There are times when I wish I could be in a place where everything finally fits.
I wish there was a way to live close to both of our children as well as all of our friends. (These people are actually scattered all over the country.) Why couldn’t there be a way to live close to both of our families? Surely there is a way to experience life where we never have to say "good-bye" to people we love. How exciting it is to watch our children enter adulthood. Yet, why must that happen at the same time our parents are experiencing aging and more health problems?
I know. This is the real world. This is the place where one can experience a great family. One can also experience a family that through neglect just finally drifts apart. This is the place where one can experience such meaningful friendships. Yet, one can also lose friends through time.
The place where everything fits is what I would call "home." I resonate with Lynn Anderson’s words:
The two strands of that old rhyme — the tug of home and the joy of coming home — are inextricably woven into the fabric of all human longing. Ah, yes. For some the word home means warmth. For others it means mostly pain. For still others, the word reawakens feelings of disappointed frustration; home is that illusive something they have longed for all of their lives but have never found. Some have even lost hope they will ever experience it.
However we define it, we all long for home. And we all carry with us our picture of home — whether real or imagined — wherever we go.
Lynn Anderson, Longing For A Homeland, p. 12
Ultimately, I believe that the one home that the deepest part of me longs for can only be found in the presence of the Father. I really believe this. Occasionally, I will continue to have these moments of wishful thinking. There will be moments when I wish for it all to come together on this earth and in this life. Yet, I know this is not going to happen.
At this point in my life, I believe that the place where it all comes together is in the presence of God. There is great security and satisfaction to be found in "the Father’s house." That home only gets better with time.
I too have felt "homesick" many times, especially in times when I feel like I don’t fit in here on Earth. I’m reminded of Peter’s words, that we are "aliens and strangers" here–we are meant for another, better, eternal world. It is comforting to know that separation between believers here on Earth, whether through death or geographically, is just temporary (although "temporary" can last many long and hard years). Thanks for the reminder that Earth is indeed not our home; it’s too easy to live in the here and now and forget about the eternal.
This is so refreshing….thanks for reminding me and keeping me in focus!
How odd it is that we need to stop looking for a home in this world in order to finally feel at home in this world.
Hi jim, thanks for another good post.This is not related to
your post but i was wondering if you could allow full content in your
feeds. I love visiting your site, but feed readers are a lot more
convenient and you can easily add feed flares for commenting and
bookmarking to maintain your interaction. Hope you give it serous thought. Phil