Home

Home. I don't know at what point I felt it here, but Tyndale House flat#5 is home.

After coming back from the Netherlands (at New Years) I distinctly felt the anticipation of being once more in my own bed, relaxing at my own kitchen table and smelling familiar kitchen smells. You know what I mean, all those good things that distinguish home from any other place in the world, the place where you 'belong.'

As we drove home tonight from our friend Adrian's birthday party, it struck me again how sweet it is to call a space, 'home.' I asked Jim, "How many places do you think we will call 'home' in our lifetime?" In the quiet of the car, listening to a peaceful Fernando Ortega CD, he simply shook his head and we kept driving. Not really a question anyone can answer.

Where we will call home next has yet to be decided. Although that hasn't stopped our children from wondering what our next house will be like. After giving quite noncommittal responses (since we don't know ourselves) I was struck by Sarah's response. "You guys," she said, "a house here won't be our home, because heaven is our home!" Indeed. Out of the mouths of babes~

I do long for this perfect home in heaven. Where those who love God will be without sin, made perfect and holy, where death is swallowed up, where there are no more tears, where I will live with God's people in His very presence. And imagine, no more good-byes!

But I do believe I taste heaven here now when I experience (tangibly and intangibly) the comfort of God's presence as it is often made manifest through our family.

The deepest comfort that comes from His good hand, that brings Him pleasure, is His great joy in gracing us with more of Himself. In the midst of familial relationships He seems to moves with greater swiftness to reveal Himself to us. This is why, even when life can be challenging in a home, it is possible to see more clearly Jesus.

I experience this when I see Christ actively lived out in my family. I see this when I see the sanctifying process of His grace as it extends to me, Jim, our children, and those who come in and out of our home. You know, the relationships that run the deepest. The ones where I pray with great fervor and hold onto the Lord's hand and trust in His Word, reminding myself of the truth of who He says He is.

When we forgive, and extend mercy to each other, when we submit to the Father in things we would rather hold onto in our selfishness, when we trust and have faith in God for our future, when we rush to Him on behalf of our children, when we wait with patience for His will to be done, when we confess our sins and are forgiven, when we find joy in knowing Him through His Word, in all of this there is such a beautiful refining that takes place.

And this refining has always purposed itself back towards a keen and ultimate joy in HIM! He has never been anything but who He says He is. The Lover of my soul. The great Shepherd. The King of Kings. The great 'I AM' Holy, Sovereign, Faithful, Wise, Perfect, Immeasurable. Why wouldn't I entrust myself to Him? Why wouldn't I long to please Him and know Him better?

In fact, as I look at this year, where God has systematically taken away so many familiar and material things from us, I have been privileged to clarify what home really is. It is a relationship with the Father through His son Jesus. A perfect home. I am so glad that we are able to take this with us wherever He leads us next.