Home.

Home [hom] : (noun) the social unit formed by a family living together. (Merriam-Webster) 

Growing up, my home was my favorite place to be. I was blessed with an incredibly loving family and I always felt the safest and most comfortable while being at home. As a little girl, I rarely was away from home, and when I was, I just counted down the hours until I was back in my safe place.

 

[Home is where I felt most like myself] 

My first few sleepovers at friends’ houses often ended early when I had to call home in the middle of the night and have mom and dad come pick me up. One night away from home seemed way too much for me to handle. Eventually I realized that I would survive one night and after my first successful night away, I was so proud waking up that morning realizing that I had made it! 

In high school, the opportunity came up for me to go on my first mission trip; Dominican Republic, 10 days… 10 DAYS! In my mind, there was no way that I was going to make it that long away from home. I said no at first because I didn’t believe that I would be able to handle being away from my safe place that long. Well, with a necessary push to go, I went on the trip. I completely fell in love with the kids with special needs that I got to be with and was actually more of a mess saying bye to them, then I was leaving home. I didn’t completely comprehend it at the time, but looking back I realized how in trusting God’s plan, it can often be scary but we will be so much more fulfilled than if we just stayed home. 

Fast forward to after college. I felt lead to do another mission trip and thought maybe I could manage a trip that was a couple months long. As I was frantically googling different options, the Lord lead me to the World Race; 11 months…11 MONTHS! As much as I wanted to ignore this option, I knew it was what the Lord was calling me to next. I said yes, but this seemed way more than I could handle. I didn’t know that you can be homesick BEFORE you even leave home, but I now know it’s possible. I probably cried everyday for the two months leading up to my trip. As I went on the Race, I realized how much more I was capable of than I gave myself credit for. As I traveled from country to country, the Lord even provided people along the way who felt like family to me. At this point, I was starting to realize how thankful I was to keep saying yes to these crazy things. If I had chosen to stay home just to be safe, I would have missed out on seeing more of this world and loving on so many people who maybe didn’t have a home.

 

Leaving this last January to Squad lead for 5 months was a completely different experience. I was sad to leave, but felt so much more confident in following the Lord this time. When we arrived in our first country, Colombia (a place I had never been before), I felt right at home. Nothing there felt familiar yet it felt normal and safe to be there. As we moved to a new and different country each month, we would arrive and somehow I would feel right at home. During this season, the Lord provided a squad who became my family and I felt right at home with them. He also provided hosts and people in these countries that reminded me of my family at home. 

 

[“mom and dad” who came to our rescue when we were stranded in Lima for a couple days]

We had MANY long bus rides throughout these last months and I had lots of time to reflect back on these seasons. As I thought about it I realized that we feel safest wherever we put our roots. When life get tough or scary we will always go running back to where those roots are. Growing up my roots were deep in my house where I grew up and with my family. They are still my safe place and I still have roots there, but what changed is when I started trusting the Lord enough to put my deepest roots in Him. We can put our roots in all sorts of different places, but if our deepest roots are in things of this earth, then we are putting our roots in soil that may not always hold us. If we are putting our roots in the Lord, then home is wherever we follow Him. Realizing that made so much sense when I felt right at “home” when I showed up to a brand new place. I will always miss my home in Washington, but I am so thankful that I can feel safe wherever I go, because the Lord is my home. So, I would just like to end with a question; where are you putting your roots?