What is Home?

In August 2022, I moved out of the townhouse I’d been renting. Most of my belongings had been sold or packed as I prepared for deputation. Since then, I’ve gone back and forth from my family’s home to hotels, prophets' chambers, missions apartments/ houses, and staying with family or friends. Every place has been a blessing. I noticed recently that no matter where I am staying (or for how long!), I refer to it as home. 

People have asked me if Zambia or the United States is home. Both and neither are. I have felt at home in Zambia in an unexpected way from my very first trip there. I don’t tend to cry, but tears burned as we arrived at the airport. I wanted to run after the vehicle that dropped us and ask to stay. I loved many things about the country and more about the people I met. But I’m still a "mzungu" (a word for foreigner meaning "wanderer"). From language to customs, there is much that I don’t know or understand.

I’ve lived in America most of my life, and as long as I can remember I never quite felt completely at home. I traveled a lot, and while I’d be excited to get back to the familiar and my friends, I didn’t have that sense of coming home I heard others describe. There is so much I love about this country and so many people I love dearly (and miss when I am away). My heart will forever be in many places- America, Zambia, and each church I’ve been at along the way. 

It makes it easier to understand why Jesus described us as ambassadors. We live on earth, but our home is in heaven. We long to be with Him, but we also invest in the fields and people He has us serving. We represent God in a place that we don’t belong. A sweet friend reminded me at the end of her journey with a fire in her eyes that “This world is not my home; I’m just a passing through.” (This World Is Not My home by Jim Reeves- lyrics below). It is easy to lay cement where God intends us to put up a tent. Today, I’m reminded that my home is in heaven- no matter where I go on earth. 

This World Is Not My Home (Jim Reeves)

“This world is not my home

I'm just a-passing through

My treasures are laid up

Somewhere beyond the blue

The angels beckon me

From heaven's open door

And I can't feel at home

In this world anymore

Oh Lord, you know

I have no friend like you

If heaven's not my home

Then Lord, what will I do?

The angels beckon me

From heaven's open door

And I can't feel at home

In this world anymore

I have a loving mother

Just up in Gloryland

And I don't expect to stop

Until I shake her hand

She's waiting now for me

In heaven's open door

And I can't feel at home

In this world anymore

Oh Lord, you know

I have no friend like you

If heaven's not my home

Then Lord, what will I do?

The angels beckon me

From heaven's open door

And I can't feel at home

In this world anymore

Just over in Gloryland

We'll live eternally

The saints on every hand

Are shouting victory

Their songs of sweetest praise

Drift back from heaven's shore

And I can't feel at home

In this world anymore

Oh Lord, you know

I have no friend like you

If heaven's not my home

Then Lord, what will I do?

The angels beckon me

From heaven's open door

And I can't feel at home In this world any more”

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