When the Storm Hits

I've yet to meet anyone who hasn't weathered a few storms in their life.  On my mind this morning are those I know who are in the middle of a storm right now.  Some have lost loved ones.  Others are helplessly watching friends hurt. Others face an uncertain future.  One of the most disturbing things about life in the storm is that you can't see.  You can't see 2 feet in front of you sometimes.  We can tend to let worry come right on in and swirl us around more.  Worse, we can be given to panic which can cause a hurricane of negative emotions and fear trying to figure out how to get out and what the damage of the storm will leave behind.

This is when we reap the benefits of friends outside who can see for us.  They remind you of things the storm can try to wipe from your mind.  Like who you are in Christ.  Like how much God loves you. Like even if God seems far away, He is not.  Like how being in a storm doesn't mean you've done something wrong. They redirect your thoughts to the future, life after the storm.  Because every storm passes.  No storm lasts a lifetime and God promises to bring good from everything.  Isn't that good news?  I have better - God is with us in the storm.  Very present.  Holding us safely in His arms.

 Brings a song to mind called "Safe".  Have you ever heard it?  You can listen to it here.  I've been hearing it often on the radio lately. The other morning as I sat in my favorite chair with a cup of coffee, I imagined myself sitting in God's strong, protective arms.   That comforted me.  I just love Him so much.  (And for the record, I don't only like the song because my favorite lead singer of MercyMe is featured in this duet. That's just a coincidence.)

This morning I was reading Romans 8.  I think this may be my new favorite chapter of the Bible.  After reading it in the ESV, I took out a different version I like to complement.  Although it's a long chapter, I'm going to print it here for you.  I just love the language and the message of truth.  Kind of sums all of life up.  I'm going to underline verses that spoke volumes to me today.  Actually, I just underlined them and re-read and I'm going to have to add a few comments.  I'm sorry, I just can't help myself!  These will be in blue.  Check it out:

8 ^1-2 With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

^3-4 God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.
The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.

^5-8 Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored.  Sometimes we just get too caught up in our self.  This especially happens in a storm.  Total preoccupation with me.  Yuck!  I get so sick of that, don't you? We can become self-focused to the point that we miss the fact that God has a purpose for our lives that involves serving others, not worrying about what we can't control anyway.  Take a look at your storm.  Can you control the outcome?  Make it go away?  If not, then it's time to let go and trust.  We need to get on with life!  A friend said to me the other day, "No more self pity".  We only have so much time on this Earth to serve God and glorify Him.  See why you need good friends?  A decision to not waste any more time needs to be made.    
^9-11 But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!
 
^12-14 So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!  Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  A decent burial.  Things to do and places in Christ to go!

^15-17 This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!  Remember what I said about glancing into the future when you're in that storm?  Asking God, "What's next?" knowing that we are going to get what comes to us....a glorious inheritance!  Not condemnation (see vs. 1).  Go through the hard times with Him and expect the good times with Him as well!

^18-21 That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.  So good...keep reading!

^22-25 All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.  As a woman who has been pregnant 6 times, I get this!!  And that's exactly how I'm feeling today - yearning for full deliverance - joyful in expectancy.  Girlfriend, can you get there even if your storm is raging?  It is indeed a happy place.  We are all longing for something, we just may not realize that it's for something that God will bring out. 

^26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.  And the news keeps getting better.  When you don't know how to pray, don't worry...the Spirit is going to God on your behalf.  Rest there for a while. God is on the job!  Good is on the way!

^29-30 God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.

^31-39 So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? This just about lifted me right out of my chair today.  God is for us and what won't He do for us?  Trust Him with all that is on your mind and heart today.  And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.  Amen and amen.  Does anything else really matter?  Relationship with God through salvation in Jesus is all that really matters and that cannot be taken from you no matter how raging the storm.

 God's Word always has what we need.  Girlfriend, if you're in your own storm today remember that God's got you.  He is there with you in it. It will end and when it does you will see the good He brings forth.  And maybe ask Him who you can do something for today - serve others to get your mind off self.  I told my son Ben on the way to school today that it's time for me to get someone else on my mind.  My plan is to bring some cider to my elderly neighbor today or tomorrow.and ask her to tell me her story and see if there's anything I can do to help her get ready for winter.  Could the clouds be lifting?

