This is Not My Home

Living in Hawaii during this temporary season has been quite interesting and quite the adventure.  We have loved learning a new place, but we live very differently here than we did back home.  When we moved here, we brought very little with us; and, as I do things like grocery shop, I typically buy just what we need for the week so that we will not have extra food items leftover when we leave.  In other words, we really don’t stock up on many things because we know our season here is short. 

A lot of the time, we stick out like a sore thumb.  It is very evident to most people here that we are not ‘local.’  Between our skin color (and its propensity to sunburn) and our inability to pronounce the Hawaiian street names, it’s quite clear that we’re not from around here.

Even after being here for a month, it still does not quite feel like home.  Oftentimes, I catch myself thinking about my family “back home,” wondering what the weather is like, thinking about our new nephews, longing for the fellowship of our church family…  Our living situation here is great – ideal, in fact; but most days I find myself dreaming about our future house where we will live when we are finally settled, done with this transitory year.  I picture it filled with guests for a dinner party; or I imagine what the garden might look like in the late spring. Some days it is difficult to be fully present here while my heart is longing for there.

While I was reading this morning, it occurred to me that this is precisely how I should feel about life on Earth.  I should feel like a temporary citizen, like I don’t quite belong.  Just because I live in Hawaii right now, does not give me Hawaiian residency. My driver's license still says, "Oregon."  I do not walk through the door of our apartment and feel enveloped by that familiar comforting sense of home.  It's great, don't get me wrong, but it's not home.

I want to long for our future Glory the way I long to be home now.  I know my heart, and my heart is desperately tied to the things of this world. I find great comfort in familiarity and great security in what I can see. I want to gain a more eternal perspective of our time here on Earth.  What a blessing to spend this temporary season in such a beautiful place, but what greater Beauty awaits!  Hold on, heart, we're not Home yet.

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." - Phil. 3:20-21