Home Is Where The Heart Is

11/23/2006 – LANGHORNE, Penn. This morning was one of those mornings where I could sleep in but I was still up by 7:00 AM. My wife was still in the bed. My son was up because he couldn’t sleep and was busy with the football video game. My daughter had left the night before for Grove City, Penn. to help her boyfriend cook Thanksgiving dinner for his family.

My thinking is clearest in the morning. Most days, after eating the $2 breakfast special at the local diner, which usually includes coffee, pancakes, and a local newspaper to read, I head up to the office for some quiet time before the work day begins. Of late I have gone back to memorizing Scripture again, the singing of a hymn, and prayer. That may sound a little different to some but it gets my heart and mind pointed in the right direction, especially for writing. Considering what day this is, the word that kept popping into my mind was “Home” and of course that well known phrase, “Home is where the heart is.”

Where is home for you? For me home used to be where Mom was. But Mom is home with the Lord now. Dad is in Tennessee. The rest of what was my immediate family, before I got married, is spread out across the United States, from Texas to Florida to Missouri to more in Tennessee. Now that I am married with children to a great extent home is where they are.

This morning however, I took my wife and son to another home by way of video. We traveled from Pennsylvania to Missouri and then to Switzerland. My wife and son learned more about two very special people and a special place. I mentioned Francis and Edith Schaeffer and their ministry called L’Abri in my first blog. These two wonderful people are what I call my spiritual father and mother and L’Abri is my spiritual home. At age thirty my life was completely changed around for the better at that place and it has never been the same since.

They taught me about “True Truth” which is just a way of differentiated between what may be called “truth” out in the marketplaces of life and the “Truth” you find in the pages of God’s Word. They taught me that through Jesus Christ I could be a completely different person than the one I was tired of looking at in the mirror, the one who really didn’t have any real confidence in himself and whose self esteem wasn’t doing too good either. For when you grow in Christ it is not just growth in the spiritual realm. It’s also growth in the intellectual, the physical, and the social, all areas of life (see Luke 2:52). If you happen to be interested, there is more to this personal story including pictures of Swiss L'Abri. The link to the official L'Abri web site is listed in the sidebar to the right of course.

If it appears as if I’ve preached today, my apologies. I just wanted to share what I am thankful for the most on this day, and the home where my heart is. Happy Thanksgiving and God bless :-)