 Romans 8 in The Message

MercyMe What a Concert!

As promised, I'm back to jot down a few thoughts I have about one of the highlight events of my summer.  Seeing MercyMe in concert.  First a little history of my love for this band.

The first time I heard of them was the night they won a Dove Award for I Can Only Imagine.  I remember wanting someone else to win and thinking, "Who are these guys anyway?".  Later in the show they performed the song.  After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I said, "OK, I can see why they won."

My next experience was seeing them at the NYS Fair.  MercyMe opened for Michael W. Smith.  Mind you, at this time I only knew one song.  We were there for Michael.  But when they sang Here With Me I fell in love.  You can hear it here.  If that title isn't familiar to you, you must take 4 minutes right now to listen to it.  You won't be sorry, I promise.  In fact, whenever this song comes on the radio and any of my family is around - I remind them that this song is the one that made me fall in love with MercyMe.  They tend to roll their eyes, often cutting me off before I even finish with "I know Mom,you tell us every time we hear it".  I don't get it...I simply feel that is important information about me that they need to know.  (repeatedly)

At that point, there was no turning back. I had then become MercyMe's #1 fan. CD after cd, this band keeps knocking it out of the park.  I'm drawn to their music because it is obvious in the lyrics of every song that they walk closely to the Lord and have a very mature faith.  I dig that.

Fast forwarding (aren't you thankful?) to August 17.  Because I had been waiting five years since seeing them last, I was pretty excited as you can imagine.  I even started an impromptu "name that tune" game in the car of all the MercyMe songs on my ipod, which is pretty much every MercyMe song recorded.  I didn't play - Drew and Scott said it wouldn't be fair. That's true. Still, they both did well.  We'll call it a tie.  It served as an excellent warmup to the main event.  Just ask them.  I know they enjoyed it too.  :)

Whoops.  That was a little departure.  Back to the story.  We had been given the tickets so we had no idea where our seats were.  I kept telling Scott that I didn't care if the seats were close, but I needed to be able to stand (to worship properly) if necessary, and I knew it would be necessary.  So we arrived at the theater, collected our tickets and found ourselves in the middle of the balcony.  Standing would be awkward and upsetting to our row-mates if they weren't wanting to stand as much as I wanted to.  What to do?

As 7:30 neared, we noticed down closer to the stage, but still in the balcony, plenty of empty seats.  As soon as the lights went down, Scott and I looked at each other then high-tailed it down there.  Front row right of balcony.  Perfect!  (see pic - not bad, huh?) A few people followed, but no one was behind us.  We stood for almost the whole concert.  It was glorious!  I think we worshiped our faces off.  Definitely would have embarrassed our kids.

About half way through the concert (the only time we sat down) Bart, the lead singer spoke for awhile.  His words were ministering to my heart so much that I rummaged around to find something to write on for fear of forgetting all this good stuff.  Here's some of what he said:

• In a personal testimony, he said it's bad to get into a place of routine.  We can become complacent, rely on ourselves and certainly not expect God to do anything different or awesome.  Not a good place to be.
•  
• We claim to serve an awesome God and sing songs declaring such, but then we pray weak prayers.  We beg God for a little tiny bit feeling unworthy and maybe don't even expect Him to answer.  We should expect bigger answers because  He is a BIG God and is completely powerful to do anything.  Do we believe it?  Then let's pray that way.
• 
  
• Many of the prayers we do say are prayers that have already been answered.  Imagine God answering you like this.  When you pray:  "God, give me strength."  God says, "You have My strength." When you pray: "God, I want to be holy."  He says, "You are holy.  I've made you holy."  "God, I want to be whole."  "You are whole and complete in Christ."  We already have everything we're asking for.  Now we just need to act like it!
• 
  
• My sin can't pull me out of the hand of Christ.  
•  
• We should be dangerous to the enemy because we have access to the King of Kings.  We have everything that He is.
• 
  
• See yourself as God sees you.  The Holy Spirit lives in you.  You are worth more than you think or feel.  You  have been set free.  What more are you waiting for?

