Home, Sweet Home

I remember feeling so alone.

I remember feeling out of place. 

I remember feeling as if this would never be “home.”

When my husband and I moved to New Orleans to attend seminary and serve our first church, we left all of our family and friends.  All.  Of. Them.  On more occasions than I can count, I cried from a lonely heart.  Although our church was full of kind people, I felt the divide between ministry staff and laity and struggled to find friends.  It was heart-wrenching at times for this extroverted girl.

A few years later, we served a church that was slightly closer to our extended family, but, once again, I felt like an outsider to the people we served….as if the town really belonged to the people who grew up there and I was simply a passerby.

Then came the decision to plant a church.  Once again, we moved to a town far from family and lifelong friends.  God’s call on our lives has always required this sacrifice, it seems.  Yet, I longed to put down some roots, build a life serving the people of a community, and create memories in a city I could call my own.  I wanted a place I could truly call home.

I was thinking about all of this the other day when my daughter turned on Phillip Phillips’ song, “Home.” As if God, Himself, was speaking the words to my heart, I knew God had made Cumming, Georgia my home.  I listened to the song and then hit repeat.  And, then I knew this could be an anthem for those of us in ministry who often find ourselves in distant cities, removed from family and desperate for a sense of belonging.

Are you a family in ministry who needs some encouragement? Do you need to feel a sense of home in the city your family serves? Banish your fears….God is with you on this journey, and He can make this place your home.

Home, by Phillip Phillips

Hold on, to me as we go
As we roll down this unfamiliar road
And although this wave is stringing us along
Just know you’re not alone
Cause I’m going to make this place your home

Settle down, it’ll all be clear
Don’t pay no mind to the demons
They fill you with fear
The trouble it might drag you down
If you get lost, you can always be found

Just know you’re not alone
Cause I’m going to make this place your home

Settle down, it’ll all be clear
Don’t pay no mind to the demons
They fill you with fear
The trouble it might drag you down
If you get lost, you can always be found

Just know you’re not alone
Cause I’m going to make this place your home

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2 thoughts on “Home, Sweet Home”

  1. Thank you for this encouraging post! We moved from New Orleans to Boston when Hurricane Katrina hit and the loneliness was so acute. We had to quickly leave our friends and family, so I didn’t realize how lonely I was until our third child was born almost a year later. I had to learn how to be open handed with the friendships I made and realized that this is a transitory city where every May I’ll have to cling closer to God as my friends move away to take job offers after graduation or dear small group members go back home for the summer. It’s surprising even my mommy friends are always moving because of grad school or job opportunities. Now we’re planting a church in Boston and I’m experiencing a new type of loneliness. I have a blog about my experiences as a church planter’s wife, so I may explore more of this there, but I wanted to let you know how thankful I am to be reminded that can make this place my home. Blessings!
    Osheta

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