Home is Where The Heart Is

I was driving back to Colorado Springs the other day and enjoying some gorgeous views of the sun setting behind the Rockies.  I was driving along a country road just enjoying the scenery.  There are farms and ranches, little rural towns, old, old, country homes, and a lot of new, huge and beautiful homes.  It's prairie as Susan has informed, so the grass is low and brown, but beautiful anyway.   I wish I could have taken a picture of the setting sun because it was awesome and you would have enjoyed it.  Maybe another time...

Anyway, as I was driving along, I got to thinking about my trip to Florida and going home on Sunday.   We have rented our Florida home for the winter to a lovely lady from Michigan.  Mary is a widow and has opted to return to Zephyrhills for the winter and will be staying at our house.  When she learned that I was coming back to work for a week, she invited me to stay with her (at my house).  I was initially reluctant because it is kinda weird to rent your house to someone and then go stay there with them.  But she kept insisting so I checked into it a little and Gloria told me I would be crazy not to, so, I accepted.  And it beats the Red Rose Inn.  (fast-forward to Monday night.  got home from work, Mary greeted me at the door with a glass of wine, chicken supper on the stove, jello in the fridge, table set for two.  lovely evening)

But, I digress.  What I was thinking about as I was marveling at the Rockies, was how much I was looking forward to "going home" next week.   And then I realized how convoluted that thinking was and started to explore my feelings.  We now have a lovely condo here in Colorado Springs a minute from Susan, and it is comfortable and convenient.  I love it.   And then, we have a wonderful little home in Zephyrhills on the edge of the golf course, with two little ponds close by just filled with bird life and turtles (and golf balls).  We spent a lot of time designing this home because we just knew we were going to live out our twilight years there.  We just love it.   And then, we have our Surry, Maine home on Patten Pond where we enjoy lake views and loons, and the smells of pine woods and home.  We just love it.  I figured out that where ever I'm not, I miss, and wherever I am, I love, and am loved.  Does that make any sense at all???    So that is what prompted my question, "where on earth is home"  ???  (in case you are thinking that Paul and I must be independently wealthy, I can assure you that we are not.  What we are able to do is keep our heads above water by renting our homes some of the time.  But what we are is blessed, and so far, so good)

And then, I started thinking about all of the benefits and blessings of these homes and these places.  Mostly...friends and family, people we love and love to visit at each of these places, beloved, faithful, concerned folks who are there for us through thick and thin.   In Maine, we have lots of family of course, my parents and siblings, then Tracey and Joe, Scott, Diane and Skip, Mary and Mike, Sally and Ed, Priscilla and Grange, Patty and Rob, First Baptist Church, and dozens of others too numerous to mention.  In Florida, we have Gloria and Bob, and Sandy, Kate and Charlie, Dianne and Edward, Debbie and Heather, and the Bible study ladies, and the Winter Haven Hospital crowd to mention a few.   In Colorado, we have of course, Susan, Huy, and Tan the incredible, Pam and her father Frank, Jimmie and Joy, and Marilyn.  Susan has her own list of course, a long list to be sure.  (there is also an 'other' crowd filled with beloved friends that I have never met like Jo and Barbara, and some Facebookers and bloggers.  how wonderful)

So, where is my home?  Where is yours?   Then, I pondered that the biblical answer, the eternal truth, is, "none of the above."   We are merely sojourners here, just passing through, renters not owners.  We are ambassadors of a heavenly realm with mansions ready and waiting for us.  (will we ever have to clean bathrooms there?).   So, the real answer for me, for now, is the one I gave at the beginning of this piece.  HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS.  It's not really a physical space, a house, a place where we store our goods and possessions.  It isn't the sum total of stuff and things as much as we take comfort in those items.  HOME is where hearts connect, where lives entwine, and where your soul can rest.  HOME is where you can be yourself, go without makeup, stay in your pajamas all day, and as Tan demonstrates, dance with abandon.  This Christmas, as we decorate the house, I'm going to decorate my heart and celebrate with Thanks for the ones who make it a HOME.  Umm, that would be YOU!!!    Thanks!!!