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For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God on your account, as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face, and may complete what is lacking in your faith? 1 Thessalonians 3:9-10

This verse stuck out to me in this mornings sermon. We love our new church. The Word is preached faithfully. The worship is powerful. The people are great. But it's not quite home yet.

As I was listening to the sermon, I remembered several times specifically that I have prayed earnestly for God to take me back to one place or another. Each of those places was "home" for a time. I feel like I have good fellowship wherever I am-- it is something we are very intentional about for obvious reasons. But the concept of "home" is still rather elusive for me. Where am I most longing to return to? What is "home" for me in my heart? Where should I tell people I am from? Where is my earthly home? Tanzania? Missouri? Nowhere? I'd love to say that my answer is as holy as Micaiah's... "my home is in God." Maybe that's true to some extent in the absence of more tangible alternatives, but I still long for a home here on this earth. I know we've used the word "nomadic" to describe ourselves, but I think today I was just feeling the depth of that more than other days.

God makes a home for the lonely. Psalm 68:6a

-JLR