Home

      "Home Sweet Home"  ..... true ... for some of us
      
         "Home is where the heart is,"  also true for many .. your earthly residence may not be where your heart is .. you may actually feel more "at home" at another's residence.

    And for some ... by Robert Frost. "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in."   from the "The Death of the Hired Hand" by Robert Frost.

      If we have an earthly home to live in ... away from the elements .. a home to keep us warm .. a place to lay our heads at night.  We should be eternally grateful - for many do not .. even in this country.  And those of us who do should be ever mindful and ready to help those who don't.  Remember "to whom much is given, much shall be required of him."  (Luke 12:48)  We just really need to be both more thankful and more helpful to those in need. 
     
      While my boys were growing up, I had the blessing of spending one week of the summer with them at Maywood Christian Camp.  It is a place that has a piece of our hearts.  We feel completely at home when we are there.
      My youngest child has been able to attend Christian camp for at least part of the week every year of his life (even if it was just for one day).  The year he was three was his first full week.  It was an experience for both of us and one I will never forget. 
      When we stepped back into our cabin after supper that first night, he said "We're home!"  For the first several days of the week, he did feel quite at home.  He was busy playing all day, and being as young as he was, he had plenty of attention from the older children.  However, after a few very full days, late nights and early mornings calls to "Rise and Shine,"  he was completely worn out.
      We all have our limits -- even or maybe especially -- young children.  It was either Wednesday or Thursday when he hit his limit.  He was totally worn out and became weepy and cranky.  To put it bluntly he was about to have a meltdown. 
      We were at the pavilion about to engage in the night's activities.  But I knew we weren't going to make it through any of that.  So I told my co-counselor we were going back to the cabin for an early night.  I hoped to have him bathed and in bed asleep before anyone else came back to the cabin. 
      In an attempt to cheer him up I said, "Come on, let's go home."  He brightened up immediately and came along with no complaint.  But when we got back to the cabin and walked through the door it was a totally different story.  I said, "OK, we're home."  Aaron just fell down in the floor crying.  He said,  "No - no.  Not this home.  My real home.  I want to go to my real home." 
     At that point I must admit I almost felt the same way.  I remember this night very well because I felt so sorry for him.  All I wanted to do was hold my baby and comfort him until he fell asleep which of course, is exactly what I did. 
      After a full night's sleep we both woke up feeling much better.  I don't know if he even remembered the night before. He had just been exhausted.  We made it through the rest of the week with no more meltdowns.  And he still has a deep love for Maywood. 
     
      That night my little boy longed for his "real home." 
Where do we long to be?  Do we dream of a place called heaven?  Is there where our heart is? 
      God loves us so much and He longs for us to be there with Him.  He is not willing that any should perish - and yet, He commands us all to repent.  (2 Peter 3:9,  Acts 17:30)  He sent His Son - His only Son to die for us.  It is through Christ that we have hope an eternal home in heaven -- a place of sweet rest from all our labors and toils ... from all the heartaches this world has brought us. 
      If we love God enough to seek Him diligently - He will reward us with a home that will be so much sweeter than any place we have ever known!  Jesus has told us there are many rooms in His Father's house.  He has promised to come back for those who love Him as much as He has loved us  - for those who will keep His commandments and live a life of love for Him. 
     Jesus also told us - "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  (Matthew 6:19-20) 
      See, if our treasure is our hope of heaven - if we long to be with God -- if we lay up our treasures - by loving and living for Him -- then no one can take that away from us!  We must never give up.  Peter tells us we are just sojourners and pilgrims here.  He encourages us to live holy lives. 
      See this is our temporary home.  We will either spend eternity in one place or another.  Yet, as Christians we know where we want to be  -- where we long to be.  At our lowest point, "we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." 
 (2 Corinthians 5:8)  For we know beyond a shadow of a doubt, "our citizenship is in heaven,  from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."  (Philippians 3:20)


Christ above all things,
Robin