Home

Before I begin, I must protest the lack of comments on my last post. Personally I found it pretty funny...after all, I am wearing a tambourine on my head. Oh well, I will continue to blog knowing that at least my parents and Laurie "no I don't pay her to comment but should" Guikema will be reading it. Now, to the subject at hand.

In the past year and a half I have often thought that I no longer have a home. I never feel 100% settled. My own house is being rented, I have "lived" in three different apartments in the last year, and whenever I go back to the U.S. I stay with my folks. Also, although I live in Spain, I remain in close contact with friends and family in the U.S. and when I visit Michigan I find myself e-mailing and calling my friends from Spain. The icing on this cake of confusion is that when I visit the U.S. I tell people I'm going "home", but when I come back to Spain my friends here e-mail and ask whether I'm "home" yet. And I say "yes."

Just recently in the midst of my latest "I'm homeless" crisis I read the following in a book by Erwin McManus called Soul Cravings: "Home is ultimately not about a place to live but about the people with whom you are most fully alive. Home is about love, relationship, community, and belonging, and we are all searching for home." That got me thinking. The cliché was right; home is where the heart is. Home feels like home because it consists of the people you love.

Now instead of thinking that I'm homeless, I think about both of the homes I have. (I never thought I'd be a multi-home owner!) There are many people and places I love in Spain and in Michigan. What a blessing to feel at home in each place...and what a blessing to be able to take a part of "the other home" with me when I'm in the opposite place (yea Skype!). Thanks to all of you for always making me feel at home no matter if my suitcase is unpacked or not.