Homeward Bound

Nothing is quite as sweet as the idea of heading home.  Whether it be the end of a day at work, a long weekend out with the family, or two and a half weeks away from the family on a trip to China, home is still the best place to be.  Home, like families, comes in many shapes and sizes.  No two homes are quite alike, and yet that is what makes each one of them "home" to someone. 

Most of us spend our lives on the search  for home.  We often do not realize that this is what we are searching for, but we know "home" when we find it.  Interestingly enough, home is not a place, an address, or house.  Home is a condition of the heart and is built through relationships. 

Finding home in the relationships of the here and now is nearly impossible.  Though we may have very positive relationships with many people that give us strength and provide us a taste of home, these horizontal relationships fall short of providing us with that ultimate realization of home.  It is only when we have a vertical relationship with God through Jesus Christ that we begin to understand what it means to have God as our Father. 

We need to move beyond religion, beyond traditions, beyond spiritual habits, and seek the One who knows us and calls us by name.  We need to look for Jesus as He calls us to walk with Him and follow Him so we may be found in Him.  Our Father has a perfect home ...no, I do not mean heaven.  Our Father's perfect home is when He is in relationship with the Son and Spirit.  Throughout the gospels, we see Jesus pulling away from the crowds to get alone with the Father, and we see Him struggling in His mission on earth.  In many ways, I imagine this is because Jesus' heart ached for home.  He knew what a perfect relationship with the Father was like, and He missed it while here serving us. 

Our Father desires for us to be in relationship with Him as well, and as such, the Father calls us to come to Him through the Son and be empowered by the Spirit to be in relationship with Him.  Our Father though still blesses us with relationships here and now.  When we have found home in Him, finding home in our horizontal relationships becomes much easier.  It also becomes much harder to leave home.  Yes, Jesus was with me this whole time and provided home for me while in China; yet the main way He provides home for me outside of Himself is through Rachel and the kids.

So here I sit, 35,007 feet in the air somewhere above Japan.  In one sense I am a long way from home, and yet in another way, I never left home.  Still, the feeling I have right now is a longing to see those who God has blessed me with who make home for me.  So wait just a little while longer Rach, your husband is on his way, and hold on just a wee bit more Elianna, Janaya, Simeon, and Myla.  Daddy is almost home.