Homeward Bound

Disclaimer: Homeward Bound is one of my least favorite movies. Ever. And it has absolutely NOTHING to do with this post.

Home. 

"I'm going home! Perkasie, PA, here I come!"  The meaning of the word home has grown and expanded and changed in so many ways since I left for college 3 years ago.   Before I came to college, home was almost always one place.  Although I occasionally referred to my church as 'home' because I was there so often, home had always been my house, and more importantly, my family.  Home was laughter, and family time, and stories, and games, and dinnertime, and playing outside, and growing and learning within my family.  This is still home.  Very few things in life beat the feeling of arriving at home, in Perkasie, PA.  Home, where I grew up, where my Mom and Dad are, where I am safe, and protected and happy.

"I'm heading back home…and by home, I mean my dorm room." Over the past 2 and half years,  many times, in casual conversation or without thinking, I will talk about my dorm room, calling it "home".  I will answer, "oh, I'm at home",  meaning on campus.  Here at school, home is where I stay, but it is not necessarily where I belong.  At school, the word home simply means the place where I live.

"This is home."  During the summer, Worldview Academy becomes home, but this past summer, I finally realized why camp felt so much like home.  At camp, home becomes the people.  The staffers, directors, faculty and their families become 'home' to me.  As we live and interact as the Body of Christ, camp becomes more and more like home.  It is a place of sharing, learning, growing, crying, laughing and making memories together.   One of the most fascinating things about camp to me is that I always feel at home, although we spend so much of the time traveling.  Home is no longer a place, it is people.

"Home is where the heart is."  Coming out of camp this past year with that understanding, my heart grew so hungry for Heaven.  Heaven will be fully and completely home.  It is where I am headed, my final destination. Once there, I will not only be a part of the living and functioning body of Christ, but I will be with my Jesus.  I will be fully satisfied. 

Home is not really a set place anymore.  It is instead, the people with whom my heart is tied.  My family, my dear friends, and my Savior.  

"I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now...Come further up, come further in!"  -The Last Battle, CS Lewis

(I know, I already posted this quote once. I couldn't help reposting! It's that good.)

‎"Where we love is home; Home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts."

-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.