Home is Where Your Heart Is

Lately, home is quite often on my mind.

For the past 10 months, my husband and I have traveled to visit churches in order to share about God’s ministry to the Subula of Cameroon. While this time has blessed the both of us meeting so many of Christ’s faithful across the country, life on the road has meant less time at our home in Concordia, MO (and with our beloved pup Fig). These last couple of years, our time in this place building a life as newlyweds has had its ups and downs but it will still always be our first home.

As a former homeschooled kid, home has always meant a great deal to me. For so many years, my life was centered in the home, in a house I shared with my family for the entirety of my childhood. So much of these memories growing up in a Christian family are what has made me who I am today. But as we all know too well, time doesn’t sit still. Life moves along, and we try to handle all the changes and resulting experiences that come with them. Sometimes you have to move out and move on.

With our move out across an ocean happening in just a few months, moving on from the place I’ve called home all of my life quite literally feels like a transition of continental proportions. We’ve all heard the saying “home is where your heart is”, but where does your heart find a home in a place you have never known? I guess we’ll share the same sky. Though, it doesn’t take transitioning to another country to feel like home is so far away. So many times in our lives, transitions, both big and small, can often leave us feeling bewildered, confused, and frankly lost even in the most familiar places. 

Coincidentally (or even more providentially), we are not alone when it comes to life transitions. Our Savior knew them all too well. Perhaps in the biggest transition anyone has ever experienced, Jesus left his home with the Father in heaven to take on our humanity and live as we do. 

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14

Jesus was born, grew up, and built a life in the places he called home for 30 years. But, life kept on moving and the time of transition arrived again as he began a journey of ministry which would ultimately lead to the cross. Jesus was baptized in the Spirit, tempted by the Devil, worked miracles in the Father’s name, and received both joy and hatred from those he was sent to save. What an unimaginable toll these experiences of transition must have taken, all far away from his heavenly home. Realizing this reality for our savior makes the moment when we see Jesus on calvary forsaken by his father for our sins all the more heart wrenching.

Yet, he did it all, and all for us. Jesus’ life of monumental changes can be overwhelming for us to comprehend. How can we even dream to face our own lives’ transitions with such strength and devotion all on our own? It’s a sobering thought. However, when we look to God’s Word, we see Jesus often taking moments amidst all the transitions in his journey to rest in the presence of his father in Heaven. It was through these times of restoration that he followed God’s will for his life.

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

John 6:38

Through prayer and praise, Jesus’ heart was at home with our Lord, and in his name we are given the same precious gift. When life changes threaten to throw us off balance or even shake us to our cores, our hearts can often feel far away from the peace and comfort we so desperately need. It is during these times of uncertainty that we can look to the One who did it all for us, the Savior who promises to walk with us, even to the ends of the earth. 

This promise continues to uphold me every day. In Christ I can rest and be strengthened amid life’s transitions in the peace that only our Lord can give. We really are never far away from home. It’s a truth worth taking to heart.