A number of years ago I went to a high school reunion and my classmates and I were trading life stories. One of the first questions asked was,
Where do you live?
At the time I lived in northwest Ohio near the city of Toledo. Most of my classmates had never visited that part of the country, nor were they very interested in visiting that part of the country. BUT they were interested in knowing what “home” was like. They also were interested in hearing how many times I had moved since graduation. At the time (let me count…) I had moved 10 times since receiving my high school diploma, and had lived in 9 different states. This is not counting the small apartment hops and residential shifts I made within the same town.
And with each move, hop, transition, and retreat, I found a new place to call home. Some homes belonged to family members, some were rented apartments and houses, and one home was a 6×8 foot abode fondly nicknamed “The Barbershop.”
Two and a half years ago we took the leap and bought a house. Let’s be honest, the bank purchased the house and we are SLOWLY buying it back.
Have you ever bought a house? You’re buying a square box with siding, windows, and hopefully a secure door. Boy can this purchase be expensive! But I digress.
As we were getting our daughter accustomed to the idea of a new home, we would drive buy the square box with vinyl siding, glass windows, and doors and point it out. She quickly started calling it “The Special House.”
And yes it was special.
Not because it looks that different from its neighboring houses. The house is special mainly because it’s our home. Each day we get to fill this home with moments and memories. Hopefully in our family’s story of the Special House, there will be more moments of laughter and joy rather than tears and pain. But a home holds tears as well as it holds laughter. It’s a memory box to place our years of shared experience.
When my family went on a great cross country camping expedition last summer we quickly started calling our pop-up Coleman camper “home.” In the midst of hours of driving, venturing to places unknown, and thousands of miles away from the land we knew, it was helpful to call our pop-up home. We had shelter and a space that acted as home-base.
My husband and I usually do a video devotional series during the summer months. We’ve called them Pocket Church. As a pastor, I like to promote the idea that you take church with you wherever you go. This summer the theme of the video series is Pocket Church: Home Edition. The idea is that we see God’s presence in our homes.
So what makes the place you are living home? Is it the space, the people, the memories?
Yes.
As the proverb notes,
Home is where the heart is.
So, where’s home for you?
