This weekend was Homecoming Weekend for the university in town. Although it meant nothing to me (besides a fun parade and getting pumpkin chai with my sister afterwards), there were many class reunions during the weekend where the alumni had returned to their Alma Mater to celebrate their years of attendance and also seeing the vision of the school continue through the current students. This year was also special as it was the coronation of the new university President.
Homecoming is coming home. Ok, so maybe college is not home…nor your high school, but when you are saying “homecoming,” it is the welcoming back notion. I have to admit though, when I was in college, my term for “coming home” literally meant calling Mom and saying, “I am coming home.” Home. My mind has been thinking about this word…I think I started when we took a little weekend road trip to Toledo.
After my mom remarried, we moved to Toledo. I was about a year and a half old or so. We moved to Colorado a few months after I turned six years old; my first memories of a “home” were from there. As we visited a few weeks ago, I realized that all my memories of Toledo were of places, such as the tunnel you walked through under the main road to get to the zoo; the Bob Evans we passed to get to our house; the house itself (I can still see the inside); the church we attended (but when we actually attended church I noted how much smaller the sanctuary was compared to my five-year old mind); MacQueens Produce Farm and a really awesome ice cream place by car lot (which I finally got the name: Jan’s.) I remember things like my classroom at school, getting red tokens for lunch when you wanted pizza, learning the alphabet, and being Mother Goose in the end of the school year play. I remember singing a Honey Tree song for church and playing in the turtle sandbox or eating orange pushups. But what I don’t place is people’s faces. I only remember them through pictures.
All that changed in Colorado. We moved in the summer, meaning I started a brand new school that Fall. The kids in my class were the peers I attended the rest of my school years with, graduating together and continuing to keep in touch here and there (thank you Facebook.) Home was no longer just things or places…it involved people from town, school and church. Home, physically, was the house…a place where I could be myself, protected from the world. In the bigger picture, Colorado was home. I still consider it home. It is my Alma Mater.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe God moved me here for a purpose…especially in the area concerning my health. I now have friends, live closer to my extended family, a “home” church I have attended since the move and many open doors for my paintings. So why doesn’t it feel like home? Time may play a part in it: we lived in Colorado for almost twenty years (seventeen to be exact). Whatever the cause, I think it fits into the season of the soul..this current road I travel, with thankfulness.
Home brings thoughts of heaven. As my body continues to decline, [yet I am still becoming all that God has planned for me in this life] there are times when I do honestly question God in aspect, “I don’t know how much more of this I can handle.” Maybe I am using thoughts of heaven as an easy way out of this worldly suffering. Heaven is joy…and I look forward to that Homecoming. There will be nothing like it in comparison. But here, in the now, I should not be praying centered around myself, but God. It is only then that this temporary home (my body) will find strength in thanksgiving, even in the suffering:
Man-centered prayers tend to ask, “How can God help me with my problems?” while God-centered prayers consider, “What is God doing in this? How can I join in God’s purposes here?” This changes not only what we pray for, but also the way we pray.
Tim Challies. “Persevere in Prayer.”
Philippians 4:4-7
~Mel 🙂
My Life with NF2 
love you Mel. Thank you for the card and the prayers. The last couple of weeks were so much better and I think it is because I actually let people know about how I was feeling and asked for prayers.
That is great to hear. Sharing sure does help, especially just opening the closed in feelings that start to weigh heavy. It took me a long time to share, and actually I still struggle sometimes with sharing about the physical things because it seems self-centered and I get tired of things evolving around me all the time. (if that makes sense.) It is a hard line to balance, but asking for prayer is the best part about sharing. 🙂
Mel, I love how you share the profound emotions of your heart; your honesty and your courage. It gives me courage.
That is our Father’s pleasure to hear us pray that way. Thank you for putting it down so well, Mel!
I love how you share your thoughts as well! I too think about my heavenly home, especially since I have grown older. It is wonderful to think of being with our Lord and the joy we will have. I also know that the Lord has things for me to finish here. The thing that is so special is that it rests in God’s hands….His timing! I’m happy that I don’t have to make the decision:) Love you dear friend!
Lovely thoughts. You’re my hero.
I like the quote from Tim Challies and thank you for the reminder to put my focus on what God’s plan may be and not what I want the plan to be… been dealing with this in the moving process and figuring out where we should move. I’m just realizing that I’ve been striving to find the perfect spot for us to move to when I really need to be giving it up to God and asking Him where He would have us to go instead. Who knows… perhaps we aren’t to move after all. I just don’t know right now. Garrett feels it’s time to move but even then He’s seeking clear direction as to whether or not this is what he wants or what God wants. It gets hard but it doesn’t have to be complicated to trust. Love you tons!! XOXO ~ Megs
As long as you are seeking God in it, I know he will reveal in His timing about the decision and details of all this. I mean, I prayed for months to move out closer to family–but it did not make sense to me at the time was so heavy on my heart to move. Then dad got the job offer– 🙂 Neat to see how it comes together. I will keep praying for you guys. xo
Oh and P.S. I know what you mean with feeling like CO is “home” … we haven’t even left yet but just thinking about moving away brings sadness to my heart. It’s been so different since you all moved and when it comes to mind *(which is often) I wish Daddy and Marme still lived in their house down on 41/2 North and that we could all be closer to each other here… it’s selfish really though cause I know it was God who led you all out to OH and that His purpose/plan come before anyone of our own desires. Miss you all so much and the familiarity of the old house with the fun memories growing up!!!
It was a big change for sure…but going back to CO is now even more appreciated (I think I tok it’s beauty for granted LOL). So, I just need to plan a trip to visit loved ones! 😀
PS. About the house–I was thinking of the differences of this house and the CO one. I had a hard enough time in this one now…so the thought of me living with Mom/Dad in the other literally made me laugh as um, the stairs and tile would be just death! LOL
That’s a good way to view it… that you can come back and enjoy CO regardless of not living here all the time : )
And yeah, I’ve thought about that too – at least in the sense that it would have been sooo hard for you to leave the Denver area and transition back to Daddy and Marme’s house outside of Monte Vista. It would have been too much for you to be that close to Denver and not have very many friends left here in the Valley to hang out with… and yeah, about them stairs. Oy!! LOL ; ) Totally was God’s timing to have all of you move and at the same time!! Crazy that it was almost 2 ½ years ago and almost 3 come this summer, right?!
Anyway, I think Daddy and Marme’s house now is the perfect setup to have you living with them… ‘to the side’ – almost like your own little apartment over there in your nice yellow sunshine room. Nice you can watch all the birds/butterflies out the window too : D
Much Love, Megs