Home?

All semester that one little 4-letter word has unnerved me. When people ask if I'm going home for (pick a holiday) I'm never quite sure what to say. Is home the place I grew up, San Antonio, to some yes, but now that I don't live in that house any more, it's awkward calling that home. Is home the place where I felt the safest? That would be NH (the people far more than the actual building). That was my sanctuary, and my support network, and my ministry for so much of who I am now. But I realize that NH won't be the same any more. Which is a good thing. I'm not the same person I was when I left in August (leaving the identity crisises alone). I've grown, a lot, in a lot of different areas. Is home where my family lives (especially my parents)? They moved to Missouri last Christmas, I've never spent more than Thanksgiving break at this house, in a city where I know only one other person (Mike from NH). Is home where I am currently living, the Asbury Community? I wouldn't have thought so before today. I try not to get attached to colleges cause I know i'm just there temporarily. But after crying when I left this morning (I've only been here a semester and I'll be back in a month). I'm rethinking that. Is home Heaven? Yes, but I hope it's awhile before I establish permenant residence there.

"Home is less about where you are living, and more about who you are loving." That was the piece of advice I gave one of my girls as she left for her first year of college. There is more truth to that than I realized at the time. In that case I am blessed infinitely because I have so many homes. I have so many people who love me, further proof of the grace of God upon my life. I may not have a ready answer when I'm asked where home is, but maybe that isn't such a bad thing after all.