the wheels could not turn fast enough last friday afternoon as chris and i drove to east texas. i was SO ready to be home for christmas. after our six hour drive (i was over it after 45 minutes), we finally arrived at this house:
our family friends graciously let us have their farm house for the weekend. it was so fun for all of us to be together and kinda feel like we were away from the world. thankfully, the weather was beautiful, so we spent lots of time outside. it was just perfect.
on sunday afternoon, we drove back into town to do christmas eve and christmas day at mom's house:
she's been living there since summer, but this was only my second time to see the new digs. i think it's my favorite place she's lived. it's just got so much character.
so i've been thinking this week... all december i just so badly wanted to go home... and all week since christmas, i've been telling people how good it was to be home... but let's review: i spent time at a house i've only been to a handful of times in my life, then at a house i've only been to once... so was i really home?
absolutely. because home is about presence. home is about being with certain people more than it is about being in a certain place. we could have spent christmas anywhere and i would've felt at home as long as i was with these people (in matching pajamas, of course):
and the more i've let this whole home is about presence thing roll over in my mind, the more i've considered how the same thing is true with the lord.
in the message, eugene peterson translates christ's words in john 15.4 in this way:
"Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you..."
make your home in me. it's not about my surroundings or circumstances, it's about being in his presence... feeling at home in his presence. feeling like i can wear sweatpants and never put on make-up in his presence. being familiar with his voice. being familiar with his ways. just being with him.
and the fact that he has already made his home in me?! baffling.
our family friends graciously let us have their farm house for the weekend. it was so fun for all of us to be together and kinda feel like we were away from the world. thankfully, the weather was beautiful, so we spent lots of time outside. it was just perfect.
on sunday afternoon, we drove back into town to do christmas eve and christmas day at mom's house:
she's been living there since summer, but this was only my second time to see the new digs. i think it's my favorite place she's lived. it's just got so much character.
so i've been thinking this week... all december i just so badly wanted to go home... and all week since christmas, i've been telling people how good it was to be home... but let's review: i spent time at a house i've only been to a handful of times in my life, then at a house i've only been to once... so was i really home?
absolutely. because home is about presence. home is about being with certain people more than it is about being in a certain place. we could have spent christmas anywhere and i would've felt at home as long as i was with these people (in matching pajamas, of course):
and the more i've let this whole home is about presence thing roll over in my mind, the more i've considered how the same thing is true with the lord.
in the message, eugene peterson translates christ's words in john 15.4 in this way:
"Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you..."
make your home in me. it's not about my surroundings or circumstances, it's about being in his presence... feeling at home in his presence. feeling like i can wear sweatpants and never put on make-up in his presence. being familiar with his voice. being familiar with his ways. just being with him.
and the fact that he has already made his home in me?! baffling.
1 comment:
Thank you Cara Jane for expressing so beautifully our Christmas experience and connecting it to Him.
You are an amazing young woman!
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