Home is where....

Where is my home?  What do I call home?  I get asked these questions a lot when I meet people.  I's always a hard one to answer.  I was born in Baton Rouge, LA; raised in Clemson, SC; went away to Auburn University in Alabama for college, then proceeded to live (for 3 months or more) in Birmingham, New Orleans, Nashville, & Phoenix over the next 5 years.  I've been living in Maputo, Mozambique for the last 18 months.  I have all my worldly possessions (mostly) in a storage unit in Nashville and when I'm in the States, I travel all around, spending the most time with my parents in Clemson.  So as the new year approached and we've entered 2010, I've been looking at what HOME really means.

If you type the word "HOME" into your web browser you will most likely come up with these words to help describe it's meaning: 

Refuge; Residence; Comfort; Dwelling; Place of origin; Valued place; Rest; Place where it belongs; Where one's roots are; Place where one likes to be; To the center or heart of the matter; Habitat; A source; Place offering security and happiness; Destination or goal.

Is my physical home all these things to me?  Is my earthly home these things to me?  Should they be?  Is my Heavenly Father, whom I've given my heart to, these things for me?  Do I let Him be or did I replace Him with worldly things?  Do the kids I love and care for have a place they can and do call home ?  Is this place we are providing them a refuge, restful, full of comfort, where their roots are, where they like to be, secure, and happy?  

What does the Bible say about "home"?

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you....If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."  -John 14:18, 23

"Do not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world-the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes, and pride in possessions-is not from the Father, but from the world.  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."  -1 John 2:15-17

"...You are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world…"  - John  15:19

How often do our lives actually REFLECT this?  Are we still clinging to our earthly home or resting securely in our Father's arms?  Do our definitions of home really equate to HIM being where our roots are; where we like to be; the center/heart of the matter; our source; a place of security and happiness; a place where we DWELL; a place where we seek refuge and comfort; our destination/goal??  I mean, I know I'm not of this world and it's not my home.  Almost everyday I am thankful of this.  But if I'm being really honest with myself....I can't say this is true for me all the time.  But the truth is....if He is our Lord and Savior and has made his HOME in OUR heart....then this IS the picture we (and others) should see and the picture of home we should strive for!  This next year, I'm really focusing on making certain that He is my one and only HOME!