Home

The time has come. We have officially signed a contract to sell our home. Home. It's kind of a strange word, isn't it? It's short, not extravagant, and really, well, kind of...homely. The fact that the end is nearing...fast in fact, only 13 days away has got me to asking the question, "What is home?" To me, it's always been a welcoming place. It's a place where you always feel welcome, loved, and safe. This house on Cooper Drive has been that for me. So much in fact, that I have cried about the prospect of leaving it for weeks now. When the time comes for me to pull out of the driveway for the last time, I hope I'm not driving. I will be crying like a baby. This house (and the land) has been my safe place to land during the tumultuous last four years. It's the only house that I have ever lived in that was entirely owned by the occupants. No one could tell me if I could/couldn't paint. No one had access to it besides Heath and me, and best of all, if I didn't feel like mowing the lawn...I didn't have to!

How will I leave my home. The home I love so much? I've moved a LOT in my lifetime, but everytime I've ever moved from a home, I've had a greater, vivid picture of life ahead of me. This time, I know it's all in God's plan that we're moving on, but I really can't see a vivid picture. All I see is a duplex that really needs to be clean before my stuff is going in!

But what is home, really? In Jeanette Oak's series, Love Comes Softly, Missy says that home is a place where "you always feel safe and you're always loved." As I was throwing yet another pity party, as seems to be the norm here lately, I realized that I have a home. My family is my home. Wherever Heath and my children are...that is home. It doesn't matter to me in what "house" we may reside. My home is the life partner that God gave to me. He is a place where I feel welcome, loved, and safe. Welcome to share my heart. Loved enough that he sacrifices his own possessions, agendas, and even his health for me on a daily basis. And safe enough that he would die for me without hesitation. I am incredibly blessed.

So I'm interested to know...where is your home?