One of the highlights of our trip to Ohio over Christmas was the very short visit Liz and I had with our dear friend, Ruth. What made it so special was that we grew up with Ruth in East Akron and our families were so close that our parents had every right to treat each other's kids as their own ... and they did ... both with love and discipline and everything else in between! Liz, Ruth and our cousin, Jill, were even baptized together, so our bond is quite close. The problem (situation) now is that Ruth and her family live in Alaska! Needless to say, we don't cross paths too often these days! This is why our visit together in December was so precious. We can be apart for years on end, but when we're all together again, it seems like we just pick up right where we left off and nothing has changed!
Ruth sent an e-mail this morning letting us know that they arrived back in Anchorage today and she shared some thoughts about their trip back East (or do you say 'down south'?) I asked her permission to share it here because I felt that she verbalized her thoughts so well about the subject of HOME. It has given me a lot to think about today and I'm thankful that she agreed to let me post it here. Thanks for being a guest here today, Ruth, and thanks so much for the precious visit we had together!
Some thoughts about "home"....
When we left Anchorage in December we said we were going "home".
When we left Ohio in January we said we were going "home."
When we were in your houses we felt at "home."
When we were in some places that we had never been, but were with you, we felt at "home."
When we talk about a believer dying, we say he or she has gone "home."
When we think of heaven, we call it our heavenly "home."
Is it a place, a feeling, things, that make a home?
The dictionary says home is "a place where one lives."
I say it is the people and the relationships we have with them, that make whatever we call home, "home."
My mother-in-law has redecorated her home. It looks different without all the wallpaper. But that didn't make it "not home". It was "home" because she was there.
The house where I grew up is not a place I visit or even drive by anymore. My dad is not there. It is not "home."
In contrast, heaven is a place I have never been and yet it is my eternal home. Why? Because God is there and as I get to know Him and spend time with Him, wherever He is is "home."
3 comments:
That's beautiful and so true. I'm glad Ruth let you share it. God bless! Lilly
Thanks for the thoughts of home, Ruth. It's where we feel the love around us. I'm so glad you could enjoy your Ohio home with famiy and friends, and have a heavenly home we can all share together.
Thanks for sharing these "home" thoughts through Martha.
(I still think I'd like Alaska in the summer--long days--but not the short winter days!)
Nice thoughts about home. Interesting also, that so many people build houses, rather than homes. I'll take a home anyday. There I can feel the love and peace and joy that God wants us to have. Thanksfor sharing!
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