A Long Journey Home...



            Gravel drive, steel colored wood, whitewashed porch, and a faded red barn… vibrant green blades in June, buzzing with life, and hushed sleeping cold in December. A fireplace, hot cocoa, and the melody of familiar voices tells me that I’m home. I know this place, these people, this feeling. I’m home.

            But today, home is far away. Not so many days ago, I was called away from home to pursue something much bigger than myself. I packed my things, held my husband’s hand, and embarked on a journey… one that, yes, would lead me far from home, but in a sense, would lead me closer too. Dallas was hot, busy, and unfamiliar and my heart cried for something – anything – that would feel comfortable. At first, this cry went unanswered. But soon, familiarity showed his face and Dallas became a kind of new home – different – but a home nonetheless.

            All of us crave comfort, familiarity, a sense that there is someplace that we truly belong.  But the truth is, as believers, we will never completely know that sense of belonging until we enter our true home. I love the song by Mercy Me that says, “If home’s where my heart is, then I’m out of place. Lord, won’t You give me strength to make it through somehow. I’ve never been more homesick than now.” So, as much as I long to be back home in Minnesota, my heart yearns more to be home with my Savior.  That is where I really belong.

            So, as the journey continues in Dallas, in seminary, in ministry, in marriage, in family, my real journey will lead me home one day. For now, this earthly journey continues… the Long Journey Home.