For the couple months this has been my life: two bags, reusing smelly clothes, and difficulty answering the question, "So, where do you live now?"
My nomadic lifestyle inadvertently started early.
And I was already tired of it.
I just wanted rest and a consistent place to call home. I feel like all I am doing is packing, repacking, and rearranging STUFF in various boxes and suitcases, only to do it again. My time is consumed just with physically moving THINGS.
When I realized that I'm already burned out on this lifestyle, I panicked a bit. I have over a year of this to go. Do I just need to pack lighter or is there a deeper issue within me regarding this constant change?
I realized I long for a home, a group to be established with, a place to call mine. I had no idea how important the physical and tangible aspects of "home" were to me. I want four walls that make me feel comfortable, secure, and stable.
But then I was reminded that we, as Christians, are strangers here on this earth. Aliens. Foreigners. This world is not our home, and we can not be conformed to it. God is the only constant. Although the idea of a physical home is not wrong, it is not something promised to us on this earth by God. Only in the Kingdom are we promised this:
"In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would not have told you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." – John 14:2,3
As I was wrestling with this, I discovered I need to redefine my definition of "home". Home is where Jesus is, where He wills me to build into His Kingdom. It's not a physical or tangible location, but a call.
He will always be my only home.
Another comfort was revealed to me after visiting two churches in Portland. Even though everyone was a stranger and the style of teaching was different for me, I realized the Body of believers is unchanging at its core and the closest thing to home I can find on this planet.
Jesus renewed my gratitude for the Body, and my peace and thankfulness to be one of its members increased even more once I received my amazing A-squad family at training camp.
Jesus uses the Church to be His presence here on earth. He has blessed me with an incredible home over the next year, and for the rest of my life.
How important is “home” to you?
