Home

The word "home" brings to mind many different images and feelings for people. Some of you did not grow up in a loving or welcoming home. Many have painful memories that are connecting with "home", while some have fond memories for "home". However, most long to either have or create a home where they feel loved, cared for, and known. 

As my husband Brandon and I start out in marriage, creating a warm and inviting home is a priority for us. Even though we've only been married for a year and a half, our home has become a key part of our marriage and ministry, and we view our home as a means by which we get to offer others a glimpse of heaven. 

Jesus himself tells the disciples before he is to be crucified that he will go ahead to prepare many rooms for his disciples in his Father's house: 

In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? (John 14:2)

Jesus explicitly uses the image of a house to describe where he is going. While heaven might not be our typical construct of a house/home, Jesus uses this image to convey something to the disciples, that heaven is like a home, a place where you belong and are loved, cared for, and known. 

In many ways, the desire to create a "home" is connected to a longing for an eternal home. A home that will be warm and welcoming for eternity. 

In this life, when we work towards creating a warm and cozy and welcoming home, we are giving others a glimpse and a shadow of what our eternal home will be like. In many ways "home" is a great way to describe heaven, but it's a home that will be far greater than the most welcoming or even the most luxurious home we have ever known.