Welcome Home!

Home is that place in my life that is like no other. It’s not necessarily a house or a specific building. It’s where my family and loved ones are. Home is where I live. Home is sometimes the place I grew up.  I had a “home moment” just yesterday as I was returning from an all day meeting in Atlanta. The meeting was good and I enjoyed the people I was around but when I was on the road less than two miles from home – I had this “thankful moment” for my home. I’m thankful for who is at my home and the ones who call their home my home. I am so blessed with an awesome family. Every time I go away from home, I’m really trying to figure out how to get back there as soon as I can. Hosea records that the people of God finally return home to Him. Check this out…

Israel, return to the Lord your God,


    because your sins have made you fall.

2 Come back to the Lord


    and say these words to him:


“Take away all our sin


    and kindly receive us,


and we will keep the promises we made to you.

3 Assyria cannot save us,


    nor will we trust in our horses.


We will not say again, ‘Our gods,’


    to the things our hands have made.


    You show mercy to orphans.”

4 The Lord says,


“I will forgive them for leaving me


    and will love them freely,


    because I am not angry with them anymore.

5 I will be like the dew to Israel,


    and they will blossom like a lily.


Like the cedar trees in Lebanon,


    their roots will be firm.

6 They will be like spreading branches,

    like the beautiful olive trees


    and the sweet-smelling cedars in Lebanon.

7 The people of Israel will again live under my protection. They will grow like the grain, they will bloom like a vine, and they will be as famous as the wine of Lebanon.

8 Israel, have nothing to do with idols. I, the Lord, am the one who answers your prayers and watches over you.
I am like a green pine tree; your blessings come from me.”

9 A wise person will know these things,

 and an understanding person will take them to heart.


The Lord’s ways are right.


    Good people live by following them,


    but those who turn against God die because of them. (Hosea 12:1-9 NCV)

I love my job as a REALTOR because I assist people is either selling their home or buying a home. I get to see them incorporate the values that they have created in their home. They look at these generic houses in light of their family living there. Sometimes it’s a struggle to see if this particular home or that particular home fits them. At other times it’s over when we pull up in the drive way or walk through the front door.

The Lord wants my home to be with Him. He wants me to enjoy a sense of fellowship and belonging with Him that makes my heart ache when I’m away from Him.  I love my time with Him and when I wander off the path He has laid out for me, He gently calls me back home to Him…His Word….His plan for me.

There is no place on this planet any more welcoming that being home with the Lord and surrounded by the family He has blessed me with. I love returning home because when I leave I see how much I miss being there.

Pressing On!

Dwayne

P.S. I can’t write about this subject and not include this awesome little song by Phillip Phillips, former American Idol. Check this out….

“Home”

 

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