Wishing for Home

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans; my plate was complete.  It had been a lovely day.  I was so grown up and off on an adventure!  So why did it feel so wrong?  I was nearly 17, my parents on a cruise, my sister at my grandparents’ house and I had gone with my boyfriend’s family to visit him at college in Cleveland.  We were having a traditional dinner at a fine restaurant.  I swallowed hard against the odd flavor of it, deciding things were different because I had never eaten out on a holiday.

But my time-worn soul now understands.  It wasn’t because Thanksgiving was celebrated in a different place.  It was because I didn’t know or love the hands that had prepared my meal.  And while I cared for the people across the table from me, they weren’t my family.

This past Thursday came and went – a lazy day.  Very enjoyable.  But it didn’t feel like Thanksgiving.  That came on Friday when my husband prepared a delicious feast and did toddler chasing while I was standing hours in queue for 75% off.  His daughter Anna came to join us and we four had a special meal.  Later, his other daughter Morgan came so Kaydee had both of her Foerster sisters together.  We watched a movie and stuffed our already full selves with popcorn.  Good times!

And yet…

“Home is where your heart is” and while I have a house here in Midland, my heart remains fractured.  A large piece of it lives in Dewitt with my daughter and her family, another beats in far off Escanaba where my boys stay.  I am never quite complete without my children nearby.

I wonder if God feels the same about us?  He loves us so much that He decided to come to Earth to live among us and draw us back to Him through Christ Jesus.  Why?  I mean, He had heaven!  But it wasn’t the same without you, without me.  He sees us as His children, having great worth, enormous value, and would give anything to be with us at home, again.  Praise God!

~~~~~

Pondering points

Leviticus 26:12

I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be my people.

Zephaniah 3:17

For the Lord your God is in your midst; a mighty one who will save.  He will take delight in you with gladness.  With his love, he will calm all your fears.  He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Romans 8:38-39

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Softly and Tenderly

Come home, come home, ye who are weary come home.  Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, ‘O sinner, come home.’