I’m going home this weekend.
One would think that after nearly 24 years, “home” for me would be West Palm Beach, Florida. I moved here in 1988. Established a life. Bought my own place to live. And at the end of every day, I walk up the stairs, turn the key in my front door and breathe a sigh of relief that I’m home.
But when I say I’m going “home”, it means the place I really long for. The place where my family waits for me, where they know me – my heart, my joys, my dreams, my challenges. It’s the place I can sink into and be completely myself.
So after all these years, why would a red house on Rathbun Road in a small town in New Jersey still be “home”? Does it really come down to “Home is where the heart is”?
I think the answer is yes. And for more reasons than the obvious.
Here’s what author Randy Alcorn says in his book, “Heaven”:
Do you recall a time when you were away from your earthly home and desperately missed it? Maybe you were off at college or in the military or traveling extensively overseas or needed to move because of a job. Do you remember how your heart ached for home? That’s how we should feel about Heaven. We are a displaced people, longing for home.
I’ve been thinking more about heaven lately. Reading about it. Talking about it. Wondering what it’s like and what those who have gone before us are experiencing. And longing for it a little more than I used to.
And when that plane touches down in New Jersey this weekend and I find myself smiling like I always do at that moment, I need to be reminded of what it is I’m really longing for.
Home is where my heart is.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:1
You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Psalm 90:1
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:2
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:13
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. John 14:23
Anticipatience 
After my Dad died I thought so much more about Heaven…when we lost 2 friends it again made my thoughts turn to Heaven and what it would be like, how will it feel to be there and who will I see…. I still do think of it. I have a feeling though that what I think now will be so great will probably be the least of it…. I dont know what it will be to see Jesus face to face…. I know we talk of it as glorious and I am sure it will be… but I think maybe frightening in a way too…. not scared but completely humbled…. my small mind cannot fully comprehend such things…. enjoy your time home in the Jerz…. it will always be home!
Thanks, Jen! I highly recommend the book by Randy Alcorn called “Heaven”. It has given me a perspective on eternity that I had never, ever heard in all my years of church attendance. And yes, Towaco will ALWAYS be home!
The uniqueness of God is that He is the limitless in His abilities to arrest our attention and to get us to focus on what He considers the most important thing in our lives. The Almighty does so regardless of the circumstances, but in a manner that is loving, compassionate and thoughtful.
Sharon, your piece is a gentle reminder that we mortals are simply transients or passengers or journeymen on this planet call Earth. Regardless of our permanent geographic locations, or the the opportunities we may have to share our time with family and friends who reside in different regions, our earthy homes can never compare to what our Lord has prepared for us.
Books have been written, songs have been sung, stories have been told about this heavenly abode where glory reigns and where pain and suffering and corruption do not exist. That is home and if the thought of it does not create a longing, I don’t know what will.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.