Where is Home?

Nearly every day for the past few weeks, Jackson has been telling us, “I wanna go home.”
“Where,” we ask.
“To Ethiopia.”

While I would love to say that Ethiopia is our new home; if I’m honest with myself, I know that we will always be seen as outsiders. At the same time, we can’t say America Is our home anymore. We sold nearly everything…Outside of family and friends, the only thing that ties us to America is our passports. We live in transition…in a sense we are homeless.

Many thoughts run through my head…but one thought continually comes to mind, “Is this a good way to lead and support my family?” It is great to know that my boy misses Ethiopia. Yet I realize that he’s only expressing the tip of the iceberg regarding his thoughts of a life in transition. When we are back in Ethiopia, he’s going to miss family, friends and comfort back in America. Am I setting my family up for an identity crisis?

I press on though, and lead my family in this journey, trusting in two things I see in the Bible. First of all, this earth is not my home. And second, it’s not a house that makes a home, rather it’s the people in it.

I trust that it is actually ok (perhaps even good) for us not to be too tied down towards any location we may end up at. Perhaps it is good that we are homeless, as it drives us towards a deeper longer for something much greater, namely our eternal home in Heaven. While we can enjoy many of the places God has graciously given us; No place in this world can compare with what he is preparing for us; so why fool ourselves into thinking it can?

Yet while Scripture paints the picture that Heaven will be a spectacular and unbelievable place, it is not the beauty of the city that makes it so attractive…Rather it’s Jesus who dwells in it. “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev 21:3-4)

What makes any place magnificent is not the place itself (no matter how amazing it may be); rather it is the people. So while we have no place to call home; we do have each other…and that truly is home. Praise God that he is using our work to draw us closer to each other, and towards him. Praise Him that while this earth in its current state will never provide the security and stability we much need, God is preparing for us a place in eternity that will never fade or fail.