Green Acres is the place for me?
I was on an awesome vacation with Katie's family last week on the East Coast. I've gone east several times this year, and every time I miss it more. The green, rolling hills of Pennsylvania and sultry coasts of the Carolinas in particular seem to be calling me home. And that's the best way to put it -- it feels like home.
It's got me thinking, and rethinking, about a lot of things: why I am where I am, what I'm doing here, how long I'm supposed to be here? Basically, God's call; because I do feel called to the entertainment industry and Los Angeles, at least for now. But I can't help but long to go to my eastward home.
But what is home? Are we really ever at home on Earth? Isn't Heaven supposed to be our home? A man told Jesus he would follow Him wherever he went. Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
So to follow Jesus, means we really have no home on Earth. As Switchfoot said, these bodies are just a rental.
So is it wrong to feel at home here? Or is "home" to us just a glimpse of Heaven? And what about family? Every time I board that plane to go back to Los Angeles I can't help but wish for just a few more days with my family in the green, humid spaces of the East Coast. I long to live near them so that I can see the people I love more than just twice a year.
But then again:
While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
- Matthew 12: 46 - 50
And how about:
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple.
- Luke 14:26
I know there are a lot of interpretations of that second verse, but it still presents the truth that, in order to follow Jesus, we need to be ready to leave our families. I don't think we're called to neglect our families, because Jesus called out some Pharisees who were doing just that (Matthew 15: 1 - 20). However, sometimes we're called away and it is a tough call to follow.
Like I said, I do feel called to be here right now, and the call was recently reinforced by a stranger I met on a plane back from Georgia (a story for another blog post). But I can't help but have a desire to leave this wonderful, but also difficult and sometimes downright ridiculous city, and move back east. Maybe one day Katie and I will end up like these folks:
It's got me thinking, and rethinking, about a lot of things: why I am where I am, what I'm doing here, how long I'm supposed to be here? Basically, God's call; because I do feel called to the entertainment industry and Los Angeles, at least for now. But I can't help but long to go to my eastward home.
But what is home? Are we really ever at home on Earth? Isn't Heaven supposed to be our home? A man told Jesus he would follow Him wherever he went. Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
So to follow Jesus, means we really have no home on Earth. As Switchfoot said, these bodies are just a rental.
So is it wrong to feel at home here? Or is "home" to us just a glimpse of Heaven? And what about family? Every time I board that plane to go back to Los Angeles I can't help but wish for just a few more days with my family in the green, humid spaces of the East Coast. I long to live near them so that I can see the people I love more than just twice a year.
But then again:
While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
- Matthew 12: 46 - 50
And how about:
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple.
- Luke 14:26
I know there are a lot of interpretations of that second verse, but it still presents the truth that, in order to follow Jesus, we need to be ready to leave our families. I don't think we're called to neglect our families, because Jesus called out some Pharisees who were doing just that (Matthew 15: 1 - 20). However, sometimes we're called away and it is a tough call to follow.
Like I said, I do feel called to be here right now, and the call was recently reinforced by a stranger I met on a plane back from Georgia (a story for another blog post). But I can't help but have a desire to leave this wonderful, but also difficult and sometimes downright ridiculous city, and move back east. Maybe one day Katie and I will end up like these folks:
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