And it's quite true, it's not... but there can be many memories, people, and events associated with that house that cause it to be home. So when that house is left behind, a piece of the past is as well...
But what, then, is home?
In the past month I've had to move out of my apartment in Knoxville. I no longer have a place to call my own in that city... one which was so good to me for three years of my life. I have many friends still living there, but, alas, being the college town that it is, they too will be gone in the next 2 years. If I ever return to that city there will not be the familiar faces to greet me, as their lives will have parted from it as well. Knoxville is no longer home.
Two days ago, my family decided we would be selling our house in Nashville. It will be on the market at the beginning of August before I leave for Guatemala...
There is so much clutter in our lives that goes unnoticed until we are forced to clean it up- both physically and spiritually, and at the moment, I'm in the process of cleaning them both out.
I've had to pack up not only Knoxville, but now Nashville as well... leaving no physical place called "home" in the U.S.
But of course, we must always remember that we were not made for this world. My home will never be here. The closest thing to home that we will find will be when we are truly following that plan which God has placed on each of our hearts. When we allow ourselves to follow Him completely, He will give us rest. He will provide us with a home.
Many times though we must be stripped of what we thought was home, to allow a new one to enter our hearts.
So now, as I continue this journey walking with God, I'm being stripped, physically, emotionally, and spiritually of what I have called home for these last 20 years, to prepare myself for the Home that God has in store for me, but even sooner than that... to prepare myself for the imitation of that Home, which He provides to us here on earth when we follow Him.
For me... this next glimpse of Home will be Honduras.
