No home to speak of

I have done a good deal of traveling as of late... from being a guest speaker at a conference in the SW to performing a wedding on top of Mt Hood in Oregon. All such trips lead me to casual conversation in which the normal string of questions ensue:

Where are you from? Where did you grow up? Etc.

Oddly enough, it is so hard for me to truly answer that. In fact, it feels like I have never truly had a home. When I was a kid I moved almost twice a year. I remember switching schools all the time, having to rebuild relationships, friendships, all from scratch. Is it any wonder that I am a church planter? lol -- But still... only one place was ever truly home for me growing up, and that was the Cowan house. I never lived there, so I guess it was never really a home, but it's the closes thing to stability that I have ever had. When Captain died in 2004 (and grandmother 2 years earlier), that "home" was gone from me as well...

All of this helps me hold loosely to this world and life here. Wherever I am, that is home. Whoever I am with, that is family. And, of course, my real home is heaven. It's a place I have never been but know I will see someday. Jesus is already preparing a place for me, as he has for every believer before me and as he will for every believer after. Thank God that THIS home will never fade away or die. Heaven is an eternal home, and my life here on earth as I follow him is preparation for the next chapter or phase. Thank God life does not end here. Thank God for eternal life...

"For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

--

PS: I will be in Houston this weekend for Mark's wedding (more travel, and KC after that. lol) Being in Houston will mean catching up with old friends and family. I will return to my aunt's home in which Captain died. I suppose this will be sort of a final goodbye for me... if anyone reads this, please pray for me on that. Thanks...

DCC