the Navigators collegiate ministry, sometimes we would have dinners at adult leaders' homes.  I especially felt a sense of home going to an older leader couple's home, as they were settled and it was cozy and clean.  It made me realize how much I missed aspects of domesticity compared to the very transient lifestyle I was living at the time.

- In Seattle, I had a greater sense of community than I have felt in many settings.  Since we were all living on an Americorps stipend, we didn't have a lot we could do, without the funds... so we would hang out together - ALL the time.  The thing is, we aren't perfect, so we would bicker and get angry and upset with each other, but since we could not avoid togetherness, we learned to live with it and move on.  It was hard, but a blessed experience.

- Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - "Home".  Of course!  Everyone loves this song.  Everyone!  (right?)  It hits a chord of our spirits of loving home, whatever that is to us, and finding that in our beloved <3 Your dad and I listen to this song fondly, as we saw the band together, and are so happy you are now part of our definition of home.

The value of home is important to acknowledge because it's a safe place, a haven from putting on a front, a brave face, and should allow you to rest and be yourself in community with family or friends.  It would really be interesting to explore this from Jesus' perspective because I imagine His dynamic was much different, in that the world is His Father's, and yet He did not have a place to lay His head (Matt. 8:20).

Darlings, may the presence of God always be with you, and may that provide sustenance as you find your place in this world, albeit uncomfortable at times.  I'm having a joyous time creating home for our family, but it does take time, and I have the joy of many adventures around the world to remember fondly and appreciate being more settled now.