This past winter, cooped up by unrelenting snow and cold, I
found myself constantly searching for a beach house where we could vacation and
lie in the sun. In fact, I obsessed on this search until I found and booked
“the one.” I literally counted the weeks
and days until we were able to make our escape to the beach this summer. At the
same time, I knew our time away would seem all too short; and even before we
got there, I was dreading how quickly it would go by. I’m very grateful for our
wonderful family vacation, but I’m already longing to return to another “dream
house” by the ocean.
I should be
content where I am. We live in a lovely home in a friendly neighborhood. We moved out here nearly three years ago so
that we could accommodate my aging parents. We left behind our beloved family
“homestead” where we raised our nine children and lived for twenty-three years.
To say the move was difficult would be an understatement, but we felt clearly
that God would have us take this step. Despite all that we have grown to love
and enjoy about our new house, it somehow still doesn’t feel quite like “home.”
My husband and I often find ourselves talking about the next house, a special
house just for us, our “dream house.”
Meanwhile, I post interior decorating ideas
that catch my eye on a Pinterest board. I likely won’t ever be able to afford
them, but it’s fun to dream about possibilities. Similarly, my mother-in-law
kept a manila folder labeled “dream house,” filled with pictures of designs and
features she liked. Sadly, at just fifty-four, she died of cancer before having
the opportunity of living in her “dream house.” As sad as this is, I am
confident that she is with the Lord, and that she is now in a far more
beautiful heavenly home than we can ever dream or imagine.
My faith in
that heavenly home causes me to wonder if my constant longing and desire for my
“dream house” is really my longing and desire for heaven. As fabulous as some
places and houses in this world may be, they will ultimately leave us
dissatisfied and yearning for something more. In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis so eloquently phrased this idea: “If I find in myself a
desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable
explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Home sweet
home? Sounds like heaven to me.
