Home

I burst into Jess & Jen's house late Wednesday night with enough bags of unnecessary attire to clothe a small village.  Almost immediately I fell onto the couch in a fit of laughter as I carried on about some pointless story and could hear Jess giggling when I paused every once in awhile to take a gasp of air.

When I stopped for more than two seconds to catch my breath, Jess said, "I feel like this is the beginning of five very long days of the two of us talking and laughing extremely loudly."

Her expectation was met.

Madeline, Sarah, and I stayed with Jess in Fredericksburg for Homecoming weekend.  It was the first time the three of us college roommates had been together since graduation.  The first time the four of us crazies had been together as real world friends and not as students/staffworker. The first time Jess and I had been together since I joined her world of InterVarsity staffwork.  The first time I had been to Fredericksburg during the school year as a Mary Wash alumna.

Madeline, Jess, me

Sarah, me, Madeline

The over-extended weekend was filled with multiple trips to Hyperion and Sweet Frog, running into a zillion good friends who had also all graduated (some were even in town that were a few years older than us, meaning that they were a pleasant surprise to see!), attending a psychology alumni gathering to catch up with life-changing professors, going to a soccer game, taking a prayer walk around campus, and playing board games (for the record, Jelyssa won Settlers... so all is right in the world).

4 Generations of UMW InterVarsity Chapter Presidents!

The Fountain = favorite spot on campus

Hyperion with UMW alumni from '09-'12

Thursday night after large group Jess and I sat in my car and talked for a few minutes while the rest of the crew was running and screaming outside (naturally, because they ran into a group of friends on campus).  She brought up how much she witnessed me change over the past year.  How much Jesus had grown me even in the last five months.  He's healed me in areas that I never thought I'd see healing in.  And as much as I miss Fredericksburg, Virginia, I can see how much He has used the people in Ewing, New Jersey to develop me.

Leaving Monday evening was difficult.  Even still my heart aches for those college friends that have become such a part of me.  My heart yearns to be in close proximity once again to those friends that I had to leave in order to follow this call that Jesus has put on my life.

Despite the hurt that I feel in the deep parts of my soul, the truth is that it would hurt in its own way if I left New Jersey to move back to Virginia.  Tonight I sat with a handful of (new) good friends as we interceded for TCNJ on the campus.  I met these women no more than a month ago at our church's women's retreat and they are so willing and eager to partner with me in this ministry.

Maybe my friends at home aren't all my age or in the same life stage as my friends in Virginia, but these relationships are real and good.  There is value in the fullness of the body of Christ.

Though I wish I could have both of my worlds mesh into one, I know that I am blessed to have two homes.  Ewing and Fredericksburg.  New Jersey and Virginia.

There is a song that goes:
Home, let me come home.
Home is wherever I'm with you.
Ah, home, yes I am home.
Home is when I'm alone with you.

Home isn't in Ewing or Fredericksburg (though I sort of wish it was the burg, just because it's such an awesome town).

Home is when I'm crippled over laughing in the car with Sarah and Madeline. Home is when I'm sitting on a park bench with Jess drinking a pumpkin spiced latte. Home is when I'm playing in the Downs' pool or making salsa with Robin. Home is when I'm praying with a group of sisters from Calvary Chapel Mercer County. Home is when I'm being obnoxious with some of my silliest friends in the middle of a froyo place. Home is here. And there. And somewhere in between. Home is with college friends and family and church friends and professors and co-workers.

Home, let me come home.
Home is wherever I'm with you.
Ah, home, yes I am home.

No matter where I am, I am home. Because I have so many people that I care deeply for and that make it home, I can look around and feel safe and warm and loved. I can be sure that no matter who I'm with or where I am, I am home.

apple picking

Walking through the rows of trees, I stepped carefully around the fallen apples.  "These are good in this row, Katie," I interrupted my story to exclaim.

Every few paces, I stopped at a bundle of apples to look without touching first.  Attempts at examining at first glance which one was the best.  And then, without hesitation, I zeroed in on one and plucked it off the tree.

Turning it around in my hand, I looked for blemishes.  If I was the slightest bit dissatisfied, I tossed it on the ground.  Even if it was a relatively good looking piece of fruit, I didn't want to pay for something that wasn't the best.  Unwilling to mess around with anything ordinary.

Picky?  Maybe.  But I'd like to call it cautious.  Pruning, in an orchard containing good apples, to only allow the best in my life.

I found one to munch on and passed it to Katie to take a bite as we moved on to another row.  My favorite season.  My favorite autumn activity.  And my favorite kind of apple.  Simple and good.

The simplistic things in life are really the most cherished.  Like the short quiet times I spend with Jesus each day.  Or the simple message of the Gospel.  Or the look in someone's eyes when they hear for the first time that Jesus wants a relationship with them.  Simple.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I spent the night with my second family.  We went out to dinner.  Talked.  Laughed.  Played.  Watched silly youtube videos.  For our last activity, Robin and I made a pie with some of the apples I had picked earlier in the day.

Using the simple gifts to create something more complex.

The simple sustains you.  The simple gets you going.  But we are to produce from the simple.

Jesus does a work in my heart each day, so that I can feel the sweetness of His presence, yes, but more importantly so that I can go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20).  What is the use of me growing in my knowledge of the Gospel and in my spiritual gifts if I do not then use them to further the Kingdom?

And because I only allowed the best into my brown bag earlier that day, we were able to make a pretty great tasting apple pie later that night.  Pruning the good, even if it's hard.

Focusing on, spending our time on, and developing the best that God has for us so that we can, with Him, create something beautiful.  Create something complex.

Create something Kingdom-centered.