Home

There is no place like home,

there is no place like home.

Even still I can see those sparkling ruby slippers click, click as these words are repeated in my mind. Home. Such a small word that can stir up such a myriad of memories to tickle the senses. Perhaps it's the smell of your mom's famous cookies baking in the oven, the sound of your family and friends laughing in the living room, the feel of your childhood comforter snuggled tight to your chin, or the faces that remind you who you were and love you how your are. Home, I truly love it.

Over the past years, I have found myself away from home more than I ever thought I would. Having always considered myself a Homebody I have been struck with how little I have been “home.” With the uncertainties of life I have been challenged to discover how I can establish, enjoy, and rest in the many homes I have inhabited. From guest rooms to living rooms to blow up mattresses to fungus-filled apartments, my many “homes” in the last year have challenged what I had previously considered my security and place of refuge. How does a Homebody turn into a humble transient with joy and delight? Here is my secret...I found it in Psalm 119:54,

“Your decrees are the theme of my song, no matter where I lodge.”

It may seem cheesy and simplistic, but for me it has been what has allowed me to walk in the security, refuge and consistency that a home should offer. My home is securely fastened to the One who travels with me, Jesus Christ. I find His very words become like bricks to surround and form about me the protective walls of my house. His promises are my foundation which hold me steadfast. His whispers decorate the walls with comfort and joy. God is my shelter, the one who settles my spirit no matter where I lodge. His very decrees are the theme-song (I've always wanted one of those) for my life whether in Bend, OR or Botswana, Africa.

I love Him and am only at home in His presence.

I find it a profound mystery that God could take a homebody from Beaverton, OR and cause me to travel the world...setting up home here and there. God has shown me that my home is first in Him and then in those people who He surrounds me with. From Portland to Bend to Botswana. I am richly blessed to have homes filled with people I love that I can always return to. The homesick ache I often feel to be this place or that with people I miss, reminds me too that this world is not our home. When all this passes away, God and His Word will still remain. On that day, my home will still be standing.