What a loaded word.
I've thought a lot about this word over the past few years. I especially thought about it as we lived in a foreign country- where we didn't have most of the things that remind us of "home". We would love it when we'd receive a package and inside was a taste of home. But really is that what home is- a taste? a smell? where the heart is?
This weekend I finally felt like our new home was home. For the first time, we stayed home all weekend. We didn't drive to Greenville for anything. We spent Saturday in the yard raking and bagging leaves. Many of our neighbors were also out and about so we got to see many of them. A neighbor brought us a gigantic piece of cake leftover from her daughter's birthday party. We went to sunday school and church at a local church and met some really nice people. We shopped for furniture in our town. It was so cozy, so homey.
Sometimes I wondered if I'd ever feel like I was at home again, like I did when I was a kid at Bendingwood Circle. I think a little sense of wandering is good for we are strangers here on earth. But my heart yearns for that familiar home, that sense of belonging. And it was nice to see it begin to flourish here in our new home.
If you know me, you know I love to travel! (surprise!) But what many of you don't know is that I love to come home equally as much. I love experiencing new cultures, seeing new sights, and expanding my experiences,but I also love how much it makes me miss home. I love how it makes me crave the familiar and how wonderful it is to step through the threshold of home.
I hope your holiday is filled with a sense of home wherever you may be.
4 comments:
That one mention of Bendingwood just flooded my mind with hundreds of memories. I hope one day to feel at home like we did there!
Lauren
One thing I love about both of your families is the fact that I feel home when I am with them. Your family, especially, Kelley, has made me feel so welcome the last 8 years. I can hardly remember when I didn't know them & feel a part of the clan.
Oh wow I just remembered the Christmas parties that we had there while in college. And game nights. Sometimes I wish my parents hadn't moved and I could still go back there.
I agree with Merritt. Both of your families are so amazing - I haven't known them nearly as long, but I feel so welcome and warm when I'm with any of them. Kiran is lucky to have such great grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Oh yeah...and parents. :)
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