Home

Disclaimer: To all the family members who have hosted our band of travelers, please do not take the words of this post and feel that we are ungrateful in any way. We are truly grateful and Thank our God for each of you. You all have fully expressed the Christian principle of hospitality and shown your servant hearts by caring for His children. Thank You!!

With that being said, I do want to share a principle that God has re-inforced to us in our travels. Our citizenship is not of this Earth.

For anyone who has traveled for any length of time and lived out of suitcases, they know the feeling of longing for home.  Their settings may be spacious and comfortable with all the amenities you could want, but it’s just not home.  The place your staying is not yours…it’s not your “home”.

We moved out of our home in the Fall of 2016.  Since then, we have had long term stays at 2 locations.  And, since August 15 of this year, we have been vagabonds as we prepare to move into full time ministry as missionaries to Guatemala.  In the last month and a half, we have stayed in 4 homes and 1 hotel sharing precious time with family.  The fellowship and time spent with our family has been precious and awesome.

Yet, we haven’t been home. Though family has served us tremendously and made us comfortable, we still haven’t been in the comforts of our own home.  We have not felt that easy feeling of being “home”.  As I sat in a room rummaging through my bag on another floor, God reminded me that, as citizens of Heaven, we will not be truly comfortable.  We are not supposed to be fully comfortable here because this is not our home.  Yes, we can enjoy His common graces and enjoy the things He has created.  BUT, those joys should cause us to Worship and to be Thankful!!  Not to feel comfortable and desire to stay here.

Peter calls us “exiles” in 1 Peter 1 and Paul tells us in Philippians 3 that “our citizenship is in heaven”.  This is not our home!!  We should not be comfortable and resting easy because we are not home, YET!!  The beauty is that the wonder and joy of fellowship here and the awe of creation is that it’s just a shadow of what is to come.  Nothing will be fulfilled until Jesus is with us and we in His presence.  As you sit around a table and fellowship with others in joy, see that common grace as an opportunity to worship.  As you chase that big buck/play a sport/hike/spend time at the beach/enjoy time in God’s beautiful creation, worship the creator who gives us these joys here… in a place that’s not our home.  

Yet, if your pursuits cause you to feel comfortable and resting easy, ask yourself if you are completely content here.  Do you want to leave and be with Christ??  Can you say with the Apostle Paul, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phil 1:21)”?  Count yourself blessed if you are not comfortable here and seem outta place. Count yourself blessed if you desire to be HOME with Christ!!