Homecoming...

What does "home" mean to you? 


Have you ever really stopped to think about it?


I've been thinking about it a lot lately...


I can admit now that I've gotten a little too caught up recently in the way our home looks...Instead of surveying the place God has given us with satisfaction, I've been a bit discontented...This room should be painted...The basement is a disaster...When am I ever going to find a headboard for our bed???...But is that all that home is to me? Had I reduced home to just how it appears to everyone else?


We went to a family reunion this weekend. What struck me most was, despite being almost 400 miles from "home", I felt completely at home there....in a picnic grove...in a state park...in the sweltering heat...


Loved ones that I haven't seen for a very long time greeted me and my family with open arms...And we were loved and accepted and had the kind of easy conversation that comes with family...


I realized that, in that place my heart was, home was really just about decoration and appearance. But that isn't what I wanted it to be. 


While it is very beautiful and I am comfortable here, I realize that this is not home, not really anyway. I've decorated and painted and fussed over details, but home is about relationships. Home is safe. A place where you can fully be yourself without judgement or criticism. 


I've realized that it's not a "place" for me...Home isn't 4 walls and a roof...Home is being with the ones I love and rejoicing, not in the beauty of the place, but in the beauty of the people God has blessed me with. And while I'll probably continue to search for a headboard, I'm glad that God has shown me what it means to truly be at home.

Teens are people too...

Some of my daughter's role models are teenagers and I think she has chosen well.


        Did that make you gasp in horror? 


                              Do you now question my parenting abilities? 


I hope not. Some of the sweetest, most thoughtful people I know are teens. I taught a wonderful group of 7th and 8th graders in co-op this year. My daughter's classmates at dance have never been anything but respectful to me (and usually their parents too!) and have shown me that society's denouncing teens is a bit...well, unnecessary.


Why is it that teenagers get such a bad rap in our society? What would cause even Christian friends to give me grave looks when I mention my daughter is 11 and say things like...


                                               Oh, just wait until she is a teenager!


Excuse me?
Did I miss something? 
Why all the dire predictions of trouble and torment over an arbitrary number??! 


On her 13th birthday is my normally sweet and cooperative child going to suddenly become *gasp * difficult?? 


I seriously doubt it.


Besides, isn't the whole concept of "teenager" just a worldly invention anyway? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Bible speaks of "child" and "man" as the only distinctions...


"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me." 1 Corinthians 13:11


So where did these low expectations come from? Why should we expect that from the ages of 13 - 19 a child will suddenly be rebellious and disrespectful? And why are fellow Christians perpetuating this awful stereotype?


Perhaps some "teens" merely live down to our expectations. 


I intend to welcome the teen years in my children just like any other stage. Each stage so far has had its own share of challenges (potty training - grrr!!) but the rewards are so much greater!! 


I'm certain that I have fallen into the "teen trap" in my thinking. But now that my daughter and quite a few of her friends are so close to 13, I resolve to change my thinking and my expectations. 


By God's grace, our teen years will just be a continuation of the wonderful journey that my sweet Erin and I are on...together - even if she has stopped calling me mommy. *smile*

Behind the scenes...

He wasn't there to see me navigate an unfamiliar airport...or (try) to conquer my fear of flying...


He wasn't there to see the beauty of the hotel that his hard-earned money paid for...


He wasn't there to see the Hooley School of Irish Dance ROCK their competition at Nationals...


He wasn't there to see his daughter's happy tears when her team won 3rd place...


...He made it all possible, but he wasn't there...


So, where was this devoted husband and daddy?

At home.

Caring for the 2 little ones and holding down the fort so Erin and I could go to Nationals. He graciously stayed behind knowing full well what he was giving up.

I got the better end of the deal - I got to share in all the excitement and adrenaline of seeing our dancers win 3rd place...He got a phone call and a text that somehow couldn't quite contain all of the excitement of the moment...

I am always astounded by the way my husband loves and cares for his family, but this was a great sacrifice on his part and I wanted to make sure that he knows just how grateful I am...

...that he loved us enough to stay behind the scenes.