Thursday, May 31, 2012

Chapter One: Home

2 Corinthians 5
     "...So whether at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him..."

After 10 months and 5 days, I stand in the middle of my cluttered room scheming on a packing strategy, a mere 24 hours and 10 minutes prior to my departure and return to a land I have grown to love. It seems like a simple task, one which I have done many times for various occasions. However, this time seems to be different. Perhaps it is the weariness I experience from three weeks of constant movement and transition. It could also be a heaviness in my heart from the imminence of leaving for a while those I also love at home.

What is home? More than anything, home is the thing for which I hope most, an eternal thing which I have yet to fully understand and experience. If life has taught me anything, it has taught me to serve others wholeheartedly, to love without reserve (which sometimes I take too literally), and to be ready to go when called. Home apart from Home is where God calls me to share life in all its facets with people I will learn to love. I recall that week ten months ago, when I sat with faithful companions (John, Chris, Abel, and Gershom) sharing farewells, when going home also meant leaving home.

The thoughts which swirl inside my mind are overwhelming, maybe even dizzying, but this is how I have always learned to trust in the One who is supremely capable. Some things do not seem pragmatic or possible, but it was by one impossible feat that I have come to this point in my life at all. It was by this one feat that I have decided to give it all. 

Thus I have come to a familiar place once more. I am going home.