Home again, home again, jiggity jig!

I return to the east coast tomorrow for the first time since my wedding! And for some reason, I have trouble with saying, "I'm going home." Whenever I say it, I try to correct myself by saying this is home. But I'm returning to the place that was home to me for over twenty years. So perhaps it's a true statement...

So now I will dive into exploring that elusive term- HOME. I won't pretend to debunk the cliché, "Home is where the heart is," because my heart really is here with my husband, and Washington truly is home to me now. And I can't even fully grasp the depth of what it means to have Heaven as my true Home. So I'll just borrow C.S. Lewis' quote (one of my favorites): "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." (Mere Christianity) I like how Lewis captures the sense of longing for something more, and how this longing extends far beyond my longing for any particular place on this earth.

That said, I have longed (in that less profound way) for New Hampshire for the past three months. I long for the familiarity of the landscape, of roads I can travel without my GPS, and of faces. I long for people who really know me, beyond just my name, and that I'm married, from the east coast, and looking for work-- People who know more about who I am at the deepest levels, where I've been, what I've been through, and who have shared life with me. I hope this doesn't sound selfish. I don't mean to be self-centered in the slightest! I think anyone who has lived far away from the place they were born and raised, and from family, know this feeling. And the people I have here, especially my new family, have been so wonderful to me. I love them all and look forward to developing that type of familial bond which takes time and experience to develop. They have made me feel welcome here.

Perhaps it's alright, then, for me to say "I'm going home...to my other home"-- home defined as that place where I still feel most comfortable and less bewildered by the world around me. And after a short time, I will return home again-- home defined as that place where my love and I share an existence that it still being grown and shaped. In the future, God only knows how long, I'll return Home to be with my Heavenly Father. He is the One who has blessed me with these earthly homes to live in and enjoy. I praise Him and thank Him for each person and place that has made me feel "at home" and able to be who He has created me to be.

I stumbled across this song by Vanessa Carlton today, and I think it sums up this feeling of "home" with the people I love, no matter which coast they're on. I dedicate it to them.

For me it's a glance and the smile on your face
The touch of your hands,
And an honest embrace
For where I lay it's you I keep,
This changing world I fall asleep
With you all I know is I'm coming home,
Coming home. ("Home" by Vanessa Carlton)

 (I guess, legally, I have to say I don't own the rights to the above song, lyrics, or video. I give credit where credit is due. Just wanted to share it with you all.)