“If everyone valued home above gold, this world would be a merry place.”
Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit, Battle of the Five Armies
Home is where we are welcomed, where laughter flows and prayers are offered around the table, where silly photos are snapped in the kitchen and grown-ups dance to music from The Nutcracker ballet.
It’s also a place where hard conversations happen about new adventures, losses and challenges, triumphs and trials are shared.
For many people, such a place does not exist. It is a shattered dream, an ideal. Something they’ve lost and feel they will never find.
Without Jesus I would say the same.
But by God’s grace, I can rejoice that this was a treasured reality for me this last week. Christmas celebrations with friends and family, extended and otherwise, provided an opportunity to experience the warmth, joy and comfort of home. I also felt welcomed and heard. I relished the ease of words shared with people I’ve known for more than a decade.
I felt loved.
I felt safe.
I felt known.
Part of our family time included a ‘field trip’ to enjoy this last Hobbit film. Bilbo’s line struck me when I heard it and stayed with me long after the film. I realized it reached down into my spirit and struck a God chord there. Why?
We all long in our hearts to go home.
But home isn’t necessarily a physical place, a dwelling with four walls and a door (or a Hobbit hole under a tree.) ‘Home’ is a frame of mind, a sense of belonging, a confidence, with those you know best, that sometimes you don’t have to say anything to be understood.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has put eternity into man’s heart….
we were created to be at home with God.
We were created to know and be known by our Creator, who is calling us to Somewhere Else.
Our lives are the journey, God’s words are the map that show us the way, but He is the end.
Our home.
I’m going….will you come, too?
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Linking with Laura for Playdates and with Jennifer & the Tell His Story community
**Photo of the ‘bridge’ to my friend Parris’ home in Louisiana
Nancy, SO true about the faithfulness of God to bring us friends who become like brothers and sisters, another 'family'.
We are blessed, for sure.
I am one of the very blessed–to have grown up in a loving home. Now, Steve and I enjoy the circle of love of children and grandchildren. How right Bilbo was about the precious value of home–all the more so when God is at the center. I love the way he augments other relationships, too, bringing us friends who become like sisters and brothers. And what joy to consider that the whole family of God will one day be all together, at home with him. Thank you, Jody, for stirring our hearts and minds with joy for the present, and anticipation for our glorious future!
Kind of an anchor verse for me, too, Jennifer. Thanks for stopping by.
I treasure – TREASURE – that verse from Ecclesiastes.
Hi Jody, I am visiting from the 'TellHisStory' link-up. Lovely thoughts here. I love that God is our true home. : ) Happy New Year!
Lisa, there's lots of noise and action in the film, but a good story in the end. As to selling your parents' home, that would be a hard one….all those memories. God will show you what to do.
Thanks for reading!
“We all long in our hearts to go home.”
So true. I haven't seen the latest Hobbit movie yet, but I hear it's a great one, and since I've seen the first two, I should finish it out. 🙂 Thanks for catching that great line and sharing it with us here.
My siblings and I are talking again in earnest about selling our parents' home this spring. It's where we all grew up together, so I will need to remind myself often that home isn't a physical space, but a frame of mind so I won't get too sad.