As I sit in a small cafe in downton Cincinnati waiting for a bus to take me back to Indianapolis, to then catcha a ride back to my car and head out for the final trek home, I am pondering the reality of the ability to have more than one place to call home. Physically, I own no place in any house or building within the world. But spiritually, my home resides within the Church, and the Church expands past any Earthly foundation.
This past week I had the joyful opportunity to adventure to my Alma Mater. I was able to visit with many close friends, meet some new ones, and enjoy some terrific activities, yet, there are still things I wish I could have stayed longer to be a part of. Old hangouts I would have loved to visit and places I never had the chance to, people I wish I had talked with, and something in me mildly dreads returning back to reality. This return home to the Milligan community was a much needed mental, physical and spiritual break. Yet, I am also returning home to St. Charles, and it has nothing to do with the physical location, rather, it has everything to do with the community. All those people who were unitnentionally frustrating me with their constant questions were simply sharing the heart of our Father for his children with me, and as much as I enjoy the ability to live on my own, God knows I am at a time wher I need that community. The Milligan family will always be there, even as they all disperese form the campus into this thing we call reality, or life outside of the buble. For as we pass each other on our random pathways throughout life, or see that exciting update about a new journey or a prayer request for a challenging one, on the walls of whateve social networks the future holds, suddenly whether or not you have kept in contact, or even talked, will no longer matter, as we have this connection that brings us, and the reality of this thing we call the kingdom, closer. Simple prayers lifted up from distant friends and acquaintances that find joy in in seeing the hand of God work, even if our ears have never heard their thoughts, will be our foundation. So, from a small town in east Tennessee, to the expanse that is the suburbs of Missouri, and far beyond, I am joyed to be a part of the work of an incredible father, and to be a daughter amongst his family that extends far beyond any state line or expanse of water.
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of min and puts them into practice is like a wise man who buildt his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, adn the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." Matthew 7:24-25 (NIV)
My foundation is on the rock, and there I reside with millions of others reachign out our hands to pull in those working their way through the sand, and climbing the rocks. Here is where the socially awkardward characteristics that create my personality are accepted. Where my greatest gift become the ability to share our fathers love, and my greatest journey becomes the opportunity to learn each day more about how to shar such a love.
