This is Home

Having headed home for the first time since arriving at college, I'm struck with a strange question: Where is home now? I was driving for 2 hours, listening to some great Christian music, just wondering where I was going and where I was leaving. Which one is home?

Is home where my dormroom and roommate and suitemates and new friends are? Or is home the town my mom, brother, and I moved to when my mom got married, and the house my mom and stepdad live in now? Or maybe home is the town where I lived for almost 10 years, where I learned how to drive and graduated high school. Or it could be the city I was born, or the state where I spent my childhood, or... Where is home? That's my question.

Switchfoot sings a beautiful song that they originally wrote for the soundtrack of the second "Chronicles of Narnia" movie. In the movie, the song refers to Edmund, Peter, Susan, and Lucy having arrived again in Narnia and feeling at home. But the song also relates to our lives today, experiencing the feeling of missing the place where we belong. And where do we belong? Heaven. In God's arms. We are but sojourners in this life. 1 Peter 2:11 says that we are foreigners and aliens in this world. We don't belong here.

One reason we don't feel like we fit in sometimes is because we don't. We are strangers here. We belong with God. And we are here for this time to accomplish a purpose for God's glory.

Let these lyrics resonate with you, especially if you feel lost or alone in this world.

I've got my memories
They're always inside of me
But I can't go back
Back to how it was

I believe you now
I've come too far
No, I can't go back
Back to how it was

Created for a place
I've never known

This is home
Now I'm finally where I belong, where I belong
Yeah, this is home
I've been searching for a place of my own
Now I've found it, maybe, this is home
Yeah, this is home

Belief over misery
I've seen the enemy
And I won't go back
Back to how it was

And I got my heart set on what happens next
I've got my eyes wide, it's not over yet
We are miracles
And we're not alone

Yeah, this is home
Now I'm finally where I belong, where I belong
Yeah, this is home
I've been searching for a place of my own
Now I've found it, maybe, this is home
Yeah, this is home

And now after all my searching
After all my questions
I'm gonna call it home

I got a brand new mindset
I can finally see the sunset
I'm gonna call it home

This is home
Now I'm finally where I belong, where I belong
Yeah, this is home
I've been searching for a place of my own
Now I've found it, maybe, this is home

This is home
This is home
Now I know
Yeah, this is home

I've come too far
And I won't go back
Yeah, this is home

How God Changed My Mind

Earlier today I had every intention of finding a moment where I could speak to God one on one and tell him everything that was going on and how I felt about it. I was going to tell him about the person who had hurt my feelings, the "intense" stress I was going through, the immaturity I had encountered at one point, as well as my personal triumphs and the reasons I was better than someone else. It was going to be my rave and rant session with God.

But God had different plans. Very slowly, as I was finishing up my evening, God spoke to me. Instead of my ostentatious spiel about me, God revealed my need for selflessness. Here I was, focusing on everything I desired, everything I deserved, everything I needed God to do for me, and God said "Love me with everything you are and everything you have and love your neighbor more than you love yourself".

I was shocked. One part of me wanted to ask God how he could just command that from me. And then I realized he was... well, God. God's got a purpose and a plan and my concern for only myself cannot be used by God to bring good in and through my life.

It took me visiting the prayer room in my dorm, opening up to God, and seeing the need there was for genuine love amongst siblings in Christ for me to realize that I wasn't loving the way I should. There are so many hurting, spiritually hungry, exhausted, afraid, empty, lonely, and disappointed people in this world, both Christians and non-Christians. I have to be loving them.

One last thing, we cannot truly love by ourselves. Do you know how hard it is to love someone unconditionally? But if we open our hearts to God, he will love the people around us and show us how to love them in return. Just be willing and open to love those God puts in your path.

Temple Tuesday

A few years ago, I started to read the book of Psalm, a chapter a day. I started with good intentions, but my plan fell through because I didn't feel like I could relate to the Psalms. David and the other authors of the Psalms wrote about lions, enemies on the hunt for them, wars, political strife, personal crises, and more. Personally, I wasn't being pursued by vicious enemies who wanted to torture and kill me.

Towards the end of this summer, however, I started reading Psalm again. And this time there was a huge difference. As I entered college, I began to identify these enemies David struggled with in my own life. Things like stress, worry, fear, and the feeling that surviving my challenges are impossible... Those are my "enemies". Those are the "people" who I feel are chasing me, hunting me, enveloping me.

For example, on my first day of classes, I was overwhelmed, God gave me the sixteenth chapter of Psalm. It was next in my regular reading schedule, but it really, really spoke to me. I was worried, and I was afraid, and David wrote the words I needed to make it through the day. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak these words to your heart.

Keep me safe, O God,
for I have come to you for refuge.
I said to the Lord, “You are my Master!
Every good thing I have comes from you.”
The godly people in the land
are my true heroes!
I take pleasure in them!
Troubles multiply for those who chase after other gods.
I will not take part in their sacrifices of blood
or even speak the names of their gods.

Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing.
You guard all that is mine.
The land you have given me is a pleasant land.
What a wonderful inheritance!
I will bless the Lord who guides me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I know the Lord is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.
My body rests in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead
or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.
You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever.

Psalm 16:1-11

College [Dis]orientation

Going to college is a challenge, if you didn't already know that. It is a huge change and a great challenge to adapt to college life and to adapt to being away from home. In fact, this morning at the campus church, the pastor asked us if we were disoriented or if Orientation had actually worked. :)

Do you remember Joshua from the Bible? After Moses died, God called Joshua to lead the Israelites. Imagine Joshua, a young adult, being given a task to lead his people. This was a big challenge! God led Joshua to conquer new territory, to tackle new challenges, to fight new battles, and to advance His purpose even further. See, God didn't change and God's purposes didn't change. But changes happened in Joshua's life to challenge him and Israel and further accomplish God's plan.

While at college, remember that this is a change! You are going to feel disoriented. It's going to be hard. Like Joshua, we need to have the right attitude (be strong and courageous) and follow the right path (Study this Book of Instruction [Bible] continually). But fight those battles, cross that threshold, and follow God, because he is always with us.

[Thanks to Pastor Dave at the Campus church for a message on Joshua. This post is based on his message on Joshua 1:1-9.]