Home!

"When you lay me down to die/
I'll open up my eyes on skies I've never known/
In the place where I belong,/
And I'll realize His love is just another word
for Home."
~Andrew Peterson, "Lay Me Down [to Die]"

"And I think my home is just Heaven's reflection/
As long as my home's here with you."
~Michael Card, "Home"

I've left so much-- the big things: my parents, my sisters, a church where I've loved, lost and found again, the comfort of one Tia, Uncle & set of cousins just down the street, and other across town; and the less important but equally present: the home I love, the creek we played in for hours, neighbors I trust, the pediatrician who used to find "kitty-cats" in my ears during checkups, the dentist & dental hygienist that I've gotten to know despite their looking in my mouth every few months, the health-care providers who have all my records on hand, a mental road-map that seldom fails me, a bank, pharmacy, and library that have all my information stored... I don't deny that the thought of "new" automatically provokes recoil in me. BUT despite all that, Melissa heard the intense excitement in my voice as I exited I-65 onto Jackson St. "Melissa! This is going to be my exit for the next few years!" She laughed at me. :) The other night I said something to Ryan about "'til I'm home" and he stopped me- "where do you mean?" I meant Louisville, of course, but why? At first, it was because I did find a place to belong there. I have never felt more accepted and loved than I did in the brief months I spent worshipping and serving with the people of Immanuel Baptist Church. Christ is always 'Home.' But now there's another reason: Ryan.

From now until the day I die, my home will be wherever he is: just as the Church finds Her home; Her rest; Her secure refuge in Her Husband, so I look forward to building my home wherever my Love is. Ryan's love is such a wonderful, tangible reflection of the Love held for me by the Lover of my Soul. My home in his love, in his arms-- what a reminder to me of the way it really is eternally!

And oh, it's good to be home. :)