Last night, I had a nice, compact, neatly packaged blog post all wrapped up with a pretty bow on top, ready and waiting for you to unwrap today.
But that was last night.
This morning I woke up, logged in to Facebook, and saw pictures of two of my sisters embarking on a 60-mile journey to fight breast cancer.
They say “Home is where the heart is.” If that’s true, then Philadelphia is my home this weekend, though I’ve yet to set foot on its soil.
Yesterday I wrote about how my mom died two years ago.
She was 59.
It was breast cancer.
A year ago, two of my sisters set their minds and hearts to walk 60 miles in three days in conjunction with the Susan G. Komen 3-Day. Today is Day One, and their soles are tapping the smooth, black tarmac of Philly as my fingertips tap the smooth, black keys of my keyboard.
So what does this have to do with ‘Defining Home’?
Well, it struck me again this morning that God leads each of us down different paths to bring us to Himself, and ultimately, for the believer, to bring us home.
I’m not saying that there are many roads to heaven. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Yet He uses different circumstances to bring us to Christ, and in His providence, allows different circumstances to shape and affect us as we wait for eternity with Him.
Cancer. Unemployment. Divorce. Miscarriage. Car accident.
We process and work through these circumstances in a myriad of ways. Me? I write. My youngest sister? She writes, too … far better than I do, in fact. As in, she’s actually a writer and an editor. But she also walks.
This weekend, she walks for “For Mom” … and today is one step closer in the journey toward home.
I want to be there, too. But that wasn’t part of The Plan. Instead of pacing Philly, I’ll be pacing grocery aisles … but without the benefit of a “Tissue Fairy” cycling by to dry my tears:
Some of us walk, some of us support from a distance with heart ties and soul sighs.
Some of us endure difficult terrain on our journey home … mile after unending mile of trials and hardships. But by the grace of God, for those who have put their hope and trust in Christ alone, He will carry you home.
This is Day 4 of ‘Defining Home in 31 Days.’ Click here for a full index of posts in this series.
heading home 