This week, as I returned from my traveling and started recovering from my physical sickness, I got hit with a serious bout of homesickness. After multiple travels, I think it was only natural for me to be let down a little when I returned, and I was still in a foreign country, still technically traveling, and still miles from home. On top of that, I think when a body is sick, it craves to be surrounded by comforts at home.
But what is home?
Home is where the heart is. Home is safety and security. Home is love and comfort.
Is home Northwestern? Is home Eden Prairie, Minnesota? Is it Calle Betis in Sevilla, España?
Both church services that I attended this Sunday had very similar messages and themes. They both touched on the fact that church was “casa,” a safe place to be authentic and grow in the Lord. When River Valley mentioned it at the beginning of the service, I reflected briefly how both churches declared themselves homes and what a beautiful thing that was. It did indeed feel comforting to be in my home church even when I was across the world, but in that moment, it just didn’t meet the requirements to be “casa” for me. My poor sick soul was craving more comfort than the marble floor of River Valley Valencia. I wanted to wrap myself up with blankets and curl up on the warm carpet. I wanted there to be a crisp, cool wind outside. I wanted there to be orange leaves rustling softly in the trees and falling to the ground.
I wanted Minnesota.
Minnesota has constantly been flashing through my head this week. Apple orchards. Pumpkin patches. Colorful trees. No more dryness. No more cigarette smoke. No more elaborate old buildings. For the first time here in Spain, I frankly just wanted to return to my home state of Minnesota. The problem is I’m just so far, in the sense of distance and time before I return.
Homesickness finally took claim of me, and I finally acknowledged its existence. It was like this week I was crying out “Minnesota, I need you now! I need my home!”
Then God spoke to me. It was an unswerving truth from the Lord that resounded in my soul:
“I’m your home.”
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