Whilst sitting in a Thailand beachfront cafe and overlooking the crashing waves of the Gulf of Thailand, praying and reflecting on my life in India, my thoughts are interrupted by a thin, warbly voice over the sound system singing, “God bless America… my home sweet home.” I am overcome by the irony of it all: that a song about America being home is playing while I am vacationing in Thailand from India. I begin to ponder the age-old question: “What is home?”
That question has a plethora of cliché answers: “Home is where the heart is.” “Home is wherever you hang your hat.” “Home is where you make it.” “Home is where your Wi-Fi connects automatically.” Home is such a simple word that invokes such deep emotions. Having grown up in a military family and knowing that the house where I was living would never be my “forever home,” then both my parents and I moving away from my childhood hometown after I graduated high school, I have never quite known how to answer the question when people ask me, “So where’s home for you?” Some people do find it in life: that place where they can hang their oversized Michael’s letters on the wall spelling out “HOME.”
However, perhaps some of us aren’t supposed to find a home on this earth; perhaps there are some that live out their time on earth only catching glimpses of home. For me, it is when I feel complete peace while gazing at snow-crested mountains, or the warmth and completeness I feel when I am walking down the street in between my parents, holding their hands, or the joy and laughter that accompanies sitting around a campfire with friends discussing both silly, menial topics as well as sharing the depths of our hearts. Yet, even when the situation isn’t ideal, when I am not surrounded by my closest friends and family, when I am far from the place that I call my “home address,” I find the feeling of home when I turn my eyes upon Jesus. The truest moments of HOME are when He Obliterates My Expectations (see what I did there?)… when He shows up and His presence surrounds and moves… that is a glimpse of home.
Perhaps some never find their earthly home because their calling is to bring the reality of home that can only be found in the completeness of our Lord and Savior to those around the world who have not experienced His salvation.