"Home"

This summer, when people have asked me where I live, I start to laugh.  How to answer the question?  My current response is "We live overseas but own a home in Virginia."  This seems to work best.

Being in between "homes" is such a strange space of time physically and emotionally.  We packed our stuff in Japan on April 16, lived out of boxes/bags until we came to Virginia June 3.  We have been on 3 camping trips, 1 long car ride to/from Tennessee, 1 flight to the Pacific Northwest, and are now back in Virginia until we head out in a couple weeks.  We have seen old friends and family.  We have eaten out more than our fair share.  I haven't worked out enough.  I have gained back some weight.  Grrrrrr We have seen dentists, optometrists, physicians, and dermatologists.  We have shopped.  We have packed and shipped more boxes.  We have unpacked luggage, repacked luggage, and will pack it again soon.  

I am not complaining so much as expressing this strange reality we are living in currently.  My military friends do this EVERY couple years for entire careers.  They are the TRUE heroes.  Packing up lives, friendships, and moving to who-know-where, sometimes at a last moment's notice, just to have their spouse deployed or traveling for long periods of time.......  Their lives are hard.

So, with all this transition it it amazing to find snippets of "home" amid all the movement and busyness.  Of course being with my family feels like home.  Yet, one of the most wonderful feelings of home have been found at our local church.  We were actively involved with Harvest Church for 6 years after moving from Seattle to Virginia.  They welcomed a homesick/neurotic young wife and nurtured me through several years of anger towards God.  They rejoiced when I got pregnant, prayed when I went into preterm labor, and brought us meals and cleaned our bathrooms while I was on bed rest.  Brad taught a Wednesday night boy's program.  I led the school age Sunday program.  We grew in our faith, learned more about God's grace, and felt loved.  They welcomed my parents into the church family when they moved to Virginia.  In the three years we have been gone many people have moved, new people have arrived, and yet is still feels like coming home when we sit in the pews and hear the message.

God led us to a wonderful church in Japan- but Harvest Church is our "home."  And, today, it felt wonderful to be home.  The message spoke exactly to the call God has on both Brad's and my life.  We desire to live our  lives as lights and examples of Christ.  This is important no matter where we are, but it feels even more urgent when one knows you are living among people who may have never met a Christian.  Pastor's message  spoke to this call, and was exactly what we needed to hear.  It felt like a personal commissioning. 

This evening I feel more at peace with this transition time, a little less irritated to not know exactly when we are leaving, and a bit more content to pack and unpack a couple more times in the next month.

God is good- no matter where our "home" is at the moment.