Running Home

   So I've been meaning to do this for quite a while, not because my life is really all that interesting, but because sometimes I just need an outlet for whatever's going on in my life. That and I think my mom will appreciate it when I'm back at school. But here I go, finally doing it.
   When it comes to the title I took lots of time trying to come up with something witty and cute, but nothing seemed to fit. I considered what I like to do, things and people I love, even thought through my favorite songs for catchy lyrics, but I just kept coming back to this sense of home. There are all sorts of quotes and beliefs about what constitutes "home" and I agree with many of them. Home means so many things.
   It starts in childhood, where home base means you're safe, no one can tag you. It's where you can catch your breath, be comfortable for a little bit. Where, in all the chaos, you can take a break and just sit. But you soon learn that sitting at home base all the time makes tag no fun, you have to stick your neck out and hope you're faster than what's chasing you.
   Life works the same way. You can't stay home in your safe little bubble forever, you have to branch out. Go to camp, go on trips, go to college, just go. Each time you go, the definition of home changes a little bit. It's not until you go that you realize that HOME FOLLOWS YOU. It moves. Home is where ever the people that you're closest to are. The old saying is mostly right... Home IS where the heart is, but home is really what you FILL your heart with. It's like when you were a kid and you got your heart cutout at school and your project was to fill it with all the things you love. You'd write or draw little pictures of your family, pets, a bubble bath, who knows, kids are awesomely random. Those things, whatever you'd draw now, that's home. For me it's holding orphans in Haiti, coloring and watching Disney, holding my boyfriend's hand and throwing my hands in the air, singing praise music at the top of my lungs with my friends at CRU.
     So what if your heart is split? What if all those things you've drawn don't fit in the same space, or like me, you just don't have that many hands? Now we've gone from home being a house to home being a collective of the things that make you feel all safe and comfy, all warm and fuzzy, and sometimes it seems like there's something missing. That's because there is. (insert oohs, aahs and WHHAAAATs here) Here's the deal. THIS ISN'T HOME! We keep defining and redefining what home is all throughout our lives because we're all searching for the same thing- Jesus Christ. He left to prepare for us the home we're all looking for. We're not supposed to be comfortable here because we're don't belong here. We belong with our Father. Run toward Him. Find your comfort in Him here, fill your heart with His love, mercy and grace, and make sure the other things you draw in are leading you closer to Him. While we're here our connection with God is the Holy Spirit. Listen to Him, He's speaking to you. ACKNOWLEDGE HIM! And RUN!
     So there you go. Running Home. Hope that makes a little more sense to you. I'd say future posts wont be quite so... lecturey, but I'm sure there'll be a few. I do promise though that I won't always be so serious! I plan to put up pictures of artwork and trips, and I'm sure LOTS of just plain random life.