Complicated Hope

“Home is where the heart is.” Pliny the Elder

“There’s no place like home.” Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz

“Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” Robert Frost

The past 8 weeks have been beyond busy. Let’s back up – the past 6 months have been a balancing act of the utmost proportions. Major hip surgery with a prolonged recovery, sell a house, buy a house, move a household; training camp, school starts, soccer season starts; Illinois house, Indiana house, Campus apartment; Chapel service, team meetings, texts, messages, study guides; unpack, pack, wash, drive, fly, one weekly family dinner.

If I haven’t returned an email or text – there’s a good chance it has been lost in the shuffle of this crazy time. Many times I have found myself thinking, “I just want to go home.” Sometimes, I was sitting in my house when that thought hit me, as if my spirit could not find an anchor in my sight, smells and surroundings.

I longed for the familiar.

Yet, this is not our home. As Christians values are thwarted and morals flaunted, it should be easy to remember that we do not belong here – we are strangers in this land. We dwell here, it’s our habitation for now but it is not our final home. We must live eternally minded, holding loosely to the things and people in our lives.

Philippians 3:20 – Our Citizenship is in Heaven!

Knowing our destination is Heaven does not give us excuse to life wastefully – we must still steward our time, treasure and talents.

It does give us hope that the whirlwind around us is not permanent. It focuses our efforts and attention outside of ourselves.

In the meantime, we live in this land and embrace the moments where our heart longs for Home – because that’s the Holy Spirit reminding us we are destined for a better.