I have always loved the feeling of coming home. Driving for what seems like days and then the moment I finally reach the destination I have been anxiously anticipating. I gaze into the distance and see the lights shining from my small farm town that translate into a feeling of familiarity. I pull into the driveway to see the backdoor light on, and I am confident my family is expecting me. I enter the door to be greeted by the smell of fresh chocolate chip cookies emerging from the kitchen. My mother baked them knowing they are my favorite, and I cannot help but grin from the fact that this a place that I am known and so welcome. I nestle into my fresh, clean bed and welcome the feeling of rest and peace that I longed for as I began my drive.
Home is a symbol of a place that I belong to, can settle in, and unpack my heart to the people who fill it. These feelings have seeped deep into the crevices of my heart and depicted a place I constantly long for when I am states away. I have been trying to swallow the fact that I cannot pack this same feeling into my suitcase and take as a carry on item from place to place. Every place is different leading to the reality that every home is different and that is okay.
Home has been radically redefined for me over the past several months. I have found myself searching intensely for a place to discover this feeling that I have turned away from the value of the relationships that are present in the home. Community is what creates the foundation of a home. It is people that encourage, care, and build us up. It is where Jesus is at the center and is constantly a direct source of the joy that is within it.
The feeling of home comes from the people who know when you will be home and that your favorite dessert is chocolate chip cookies. Without my family, my childhood home is just a set of walls, floors, and way too many coffee cups. Home is so much more than a place that I need a key to get inside, yet it is where I can open up my heart to feel safe and known.
As a girl who loves home, it can seem to be a surprise to some that I am choosing to travel across the world for a majority of my summer. I believe in the power of what relationships can bring. I am confident that the people of Thailand have the same longing and desires that I do when I find myself wandering in the wilderness. They, too, thirst to feel known, seen, and loved. They seek to find security in things that will ultimately leave them trapped or in bondage. My desire this summer is to bring my heart that Jesus has captured to serve the people of Thailand. I am eagerly ready to fight the battles that some have no strength left to fight. These battles leave feelings of worthlessness and shame, and feelings of no place to comfortably lay their head. I desire to bring the truth that this earthly place is not our forever home. I want to bring a voice that shouts louder with the truth that our comfort comes from abiding in Christ and formed by the community of others rooted in Christ. I pray that I can ultimately serve the Lord and point the people I meet directly to the feet of Jesus to taste His goodness. I am expectant that the Lord will bless me with the same feelings I am filled with when I walk through the doors of my home as I walk off the plane in Thailand. It is all for the kingdom and I am humbled that I am receiving a front row seat at what the Lord is doing in Thailand.
