I tried on my jeans today.
You know the ones you buy at the beginning of the summer, then it gets too hot to wear them (108 degrees in my case) and before you know it you've gained the summer weight that makes the jeans a little too tight to wear out? Those ones. Didn't go so well. I'll need at least until October to get to where they look decent. But that's just vanity talking so I'll shut up.
You know the ones you buy at the beginning of the summer, then it gets too hot to wear them (108 degrees in my case) and before you know it you've gained the summer weight that makes the jeans a little too tight to wear out? Those ones. Didn't go so well. I'll need at least until October to get to where they look decent. But that's just vanity talking so I'll shut up.
Thing is, I got to thinking about my snug relationship with "the jeans."
And as I am pretty constantly pondering the topic of heading back to school, I made a connection. As much as I love home, and everything it implies, it gets a little too snug. A little too comfortable. A little too usual.
Websters calls home a "house or shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household; any place of residence or refuge." Problem is, ultimately, my home is not my Refuge.
And as I am pretty constantly pondering the topic of heading back to school, I made a connection. As much as I love home, and everything it implies, it gets a little too snug. A little too comfortable. A little too usual.
Websters calls home a "house or shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household; any place of residence or refuge." Problem is, ultimately, my home is not my Refuge.
"But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward
to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness."
-2 Peter 3:13
I'm not saying Virginia is the perfect escape. It's not like I become the ideal Christian there. It's not like I don't have fabulous friends who make Virginia the next best thing to home.
No, even in Virginia it is so very possible to become complacent. But being there really does get me, on the harder days, a little uneasy. I believe this was God's idea when he called me, out of nowhere, to UMW.
Even so, He's shown me how easy it is to set into usual even 1000 miles away from home and has carefully demonstrated that if I really want to step out of my comfort zone, I have to begin here in Little Rock.
No, even in Virginia it is so very possible to become complacent. But being there really does get me, on the harder days, a little uneasy. I believe this was God's idea when he called me, out of nowhere, to UMW.
Even so, He's shown me how easy it is to set into usual even 1000 miles away from home and has carefully demonstrated that if I really want to step out of my comfort zone, I have to begin here in Little Rock.
I don't want to rag too hard on this summer. After all, we threw showers, a wedding, a couple of receptions, a graduation, an initiation, we cleaned out the garage, did some ironing, shopped and somewhere in there, I babysat. It has been a fabulous time to connect with my family and dearest friends in a period of our lives that is somewhat solitary. And I do not regret the rest and seemingly endless stillness that I was given. Still, after having this summer to charge, I'm so ready to go and do.
Whatever service or growth in relationship with Christ I seek isn't going to come by simply changing up the geography (I do continue to ask that He use the uncertainty and unease of 1000 miles to engage me and continue to build dependancy).
No, it's all about changing the routine, wherever I am. Home is neither here nor there.
I can only look forward to a Home that feels more comfortable, more welcoming, more loving, more joyful, more sheltering, and more snug than the one created by my beloved family- the Home described by Peter.
No, it's all about changing the routine, wherever I am. Home is neither here nor there.
I can only look forward to a Home that feels more comfortable, more welcoming, more loving, more joyful, more sheltering, and more snug than the one created by my beloved family- the Home described by Peter.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix out eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..." -Hebrews 12:1-2
(the pictures really have nothing to do with the post, other than that babysitting was my job this summer, and nothing makes me more comfortable than playing with and cuddling kids)
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