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Home-ward Bound

By May 10, 2012August 30th, 2022Devotional

Friday morning marks an important time in our family – especially for Kristin and the boys. For it is the day that we close on a new home for her – a place to start her new life as a single woman with three boys – 10, 8 and 6. Please don’t get me wrong – she really didn’t want to be a single mom, but those are the cards she has been dealt after the pain and agony of the last number of months. So closing will be bittersweet – the end of an era where she must move out of a house where she and the family have lived for more than 10 years while experiencing the anticipation of a new life with the boys in her new home.

Now the home is not “new” new, just new to her. It’s not overly large, certainly not pretentious, but very much Kristin. It’s manageable and within three quarters of a mile of our home so it will be good for everybody. The boys will stay in their same schools and Janet and I can help on a moment’s notice if need be.

Now we all know that home is where the heart is and Kristin, along with the boys, is already looking toward the future and the new memories they will make in the new place. It’s already more than a house – it’s a home. Probably because of all the tough memories and times they have experienced in the house they are leaving. As a Dad, it’s an exciting day for me as well. To see glimpses of our oldest daughter the way we knew her before the turmoil and angst in her life the past several years. It’s just good…..

One of the most important things about the move is the fact that we all want to make sure that we stay in the will of God. We have already prayed in the new home and dedicated it to the service of the Lord. Tonight, I couldn’t help but read every passage of Scripture that has to do with the word “home” – all 182 of them. The story I liked the best was the one where the disciples were being sent out to visit different cities and communities. Jesus told them, in Matt. 10:12-13, “As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you.”

This was a way of telling the disciples that they should approach every situation with an open mind and heart. If the inhabitants of the home were welcoming and showed favor to the disciples, they were to pray for or bless the home. If not, then they were to move on, with their peace intact, and try again somewhere else. Perhaps you have also heard the phrase to “shake the dust off your sandals.” This is another reference to moving on and not letting the lack of a warm welcome thwart your efforts for the Lord.

Anyway, I prefer to think of Kristin coming home rather than leaving home. So it is a pretty special day. At 9:00 am the next season of her journey begins and already it has been a blessing for us. My encouragement this evening is to let you know that God wants your home to be a place of peace and joy. My prayer is that you will lead your family in being a family of peace and joy – and that God will find Kristin’s home worthy of a blessing and His divine peace.

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