Searching for a Home.

 

Searching for a Home.

What an awesome week I have had here in Berne, IN. Ive gotten to spend some time with some of my very closest friends and strongest encouragers. For those who may not know or be familiar with my background, I had the privilege to teach here in Berne two years ago. What an awesome experience that was for me, a tremendous time of learning and preparation for me before I started deputation. 

    I have another week here with friends before getting back on the road and heading back down south. I have meetings in MS, AK and LA for the next month or so before heading to Brazil for my official 'Survey Trip.' I am so very excited to get back to Brazil, even if it is not full-time quite yet. 

 

  As I have been here (in Berne) for several days, I have often remarked to my friends here and to some on the phone, how great it has been to be back home. It has been almost surreal to be here, just driving through town takes me back to when I lived here and reminds me of just how loving my church family here was to me. They really welcomed me in and made me feel right at home right from the start. I have always been so thankful for them and have come to think of this place as my home. 

  Since being here it was stated to me that, Boy, I have quite a few places that I call home! If Im being honest, my first reaction to that statement was almost that I often feel that I have no home. But before I could internalize that sentiment, it resonated within me that in actuality, I do in fact have quite a few places where I truly feel at home. I just rarely get to be in those places haha. I think of my time in the DR. I felt right back at home while I was there. That is the place I grew up, I fell in love with ministry, I spent all my high school years there. Yes, that is definitely one of my homes. 

    My mind then runs to my parents. How could I not feel at home with them? They are much less a place as they are my people, but there is some sense of home whenever I am with them. They have been a Godly example and influence in my life since I was born! What a privilege to call myself their daughter and be a part of their family. 

    I wrote a blog several months ago on the idea of home. If you haven't read it, I would encourage you to do so as I don't want to restate everything I said there here. In that post I talked about how, for a traveller, home is a fluid idea, its much less a place. The more I travel and the more I experience the more abstract the concept of home becomes. For many, including myself, this growing sense of home can be painful to comprehend. 

    As home gets more complex, it also gets more incomplete. One can never be in one place without part of them being at home someplace else. This is why it is so vitally important that we make our true home in heaven. It's a difficult concept to read that the home of the believer is in heaven, but it is so very true. We are not to feel at home in this world, our home is with our savior, and one day we will spend eternity with Him! Never to feel homesick or lonely again! What an awesome thought. 

    Weary pilgrim, do you long to see your Savior? Are you setting your sights on the eternal instead of the temporary? We must fix our eyes on heaven and His glory, lest we get sidetracked and lost here on earth. Thats a whole lot easier said than done, but it is so important. 

    Thank you all so much for your prayers and for reaching out to me. I have had a large influx of people lately who reach out to let me know they are praying for me and it really is the biggest encouragement! Me and Ray are both doing pretty good, staying quite busy as well, so your prayers mean the world!

Thank you for taking the time to read and keep up!

Beca (+ Ray)