If you skimmed that part, go back and read it again.  I'll wait for you.  I pray it will encourage you too.  That it will challenge all of us in the way we pray and the way we believe God sees us.  My heart needed to hear all those things.  Had I not been writing furiously in the dark, I might have had a good cry.
 
Next they sang a song that will be on the radio soon called You Are I Am.  Scott and I made eye contact.  It kind of took our breath away. We've listened to that song at home a whole bunch of times, but what a difference!  Scott remarked later that he was amazed how God will use such familiar songs (did I mention Scott, the kids and I have memorized every word of every MM song whether on purpose or not?) to speak perfectly into what's going on in our lives today.  I love that too. Waste no time and listen to it here.  Then buy it. You'll want to listen to the whole The Hurt and The Healer cd over and over again.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I loved this concert - every minute and it was too short.  It was worth every penny we didn't have to pay for it. They pretty much sang every song I predicted and wanted to hear. And what was spoken was every bit as important was what was sung.  I left happy.  Very happy.  This is why I go to concerts given by Christian artists.  To worship loud with big crowds and to be encouraged in my faith.  You should too.  I'll let you know the next time MercyMe is close by. 

You Are I Am

I've been the one to shake with fear
And wonder if You're even here
I've been the one to doubt Your love
I've told myself You're not enough
I've been the one to try and say
I'll overcome by my own strength
I've been the one to fall apart
And start to question who You are

You're the One who conquers giants
You're the One who calls out kings
You shut the mouths of lions
You tell the dead to breathe
You're the One who walks through fire
You take the orphan's hand
You are the One Messiah
You are I AM

I've been the one held down in chains
Beneath the weight of all my shame
I've been the one to believe
That where I am, You cannot reach

The veil is torn
And now I live
With the Spirit inside
With the same One
The very same One
Who brought the Son back to life!

Hallelujah, He lives in me!

Surrounded by Beauty....Our Vacation in Pictures

Hi my friends,

It's been a long time since I've written.  Decided not to do so while were away and I'm sure it was the right decision.  Today ended our two week vacation - back to work.  We had such a good time.  I'm so thankful to be in this family with my most favorite people...and that most of the time, we behave that way and have tons of fun together.  Many experiences made me think "I'll have to blog about that" because you were on my mind.  When you live in community with people you love and just plain like, you think about them all the time and wish they could  be experiencing what you are when you are.  That was kind of a run on sentence, but you understand, right?  So, if you're interested, keep on reading.

The backdrop leading up to vacation was that Ben and Ally had been away for two weeks back to back.  One was a teen leadership conference in PA and the other a week of camp at Word of Life Island.  They came home in between for one short sleep, a few loads of laundry and they were off again.  Turns out we missed them....a lot.  Especially Drew, I think.  He may have been getting tired of being the sole recipient of all the parental love and attention around here.

Also, three days before vacation started, I went on a little pre-vacation mini-vacation with a friend of mine.  Sandy's sister lives in a house by the beach in CT.  I loaded up on library books and went on a little girlfriend road trip.  We sat on the beach nearly nonstop for 2 days.  It was wonderful.  The sounds and smells are soothing.  I even kept a short list of words we rarely speak in these parts.  Like barnacle, high tide, low tide, reef, and more. I know that's nerdy, but I like words!  I read Ruth Bell Graham's biography.  I was moved and stirred by her life and the impact she and her famous husband Billy Graham, had on so many. Made me glad that I counseled every night at the Billy Graham Crusade in Syracuse back in 1987.  I prayed that we would be a couple and a family that lives so intently for the single purpose to make God known.

Early mornings on an empty beach cannot be overrated.  I would walk and talk with God about everything on my mind and heart. I felt better just saying it all out loud, knowing he listens.  I prayed for everyone I love and some I'm not so sure about.  And because there really was no one on the beach I brought my ipod with me and sang my praises to God.  Yes....out loud.  And LOUD.  Why not?  The waves drowned out my voice should any human have overheard.  Big deal you might say, but it is a big deal when on a normal day one is not encouraged even by those closest to her to sing loud, or even out loud.  Take that!  I think God liked it.  Nothing like the vast seashore where you can see forever to stand with arms open wide and sing "God is bigger than the air I breathe..."  Oh yes, He is!  I was fully rested and ready to spend the next week with Scott and the kids and not require much alone time.  Make a note - do this every year.  However, upon my return, my husband informed me that I would not be going on vacation without him ever again.  I guess he missed me.  I'll take that too.

