The Meaning of Home

AM Psalm 45 • PM Psalm 47, 48
Deut. 9:4-12 • Heb. 3:1-11 • John 2:13-22

I’ve been reflecting a lot lately on the meaning of home as my family has endured a months-long struggle to find my grandson an apartment. Availability is short on the apartments he can afford and as soon as we see one online, it’s snatched up by another fellow apartment-seeker.

My husband and I have lived in many places. We’ve made homes in one-bedroom apartments and on 20 acres of untouched forest. We’ve lived in big cities and small towns. Throughout our moves, I learned a very important lesson. Home is not the building, the furnishings, or the knick-knacks. It’s not the bricks and mortar or board and batten. The essence of home is in the energy inside the walls. This could mean the peaceful solitude of sitting in front of a fire while it snows outside. This could mean the laughter around a table loaded with delicious family dishes. This could mean the nightly ritual of tucking children into bed.

Most of all, the energy of gratitude is what truly makes a home. As so many adults, teens, and children face homelessness in our own city, my last prayer every night is one of thankfulness to God for giving me a home. God’s mercy and love were with me when I was building my dream home and when I lost it in the Great Recession. He has given me the strength and the resources to have a home wherever I live because He is the builder of everything.

Written by Lisa Nance

Lisa Nance is a freelance writer. Her first home was in Fayetteville, North Carolina. A city named Fayetteville seems to be a good place for her to call home.