Six months ago I gave up drinking coffee on a regular basis. However, I still enjoy a good cup a joe every now and then. This morning is a good coffee morning.
I've been thinking a lot lately about the whole concept of home. What does that look like? What does it really mean? And is it too much to think that everyone should be able to feel at home whether or not they have a roof over their head or someone to hold them at the end of the day?
I don't think that home is a place. If it were, we could spend our whole lives looking and never find it. We often refer to where we grew up as "home". And although there usually is a special bond to where you spent your childhood, most people move away from that and never really go back. Some people can't. And what about those that don't have good childhood memories? If home is all about the "greatness" of where you grew up, does that mean that they don't have one? Many people live in several different places throughout their lives and never really feel at home. At 26, I've lived in 3 different states and spent significant time a few others and never really felt like any of those places were home. Buildings come and go. So do our interests and desires of where we think we would like to be. This side of heaven, it's pretty difficult for home to be a place.
I'm more open to the idea that home is centered around people. Though I still don't think that should be the main thing. However, we need people in our lives. And not only that, we need people that mean something to us. We need people that we can love and care about and that love us back. We are not an island unto ourselves. Being a part of a community is important. So is being part of a family. We all want to be loved and needed and feel like we matter to someone. And when we are around those that mean the most to us, it doesn't matter where we are as long as we're together.
But people come and go. And if our whole idea of home is centered around people, then what happens when they are not there anymore? Do we suddenly find ourselves "homeless" and lost? Sometimes for a little bit. It's normal to feel a little displaced when your world is turned upside down. But life does go on and the sun will shine again. And a big part of feeling at home should be found within -whatever that means to you. For me, it's within my relationship with Jesus and with myself. Without Jesus, I would lost in so many ways. He's the Anchor that I can always hold onto when the rest of my life seems to be a little out of control. He's the Rock that I stand on when I can't find solid ground. He's the Grace that catches me when I fall. He's the one that I go to with whatever emotions are overwhelming me. And although I am constantly changing and moving and reformulating, He remains the same and there's something comforting about that.
Home also needs to be finding peace with yourself. Loving who you are as a person. Being content with where you're at in life while always striving to do better and become all that you can be. If you don't love yourself, you're going to have a hard time accepting love from others. If you don't love yourself, you're never going to be happy with anything that you do or become. If you don't love yourself, you'll never feel at home anywhere. But once you realize the amazingness that is you, peace and contentment will come and it won't matter where you are, you will feel at home.
People who feel at home anywhere have a purpose. And they live each and every day with that purpose in whatever they do. Whether you feel like what you do day to day is great or small, if you do it with pride and a purpose, you will find contentment and satisfaction.
Surround yourself with those that you care about, learn to love yourself, find out what God means to you and follow your heart. And I believe that you'll be on your way to finding a place that feels like home.
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