We've spent the last few days in Kentucky with Sonny's family. Even though Gabriel loves being here where he can play in the tree house, hang out with his grandparents and cousin Matt, and help with various projects, he misses going to Bible class back in Arkansas. He spent most of Wednesday saying, "I wanna go home!" When I asked him why, he simply said, "So I won't miss Bible class!" Of course, they have Bible class here in Kentucky, but they don't have his Bible class. His best friends, Blaine and Caleb, aren't here. His Bible class teachers aren't here. He doesn't have the same familiar faces to greet him, pat him on the back, and/or give him a hug. It's just not home!

Have you ever had that feeling? I can remember a time when Bryson was almost Gabriel's age and we spent over a month in California, plus travel time there, then we traveled to Louisiana to stay another week. Bryson started saying, "I wanna go home!" And you know what? Sonny and I felt the same way. There's nothing like being home, especially when you've been gone a month or two.

Do you ever feel that way about going home to be with God? I know it sounds strange to those who don't have a relationship with God, but it should be natural for Christians to want to go home - to be united with Jesus. So often, I feel like Paul wrote in the book of Philippians. I'm ready to go, but I am convinced that God needs me here - working side by side with my family, encouraging others, and making the journey that He has set before me. ("For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain...I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,..." Philippians 1:21-25 - NIV)

I am constantly reminded that life here on this earth is short and we need to take advantage of the time given to us. We need to use it for God's glory, not our own. We need to be teaching our children the TRUE meaning of life - that is eternity - not waste it on trivial things that will all be gone in the blink of an eye. We need to be letting our light shine so that others can see God living in us.

Our physical bodies continually grow older and get weaker, but the beautiful thing is that our spiritual bodies continually grow stronger and healthier each and every day! If you don't believe me - read it for yourself! "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." How can this be? "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (II Corinthians 4:16-18 - NIV) Isn't that awesome?!

So hang in there! Keep your eyes focused on Jesus and remember, a little homesickness makes going home that much better! I wanna go home! How about you? Either way - I look forward to being with you in Heaven or on Earth!


*Note: Next week I hope to share some of the comments that I received about last week's blog entitled "Imaginiff". If you haven't taken the time to send your thoughts on ways to hide God's Word in your heart (or in the hearts of others), please send me an email this week or a Facebook message. I would love to hear from you!
 

(You can email your "imagine if" thoughts to admin@sonnychilds.com.  In the subject line, please put "Imagine If" or "Note to Cindy".)