Defining home is ambitious but worth the thought

Thought #1

They say absence makes the heart grows fonder. My love for Arizona is as big as the blue sky and deep as the mountains.

Thought #2

If you know me, you know that Tennessee has always meant a lot me. I’ve learned in the 10+ years of wanting to move here and in the 3.5 years of now calling Tennessee home, that God is immeasurably faithful and that nothing compares to the OG home. I’m going back to my home in Tucson, AZ tomorrow and I can’t help but feel humbled and grateful for the journey that’s brought me from the southwest to the southeast. It’s interesting, too, that the further I establish a home here in Tennessee, the more charmed I am by Arizona. I miss it exponentially. Having two places to call home is a weird little dance.

“And it feels like coming home for the first time in a long time.”

•

“Coming Home” by Housefires gets me in my feels in a multitude of ways. It personally gets me all emotional because the feeling of coming home for the first time in a long time represents a warm fire place in the living room, a strong hug from Mom & Dad, fresh flowers, my brothers and sisters standing around the kitchen, nieces & nephews running around the backyard, laughter & joy, acceptance & comfort. These things are my favorite things. And this song wraps me up so much because there is no better way for me to connect with or envision my relationship with God than the idea that He loves us unconditionally, and the feeling of running to the Father is the same type of security and refuge I feel when I come home for the first time in a long time. I love thinking about God metaphorically, so in a context like home, which is extremely personal to me, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed— the kind of overwhelmed where I have no more words to say; all I can do is take a long blink and rest in the graciousness associated with coming home, literally and spiritually. •

“I can hear you calling, ‘come back home.’”