Home

This week Kellie and I are meeting with our Realtor and we're going to talk about making an offer on a house. It's the first house that we will have ever made an offer on and it's pretty exciting and anxiety-inducing at the same time.

The house we are considering is one of those "dream" homes for us and, I'm not going to lie, if it doesn't work out we will be a little disappointed. But more than anything we are ready to have a place of our own with a little more space so that the kids can turn around without always bumping into each other.

Whether or not this house works or there is another one out there better suited for us down the road, wherever we have lived we have done our best to make it home. We started with just the two of us in a town home and now for the past 8+ years we've lived in a parsonage that at first was extra roomy but now is extra cozy. Yet no matter how much or how little space we have, wherever we are with our family is home to us.

Home is a place that is safe for every member of the family. They can be who they want to be and can also be sheltered from any negativity that is thrust upon them when they are away. Sure fights happen and disagreements occur in the home, but they also get resolved here too.

Home is also a place where others are welcome. If our door is open that means we are awake and you are welcome to come in no matter what time of day or night. I grew up with a front door that stayed open and all the kids in the neighborhood knew that they could come over as long as that door wasn't shut. A house isn't much of a home if the door is never open.

Erwin McManus put it this way: "Home is ultimately not about a place to live but about the people with whom you are most fully alive. Home is about love, relationship, community, and belonging, and we are all searching for home."

Home is wherever family is. If we go to the beach for a week, that beach house becomes our home. If you come to our house for any period of time then you are part of our family and part of our home. And if we drop in on you for a couple of hours, then your house becomes our home (although we'll try hard not to destroy it and we won't overstay our welcome). A house is bricks and sticks; a home is place where family and friends are. And above all of that, Jesus is the head of our home and He is the one we seek to honor and glorify every day.

UPDATE: Well, the homeowner didn't accept our offer and we can't go as high as they want us to go so we're back to the drawing board. But, we have at least gotten the initial stuff accomplished (loan approval, etc.) so next time should be easier. We're still looking!