Home?

Moving. Plenty of people have done it right? My mom moved every two or three years when she was a kid and we're doing the same now. She always says "This is the last house - for real this time!" but it never is. I've moved approximately six times in my 13 years of life. I'm in the middle of number seven. So why is it still so hard? We're not moving far, just 20 minutes away. We'll still go to the same church, same soccer team, same Youth Group. This should be cake!

As I walk through our near empty house, I finally appreciate the comfort of the bedroom I share with my sister, the familiarity of the kitchen, the work that went into the tree house. Why is it that I am just now noticing these things? They've been here for a while, but not until I have to leave them do I see the little things.

I resolve in my mind to not get comfortable in the new house. To never think of it as home. I get discouraged and down. I stay this way.

Then, one day, I am reading a passage in John where Jesus tells His disciples that he is going to prepare a place for them. That is when it dawns on me. I'm not home for good - not yet. But while I'm here on earth, it doesn't matter what kind of house I live in or if it's 10 minutes further from church than I'm used to. What really matters is who's there with me. No matter how much I dislike the house. As long as my family and friends are within reach then it's home. Just for now though . . .

-Buttercup