Genesis 3, 4; Matthew 2:13-23, 3:1-6; Psalm 2:1-12, Proverbs 1:7-9

Genesis 3, 4; Matthew 2:13-23, 3:1-6; Psalm 2:1-12, Proverbs 1:7-9

 

            Happy 2013 my friends and looks like you're stuck with me every Wednesday for the next year J Bare with me (as you always do) because with this new format it's going to be a challenge for me to get my thoughts together…so much to say!!!

            Divan and I just spent a week in New Mexico and it was wonderful as always!!  We spent the whole time with my family, visited with many friends, and ate too much.  I was home and I let everyone know it!!!  I don't know how many times I actually used the term "home," but it was A LOT!!  As the time closed and we were sitting in the airport I leaned over to Divan and I said, "I just wish we were home already!"  He rolled his eyes over to me and said, "I thought you were already home!"  I thought about this the whole flight (s) back.  On our drive back to La Guardia I had the realization that the whole time I was back in NM I was teased (lovingly) that I was turning into a New York and East Coast girl.  I shake my head with total disagreement!  Here, I feel like I stand out like a sore thumb, my customers always ask where I'm from…one guy told me I had to be from the Mid-west because I was too nice.  I felt totally homeless yesterday on that drive from the airport.  Now to the point:  While I read these passages today I smile at God because in His grace He speaks to my heart and my head.  The people we see in these chapters struggled with the same things I have been battling with today.  Adam and Eve were thrown from their home. Cain was a wanderer.  Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were forced to move more than once from "home."  John the Baptist wandered the desert.    

            Now I know the right or the "Christian thing to say" is that this Earth is not our home and that we are strangers in this land.  I know that Heaven is the Kingdom that awaits me and that it will look like Sile, NM, because let's be honest, Sile, NM truly is the greatest place on Earth J  (ha ha!)  But you get the idea.  In my flesh moments (like yesterday) I don't want to think of the home that awaits me.  I need home here.  I also know that "Home is where the heart is" and that rings a little true too.  But I guess one of the lessons I get from today is that really, home is where my God is.  I know He is always with me, but in these nomadic times and chapters, I see who God is and how He reveals His character to us.  Even in times of punishment (Adam, Eve,  Cain) God was present and Protector.  My heart breaks as I imagine God calling for Adam in the Garden.  He is Sovereign, Wise, Omnipresent and Omniscient, (meaning He already knew of the Fall,) but He still calls out for Adam, "Where are you?"  The sadness.  He later asks Cain, "Where is your brother?  What have you done?"  I imagine a tone of mourning…more sorrow.  In all these places God shines with His forgiveness and Grace: clothes for Adam and Eve, a protective sign on Cain, deliverance into Egypt. 

            I'm sitting on my couch, wearing Divan's grey hoodie, we're watching the news, drinking some hot tea, and have the Christmas tree lights still on and I'm glad to be home.  I also know that my parents are probably doing the same in Rio Rancho, NM, and that is my home.  My grandma probably has her woodstove going in the kitchen, she's sitting on her couch knitting or crocheting watching her novelas, in Sile, NM and I know that is my home.  I know that my God is with me and is sitting in His glorious Kingdom waiting for me to come home. 

            I'm looking forward to 2013.  It will be filled with good memories, great food, special people, hard times, and difficult challenges.  I hope you will be in the Word this year as a way to be ready for all that is ahead.