Going back to your childhood home is wrought with emotions. On my last trip to Tennessee to see my mom and stepdad I decided to take the route we used to take when I was a little girl. When I was travelling down that road, I began to reminisce about the times I rode, as a young girl, with my youthful mom driving. I thought about her dark hair that was always fixed to perfection, her lipsticked, dimpled smile showing strong white teeth, and her sky blue eyes behind those dark lashes. My mom was beautiful. I thought about the conversations, the landscapes we saw routinely, and the music we listened to. And I thought about how that mom knew exactly which roads to take to get us back home to Tennessee.
Things have changed since then. Now I drive alone, my mom is not able to even get out of bed. Mom's dark hair has turned silver and white and it's always a little mussed from laying in bed. Mom's dimples have turned to wrinkles and her smile isn't as frequent. Mom wouldn't be able to find her way down those roads now because her mind isn't as sharp, but her eyes are still sky blue, their still the same, and my mom is still beautiful. While on my visit, my nephew and I spent the day together and decided to go to all the places that used to be familiar. We went to old homeplaces, old schools, and old playgrounds. Needless to say, things have changed, yet in so many ways, they are still the same. Each place we passed, we talked about what we used to do there, events that took place, and friends we knew. I talked about the things my sister and I would do and places we would go and how each adventure was surrounded by laughter. Not just laughter, but hilarious.... can't catch your breath.... screaming laughter. My sister and I could just say one word that would set off fits of hilarity.
Some of the places were changed, renovated. Some of the places were there no longer. The events, the adventures....just memories now, and my sister, well, she's no longer there either.
As I went back to my hotel room that evening, I had the tv on a movie that was about two sisters that were so close and loved each other dearly. Circumstances caused them to be separated for many years, but their love never wavered. In the end, when their hair was whiter, their bodies not as young, the younger sister came back home. They spotted each across a large field. They ran screaming toward each other, their arms reaching for that hug that was to come.While I sat there with tears streaming down my face, I was thinking. This is it! This is how it will be when I see my sister again. She'll be waiting, feet dancing in anticipation, arms ready for the first touch, and then it will happen....I'll see her across the vastness, we'll run to each other, grab each other...then we'll burst into fits of hilarious.... can't catch your breath.... screaming laughter.
Going home can be exciting, or, as in my case where most of the people I loved have already passed on, going home can be difficult. But I like to think what it's going to be like when I go to my final home and see all my family and see my friends that feel like family.
Revelation 21:1-4 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
