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Psalm 84:1-4

How lovely is your dwelling place,

    Lord Almighty!

My soul yearns, even faints,

    for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh cry out

    for the living God.

Even the sparrow has found a home,

    and the swallow a nest for herself,

    where she may have her young—

a place near your altar,

    Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

Blessed are those who dwell in your house;

    they are ever praising you.

Recently, I drove to my hometown for a book event at the library. A library I had worked at for a few years. As I traveled the well-known roads, I detoured onto the one I grew up on and passed the acreage where I spent time as a child. The house looked nothing like the red-sided farmhouse of my youth. Instead, gray siding covered the walls, and the porch had been expanded. It’s a beautiful place, but it’s not my home anymore. Despite that, I had the urge to pull into the driveway and walk around. Of course, I didn’t. No need to trespass, even though I still had a strong connection to the place where I grew up—the pond, the field where the neighbors and I had played ball, Dad’s building where he worked on the neighbors’ machinery and where he had put up a basketball hoop for me. 

I continued my journey on the back roads into town. I passed other places with powerful memories, and a few places where the buildings no longer existed, like the elementary school I attended and had worked at.

I’ve lived in a lot of different homes, yet I’m homesick for the one place I haven’t been. As Billy Graham said: “My home is in Heaven. I'm just traveling through this world.” 

The journey here has been amazing, but when it’s time, I’ll be welcomed into a home without pain, sorrow, strife, or tears. Just as the sparrow found a home, I’ll continue to strive to make heaven mine. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in a hurry, but I sure do look forward to the day I meet Jesus face-to-face.