Home is Where the Heart Is
"Home is where the heart is." What exactly does that mean? Does it mean that if you move away from your home, you naturally bring your heart with you, so your new home is instinctively your home? Or does it mean that the people/place/things you love with your heart represent your true home? Either way, it seems that moving has some sort of affect on a person's heart. People attach so much emotion and memory to a place, that it can sometimes feel like your heart is getting ripped up when you move away, or if your friends move away.
How do we start again? If a home is more than a place, how do we make it into our new home? If it's the people that make a home, how does one make relationships that feel like home? Is it possible to do it again and again?
When I moved from Seattle to Taipei, I felt peace to move but uncertainty about what it would look like to build a life in a new city. I especially had no idea what it would look like to move to a new country! If I'm being honest, I sort of became a hermit when we first moved. I was a little hesitant to set foot outside without plans to meet up with someone, simply because I was not familiar with the area and didn't know where to go!
I slowly started stepping out of my comfort zone, took a Chinese class, and began exploring with some friends when I was off work. My first major breakthrough came when I went on a hike with a new friend (and some old friends). I felt like I was finally branching out and doing something that helped me get to know the culture a bit more.
I moved a year ago, and there are still some days where I am out and about and it dawns on me that I am in a foreign country. I could say that this is a tribute to growth and comfort zones, but really it is all a tribute to following Jesus. I never would have moved far away, I never would have learned Chinese, I never would have given up my career if Jesus hadn't called me to it. There is a cliche term, "where God guides, he provides" and I have to say that it is absolutely true. He guided me here, and put me in a place where I am out of my element to use my life in some way. I still don't fully see how he uses me, but I know through the process that I am being made to look more like my Savior Jesus from one degree of glory to another.
That is a promise that holds more weight than the comforts of any earthly home. My heart is safe with Jesus, and he will be with me wherever he sends me.
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)
How do we start again? If a home is more than a place, how do we make it into our new home? If it's the people that make a home, how does one make relationships that feel like home? Is it possible to do it again and again?
When I moved from Seattle to Taipei, I felt peace to move but uncertainty about what it would look like to build a life in a new city. I especially had no idea what it would look like to move to a new country! If I'm being honest, I sort of became a hermit when we first moved. I was a little hesitant to set foot outside without plans to meet up with someone, simply because I was not familiar with the area and didn't know where to go!
I slowly started stepping out of my comfort zone, took a Chinese class, and began exploring with some friends when I was off work. My first major breakthrough came when I went on a hike with a new friend (and some old friends). I felt like I was finally branching out and doing something that helped me get to know the culture a bit more.
I moved a year ago, and there are still some days where I am out and about and it dawns on me that I am in a foreign country. I could say that this is a tribute to growth and comfort zones, but really it is all a tribute to following Jesus. I never would have moved far away, I never would have learned Chinese, I never would have given up my career if Jesus hadn't called me to it. There is a cliche term, "where God guides, he provides" and I have to say that it is absolutely true. He guided me here, and put me in a place where I am out of my element to use my life in some way. I still don't fully see how he uses me, but I know through the process that I am being made to look more like my Savior Jesus from one degree of glory to another.
That is a promise that holds more weight than the comforts of any earthly home. My heart is safe with Jesus, and he will be with me wherever he sends me.
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)
Comments
Post a Comment