Carrying it with you wherever you go.
I have always suffered from feeling very misunderstood when it comes to the topic of "my home." In high school my friends wanted to know what in the world would make me want to leave our little town. In college I often got questions about my desire to return to my hometown following graduation. Which was often met by shock and awe as I explained that I had no desire for that to happen. In fact home to me has always really resided within.
We have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven- not built by human hands. -2 Corinthians 5:1
Let me elaborate on that a bit. I have a wonderful family who always strived to ensure I had a roof over my head, clothes on my back and happy memories to last me a lifetime. Despite this fact I always had an uneasy feeling of discontent in the darkest pit of my gut. I wanted more. To see more places, meet more faces and change more lives. I needed to push the boundaries of everything I had ever known. The Lord did grant me that wish....
The Wish
I had applied for a job in Chihuahuan Desert, a place I had only really been a hand full of times. I began the job a few short months following interviews. With only two weeks to relocate, I found myself in a crunch for housing. Needless to say my temporary housing had four wheels, a sewerage house and a stove 2 feet away from the couch. Yes, that's right I lived in an RV, Uncle Eddie would have been proud. Not to mention, temporary turned from a couple of weeks to two in a half years. I learned how to tie it down in the windy seasons of February, do laundry at the local coffee shop/laundromat and that you must refill your tanks before the ice hits. The world outside of the RV for a bit seemed just as challenging. Starting in my position required 120 days of flying around the country to various trainings. That left me very little time to get familiar with my dealer, our customers or the true heart beat of the area in which I was living. I was pushing my boundaries all right, but I was miserable. I suddenly began to regret the day I ever listened to that feeling in my gut. At this moment I know you are waiting for the miraculous event that changed my whole perspective, but it never happened. What did happen is my refusal to give up and my drive to keep finding the good around me. Each day I tried something new. I found a church home, I hiked in Big Bend and through each of these little steps I found friends. Friends who became family in every sense of the word. With every ounce of fit another door opened up around me, until I was absolutely and inevitably in love with the world I was living in. I had found a home.
The Aftermath
Now fast forward to today, when I no longer reside out west. Leaving was the hardest decision I have ever made, regardless of how necessary it might have been. I did walk away knowing one thing. That the home I had made would carry with me. It was made up of the confidence I had developed in myself, the friends I would not loose touch with and the love of the good Lord. Home would be wherever I choose it to be. It is a feeling that wells up in my heart and soul. One that I will eventually take back to the place I love the most and plant for good.
The Prayer
Lord,
I come to you today in thanks. Thanking you for the experiences you have allotted me and the ones still yet to come. I pray for those who are searching/looking Lord, may you give them peace in your promises. Remind them that home lies within, rested upon your love and plans for them. Lord I pray for the movers/shakers, may they always remember where they came from and look ahead to their destination.
It is in your name we pray,
Amen
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