“There’s no place like home” is what Dorothy repeats as she clicks her heels in The Wizard of Oz.  And, I completely agree with Dorothy.  As I settled into my favorite chair in my home recently after a long day I thought about the importance of our homes.   And, I don’t love my home because we have tons of space or luxurious furnishings.  I love my home because of the comfort and peace I feel when curling up in my favorite chair to read a good book or reflect on the Psalms.  I love my home because the people in my home give me comfort too.  I love my home because it is one of my favorite places to have quiet time with God and retreat to the backyard with my family. 

While having a conversation about not being able to find something on a website with a friend this week, she reminded me that people always know to go to the home page.  She said “everyone knows to click to go home.”  She is right, when in doubt on a website; we usually click to go home, just like Dorothy.  Right? 

In life, home is where you start and it’s where you long to return after time away.  Whether you’re taken away from your physical home for business hotel travels or long weekends in the family’s extra bedroom with the kids on the floor, everyone longs to return home to their own beds.  Sometimes reasons for leaving home aren’t as grand but even if your adventure has been grand like Dorothy’s was, you often long to return to the comforts of your home. 

Maybe like me, you love your home not because of the physical space and furnishings but because of the feelings of comfort and recognition.   I remember leaving my parent’s home for college and feeling a bit lost because the concrete block dorm room I was moving into was my new home.  The room was baby blue and pink and it felt nothing like my home.  But, in a matter of time it quickly became my first home away from home because of the community and comfort soon found there.

If you read in the Book of Acts, you’re reminded of the story of a woman named Lydia who became a Christian after meeting Paul and hearing the gospel.  Lydia opened her home to Paul and his friends to stay at her house.  Her home became a place of comfort and rest to them.   Although Lydia was a successful business woman and may have had plenty of space, my imagination is curious about those crowded living conditions for Paul and his friends.  Lydia’s house likely became a home because of the comfort and community it provided not because of the quality of the living conditions.

Like Lydia’s community, God gives us each a home.  It may or may not be a house with four walls and it may not be your own.  What you physically call home may be an extra bedroom, a mansion, a car, a bench or a pink and blue cement block space.  But, no matter where you turn in to sleep, you can make it your home.  Sometimes home is a place, sometimes home is a group of people and sometimes home is a state of mind.

Where do you feel most at home (your house, in nature, with friends, in your church home, at a family home)?  The next time you feel lost and long for comfort after a long day, in a busy world, amongst addiction, disease or discernment, just try to click home (wherever that may be) and maybe you’ll more easily find the clarity, comfort and recognition our God can provide.