So, vacation started immediately after church on Sunday.  We high tailed it out to SpiedieFest to hear Mark Schultz in concert.  We enjoyed it very much - though it was way too short.  Then we had lunch with fun friends and had this (see gyro and homemade potato chips in right pic).  Oh my....vacation eating commenced. Later that night we got the kids back and packed up.  Monday morning we set out very early because I was determined to get to Bingham's Family Restaurant for their unbelievable weekday special.  2 eggs, homefries, breakfast meat, a large homemade cinnamon roll, coffee and juice for $2.50.  You'd get up at 6am for that too!  We made it on time (by 6:45am) but unbeknownst to me, the special wasn't on Mondays.  Well, I was made fun of for days for that little blunder.  Nevertheless, we got an early start.

We arrived at Virginia Beach around 2pm to pouring rain.  Then we got a room much smaller (less beds) than we reserved - so we just went to Chick-Fil-A to settle down.  The next 3 nights we squeezed into that tiny room watching the Olympics and playing games.  It was fun.  Even with big kids.  Ally said the room was too cold, but hey, you've got to enjoy air conditioning when you can. We spent our days doing this....and the whiteys burned even though the sun barely shone. 

I have so many pictures exactly like this taken through the years.  I couldn't resist.  Even big kids need a nap sometimes.

They seem proud of those sunburns....amateurs!

We then spent a few days with Scott's sister and her family in Northern VA.  This was fun and comfortable and included a trip to IKEA where my husband bought me counter space.  Can I tell you  how happy this makes me?  Space to work!  YES! I started baking immediately upon arrival at home.



 Unfortunately, we had to come home for the 2nd week of vacation because the kids needed to be at tryouts for soccer and volleyball.  I wondered how this would go as I don't sit still for long very well and worse, I don't watch others sit well when we are at home and could be doing house jobs (some refer to this as slave driver behavior.  That would be spoken by unmotivated procrastinators).  After a few days, I had the notion to paint the dining room, which led to the living room and my bookshelves.  I even got my firstborn to paint my hutch.  This baby has been natural wood, red, and dark brown over the years.  Now it is antiqued in this color...and I loooove it!  Worth all the $25 we paid for it at a garage sale.

A very special and talented friend took Ben's senior pictures this week - as well as a few family photos.  If you're interested, you can look at some of them here.

We could have sat here for a few more days!

 At the end of the week, we parted ways again for the last time this summer.  Ben and Ally went to NYC with their youth group to feed the homeless.  Did I mention how thankful I am for the amazing opportunities these kids have had through our church this summer?


Scott, Drew and I headed up to the Adirondacks to watch Drew graduate from his 2nd year at Word of Life Bible Institute.  This was the view from our chalet.  WOW!
Talk about being surrounded by God's created beauty...took our breath away!

Just like last year, I found myself overwhelmed with gratitude that God would let part of my story be written into Drew's story.  We prayed that God will preserve all that he has learned and experienced and multiply it into major spiritual growth and fruit that brings God much glory!  I'm convinced we just can't cram too much God and Bible into our kids' lives as long as we do it with the same passion in which we are pursuing Him in our own life.  

That's about it for our 2 weeks.  Packed full.  We are all grateful for a little respite, time away together and being surrounded by beauty in many parts of our little world. Everything points to God and He is so good.  Thank you for hanging with me this long and enjoying it with me, but in all fairness to you, I must confess that I left out a MAJOR event in this vacation (mostly because I wanted you to be free to get back to your life!).  And also because I want to give it more space.  What's the event?  That would be the MercyMe concert, of course!  Oh my....I have so much to tell you - I even took notes during the concert so that I wouldn't forget anything.  Stay tuned.....

What I'm Thinking About

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."  Phil. 4:8

This world can be depressing.  If you listen to the news for any given five minutes, you know that it's mostly bad news.  Gas prices rising (again).  Politicians slandering each other. Public school agendas.  Senseless movie theater killings.  World unrest.  Human sex trafficking.  Famine. Wild extreme weather.  It's bad out there.

