Thoughts on Home

I recently returned from 3 weeks in my home state of Nebraska. It was an amazing time with family and friends, and I want to share some thoughts as I process my time there and adjust back to Texas.

During my first 10 months in Texas, I really felt like I had 2 homes. I still felt connected to my home in Nebraska, but I also loved my home here in Texas and the people who are around me here. This was my first time to be back in Nebraska since Christmas, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect.

I wasn’t prepared for the stark constrasts between my 2 homes that become more apparent to me while I was there. In Nebraska I was surrounded by open space, corn fields, farm pickups, small towns, and baseball caps. In Texas, I am surrounded by traffic, buildings, new cars, and cowboy hats (actually just kidding on the last one). Even though my family was very busy while I was in Nebraska, somehow life seemed more simple and layed back.

My roles are also very different in these two places. In Nebraska I am a daughter and controlling big sister. In Texas I am still figuring out my roles, but I am a working girl and will soon be a student. While I was home to visit, I felt like I slipped back into my Nebraska roles pretty easily.

It was hard to leave the life in Nebraska that is so familiar, the surroundings, my roles, my family, and come back to Texas. Even though Texas was my home for 10 months, coming back this time it felt a bit like a foreign culture.

But slowly, God is reminding me why this is my home too. Although I don’t have physical family here, I have lots of brothers and sisters in Christ, co-workers and friends. I do have a place here, even if I am still in the process of figuring that all out. Lots of traffic and big buildings might not be what I would see in Nebraska, but I can be excited for all of the reasons God has me here and accept the surroundings he has given me.

Ultimately, neither Nebraska nor Texas is really my home. My home is in heaven with my Father and I can’t wait for the day I get to go there! For now, he has given me peace about where he has placed me, and I pray I will be able to make wherever he sends me my home (away from home).