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                              A little food for weekend thought...on home--

        C.S. Lewis once wrote: "Our kind Heavenly Father has provided many wonderful inns for us along our journey, but He takes special care to see that we never mistake any of them for home."
        Oh my, how thankful I am for the many "wonderful inns" our gracious God plants along our paths to sweeten the journey...but we're not home yet.  Not by a long shot.  Those little "inns" are not only places to strengthen and refresh us along the way, but they also provide tantalizing, tiny foretastes of our ultimate destination, our true and glorious-beyond-imaging Home.
        Whenever you go on a trip--even on a very short one as I just took with one of our sons--the same thing happens every time.  It's always so much fun, so invigorating to visit somewhere completely different.  Travel allows you to view life from a new perspective.  And oftentimes you find yourself thinking, "Wow, it's so good to get away.  This would be an interesting place to live"...until you remember home.  Eventually, no matter how amazing and beautiful the new locale, we inevitably find ourselves longing for home.
         Because home is, well, home to people, places, and pets (smile) you love.
         Your house--even with it's leaky pipes or small closets or peeling paint--overflows with memories of love, forgiveness, laughter, tears, and life lived day-in and day-out with those we sometimes rub the wrong way...but for whom we'd be willing to die in a heartbeat.
         Think of the places of home.  The hang-outs you love--like Cloos with it's hot dogs, icy diet cokes, and sweet Jake...or Casa Carbone with it's spaghetti, calzones, and family-warmth...or the good old Harris Teeter with the nicest checkout people on the planet...or the schools our children have attended, the soccer fields they've run on, the golf courses they've walked over, the homes of their friends they've loved...or our church home that meets in a high school and yet feels like family the moment we walk through the doors...so many places with so much happy living.
        Then there's the people you love.  That's what makes home, home, right?  Your family, of course, but also your acquaintances, your neighbors, your dear friends--oh my, what priceless gifts they are!  Thank You, Father, for friends and family...for the people that make home the place where our hearts always feel welcomed, warmed, and joyfully satisfied.
        And can't forget our pets.  No sir.  Home is where your dog runs to the door to enthusiastically greet you--whether you've just run to the grocery store to pick up milk or disappeared for a week for an out-of-state trip.  What's the first thing our grown children who are now living away from home (which, by the way, is a plan I'm still not happy about!) do when they walk through the door?  Love on Mr. Bingley.  Forget dad and mom--we're chopped liver compared to Bing.  But that's okay...because that's home.
       So here's my way-too-long-winded point: if our earthly home can be so wonderful, can you imagine our ultimate and true Home?  In our heavenly Home, we will have everyone together.  Not only no more death, sickness, and separation, but also no more children growing up and moving away from home.  No more sad partings.  No more disagreements.  No more divorces.  No more prodigals.         Instead, we'll have infinite time to enjoy the people we love (which in heaven will be everyone!)...only none of us will be plagued by the effects of sin--so that means no selfishness or pride or defensiveness or irritating habits to annoy one another!  There will be endless worlds to explore and meaningful work to do...but best of all, worship.  Worship of the only One worthy of all our worship and adoration--our Savior, the Lord Jesus.
       Home.  For every believer, that's where we headed.  The question is--what's our focus now?  Are we preoccupied with our short-term happiness or fixed on our eternal joy?  Are we living only for the "wonderful inns" along the journey or are we enjoying them for what they are because our ultimate goal and prize is God's glorious destination of Home?
       Once more, good old C.S. Lewis: "You will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next...It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.  Aim at Heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in.'  Aim at earth, and you will get neither."
       Thank You, Father, for the inns along our journey--oh how thankful we are for every one of them!  But keep us faithfully fixed and focused on Home.  
       To God be the glory.