Maybe the bad news hits even closer to home.  Marriages crumbling.  Prodigal children.  Poor health.  Sickness/disease. Financial loss/struggle.  Betrayal of a friend.  Being misunderstood or falsely accused. Work stress/conflict.  Sky high college tuition. Unemployment.

Just take a look at your prayer list.  You know what I mean.  Life is hard.  Life is harder when we dwell on the problems and conflicts. We can find ourselves overwhelmed and preoccupied and even depressed, gloomy.  In our house we call it the Johnny Raincloud syndrome.  Being a Johnny Raincloud means are raining on everybody around us.  We rarely see the good in any given situation. Kind of like the glass half-empty. A darkness can settle over us that causes us to view life with a negative tint. Sometimes we can gain a tendency to lose hope, to give up, even to sin.

I'm so delighted to remind you that God knew this could happen to us (and would) and He provided a remedy.  One that should calm and please our souls.  Like the verse above, Paul says this:

"...I'd say you'll do best by filling your  minds and meditating on things

true, 

noble, 

reputable, 

authentic, 

compelling, 

gracious - 

the best, not the worst; 

the beautiful, not the ugly; 

things to praise, not things to curse."  Phil. 4:8

If Paul could choose this line of thinking, while in prison mind you, I think we all can too, no matter how life presents itself to us today.  This makes me happy.  One of the evidences of new life in Christ is joy.  True joy, coming out of our pores, no matter what the social climate is.  God's got this world firmly in His control.  We need not worry.  Every morning I start my day thanking God for holding the world together while I slept.  The truth is, He's holding it together while I'm awake too.  So I choose not to let the bad news of this world (which is very real), color my day, my life.   Instead, I will live these verses and the ones above: "Celebrate God all day, every day.  I mean, revel in Him."  Phil. 4:4

Celebrate God!  And all the good things that come from being in relationship with Him.  So I'm thinking the best, not the worst.  Thinking about beautiful things, not ugly.  Looking for what I can praise God for, not brooding over the things that upset me.  It's kind of like keeping a list of things I'm thankful for (praiseworthy things).  Things that make me smile.

These are a few off the top of my head:

Future in heaven, perfection

When all wrong is made right

God's unlimited grace and forgiveness

Jesus knows me

A son reading his Bible

Word of Life Camp (one of my happy places) - where 2 of my kids are enjoying a week of camp

A faithful, fun husband, generous in all things that make a marriage pleasing

Being invited....anywhere

Friends who listen and love

Friends who are willing to travel to visit us, even though we are the ones who moved.

Biographies of Christian heroes

Anything that makes me laugh

Songs that make my heart sing - mostly MercyMe and Matthew West :)

Cool breezes on hot days

Avocadoes - my latest food love interest
Being inspired by someone else's obedience/good works

Countdown to vacation

Ocean sunrises

Sensing God's pleasure

Texting fun, random thoughts w/friends who know how to be silly

Fall is just around the corner

Christmas is after that

 Well, that was easy. Only took a couple of minutes.  Gracious, true, excellent, praiseworthy thoughts.  Try it.  Guaranteed smiles. 

Well No Wonder...I'm Longing for "Home"

What do the following things all have in common?

• The Corner of Seeber and Baum Roads, Hastings, NY.  The house I grew up in, with heat from the wood stove warming every room and Mom's good cooking waiting to be eaten, when life was mostly predictable.
• 8393 Warbler Way, Liverpool, NY.  The house we raised our kids in for 14 years, where I painted every single room, some of them twice - or more. The place filled with love, acceptance, forgiveness, joy and FUN (and air conditioning)!  Where Thanksgiving and Christmas were celebrated BIG.
• Anywhere my husband and children are.
• Visions of oceanfront property or lakeside in the Adirondacks - family vacations.
• Dreams of a large farm house complete w/barn and barnyard animals (chickens included, of course!) in a small town where everyone knows one another and lives life in simple community.

