Last Boxes & Balancing Acts

It's official!  The last box has been unpacked, the last knickknack is finding it's home, and the first week of a new life is under our belts. 

How strange it has been to enter into a period of settling in. It seems like not that long ago that I was just getting comfortable with where I was at and the things going on around me. And then suddenly [poof] we have to do it all over again. 
However, there is something satisfying about being able to look around and say "Yes, this finally feels like a home." The traces of movement are gone, and a feeling of permanence settle in to our apartment and into my soul. We've begun to explore the area, going on some hikes and shopping excursions; setting some rhythms that will become our new normal in the years to come. It's fun to find little things that make a place feel like home. Flowers are all around us here, and flowers have always been a thing that I enjoyed and drew comfort from. To move to a place that is full of nature and beauty bring a little comfort-just one more step to feeling like home. 

That feeling of transience is one that we are all, at some point, familiar with. The feeling that things are in limbo. The feeling that you are not quite rooted in the place or the space that you want to be. It is especially interesting for me, because this theme is one that's reflected in my walk with God as well. There's a balance of transience and permanence. On the on hand we are sojourners, travelers, passing through this life as we look with expectation towards the next. On the other hand, we can have a deep sense of belonging and purpose as we sit in the presence of our Maker and friend. He is forever before us and with us, and that permanence can be present in our souls if we allow it.

Moving is what made me realize that this two-sided coin exists. I didn't know where I'd end up, what church or position or town.  There was a short period where I didn't belong to anything here on this earth, where I wasn't tied down to a home or a job. I was passing through. Having to move is a process that requires a high degree of discernment and prayer and talking and listening as you try to figure out if this is not only the right job for you, but the right group of people, the right place, the right time, the right...everything! It makes you wander. At the same time, though, walking with Jesus during this process produces a strong sense of permanence. I had a heightened sense of belonging...to Jesus. Even without anything on the horizon, I had a home. He was the one I leaned into as we waded into transition. He was the voice that guided me, the one who sat with me in grief and rejoiced with me in possibility. He is constant in seasons of stability and in those of change.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus sends His disciples out into the world at the end, to bring the Gospel to all the ends of the earth. The disciples are about to embark on a journey that will produce a LOT of walking this line-of having stability as they establish churches and groups of believers, and going on the journey as they continue the mission. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 28 that "...behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
He is with us! Always. To the end. That's it. No conditions, no contracts, no dotted line to sign, except that we are with Him. No matter what we are experiencing here-no matter how secure or how insecure, we always have a place to call home when we are found in Jesus.

So while the season we are in now is one that's transitioning from transience to permanence, with Jesus we are always home. The last box is unpacked. He was with us as we traveled, and it is with Him that we will make this new place-and new chapter of life-a home.