Understanding the Fact That Your Home is Not Your "Home Home"

When I left my home after high school to move to college I in effect made a new place for myself in Knoxville, TN for a few years. I remember that after a year or so I started to use the word "home" in my language when talking about where I lived in Knoxville. When I would leave from campus and people would ask me where I was going, my response would simply be, "I'm going home."

Everyone knew what I was talking about and there was no confusion.

But when I would leave for vacation and go back to South Carolina (where I grew up), I knew I couldn't use the same word to describe where I was going.  So the place where I grew up and have the most connection to is referred to as "Home Home."As much as I love Knoxville, it didn't have the love of my immediate family. That is, until my little sister showed up 3 years later. It didn't have the history and knowledge of who I was as a child. It also didn't have the love that I had known from a church family and friends for so long. There were plenty of wonderful things about Knoxville, and I made some of my best friends there, who loved me and supported me then and even to the present day. It was a great place to live.

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But it wasn't "Home Home."

"For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands." - 2 Corinthians 5:1

The point here is not that you should never leave your home... If you know me at all, you know I am a big believer in actually leaving the original place your grew up. Getting out and experiencing something new and creating a new home. The point is simply that I had to differentiate the two "homes" that I had.

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." - Philippians 3:20-21

Similarly we are living now with two "homes," Earth and Heaven.  While we are here our earthy mind and body call Earth home. We all should live with a hope and joy that this is not our Home. Our body is built for earth, but our soul is built for eternity in Heaven.  We only have a limited amount of time that God has given us to use both at the same time. Make an impact before you are called "Home."