Those images speak the word home to me.  "Home exercises a powerful influence over human life.  Many of us have fond memories of times, people are places where we felt we were truly home.  Home is a powerful, but elusive concept.  The strong feelings that surround it reveal some deep longing within us for a place that absolutely fits and suits us, where we can be, or perhaps find,our true selves.  Yet, it seems that no real place or actual family ever satisfies these yearnings, though many situations arouse them." 

Aroused images of home.  I have them all the time.  Do you?  I love planning family gatherings - as elaborate as Christmas celebrations - or as simple as tonight's dinner.  I've spent half of my life creating a home for the four people I love most in the world.  I dream of obedient children, absence of conflict and each of us going out of our way to unselfishly bless another...every day.  I did say it was a dream :).  I want it to be a place they always want to come back to, and even long for.  

I've even been known to buy into the fantasy that if I set the table just right, purchase the perfect gifts and prepare the most scrumptious foods then all of our extended family will get along, love each other, live in harmony, etc.  I've yet to pull it off.  I'm trying to create a place that will deliver the experience of warmth, joy and love.  But these events almost always fall short, crushed under the weight of my lofty and impossible expectations.

I think back to the "good old days", the memories of times past, of comfort, peace, seeming problem-free life and want to go live it again.  But I can't go back.  None of us can.

What is the deep down longing?  Why do you think we are so preoccupied with these fantasies?  It's because we weren't created for this world.  We have a deep yearning within us to reside with our Creator, the One who dreamed us up and desires relationship with us.  It can't possibly be fulfilled here on Earth.  We were made for heaven.  Look at this:

• "But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ."  Phil. 3:20
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•  "Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.  Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling..."  2 Cor. 5:1,2
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• "But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness."  2 Pet. 3:13
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• Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am."  John 14:1-3
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• "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away...I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them.  They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'  He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!"  Rev. 21:1-5

Yes! So that's what I'm dreaming about and longing for. This is where I want to be.  C.S. Lewis puts it this way, "Our life-long nostalgia, our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside, is no mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation."

"We are all exiles, always longing for home.  We are always traveling, never arriving.  The houses and families we actually inhabit are only inns along the way, but they aren't home.  Home continues to evade us."  

But why?  The book of Genesis tells us that we were created to live in the garden of God.  There would be no loss of love or life, no decay or disease. We were meant to live face-to-face with Him.  We should have been worshiping His infinite majesty, and knowing, enjoying and reflecting His beauty.  (The beauty we constantly want to surround ourselves with).  That was our original home, the true country we were made for.  But we lost our home because of sin.

"The Bible says we have been wandering spiritual exiles ever since.  That is, we have been living in a world that no longer fits our deepest longings.  Though we long for bodies that 'run and are not weary', we have become subject to disease, aging and death."  Though we long for love and sometimes think we have secured it, we each die and leave the relationship at some point.  "We were not made for a world of disease and natural disaster, a world in which everything decays and dies, including ourselves.  This world, as it now exists, is not the home we long for."

 Well, no wonder!  No wonder I am trying to create peace and comfort for myself and those I love. Because deep down, God created me to desire the awesome world He has planned for me (us).  I hope you are as blessed by this as I am. No wonder I don't feel at home here in this world.  No wonder I can't find permanence and predictability.  No wonder I can't insulate myself and my family from harm.  It makes sense!

No, we aren't satisfied with life as we know it.  We keep trying to recreate it here, and that's where the disappointment comes in.  But no worries, my friends!  The best part is still in our future.  God will reconcile us to Himself physically.  We will live with Him.  We will live in the place He has created to fulfill all of our longings.  I just can't wait!

"Jesus will make the world our perfect home again.  We will no longer be living 'east of Eden' always wandering, never arriving.  We will come, and the Father will meet us and embrace us, and we will be brought into the feast."

As if that's not enough good news for today (and everyday), our loving God goes on to give us another promise -  "Now there is in store for me (us) the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me,  but also to all who have longed for His appearing."  2 Tim. 4:8  - do you long for Him this way?  If so, the crown of righteousness awaits you.

Pick your chin up - this world is not your home! if you've surrendered your life to Jesus Christ and put your faith in what He secured for you on the cross, then all these promises belong to you.  One day we will live all our dreams and images of a home like no other...and it will be forever.

All quotes unless noted from The Prodigal God by Timothy Kelle