Home Improvement

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:20).

I’ve started traveling on business again after about a 4-year hiatus of sorts. I traveled heavily between 2000 and 2002, and then was allowed to stay “on the ground” for a couple of years earning my MBA and working on projects that only called for travel by car to other Southern California Avery locations. Three weeks ago, I had an opportunity to make my 5th trip to Germany. Growing up, I loved to hear my paternal grandmother’s stories about her childhood in “the old country,” and whenever I go there, I feel an almost other-worldly sense of being home, though I’ve never lived there.

The thought of all the traveling I will be doing over the next six months or so has me thinking a lot about the idea of home. Maybe it’s because the big Five-O is looming. Part of it may be that my parents are getting older (my father is almost 85). I cherish the fact that I live only a mile from them and can spend time with them pretty much whenever I want. My son (the baby of the family), whom I am absolutely certain was only born yesterday, is now a college freshman. My granddaughter will be 4 years old in May, and whenever I receive a new picture of her, it seems she’s grown another inch. Whatever the reason, I have a much different concept of what home is all about than I did just a few years ago.

When I am not traveling, I enjoy watching home improvement shows with my husband – he proudly claims that he’s “trained me” after all these years – and doing little projects with him around the house. But there’s a whole other realm of “home improvement” that goes on - the inner spiritual work we all have to do. The Psalmist reminds us not to get too distracted or bogged down with our many plans and projects. Our priority in this life must be to grow in holiness so as to be fit for our true home in heaven because when [we] breathe our last, [we] return to the earth and all [our] planning comes to nothing (Ps. 146:4).

We are now celebrating the great Easter season of our redemption. Our journey through Lent to Easter is a type of homecoming. Without being fatalistic, Christ’s victory over sin and death should make us long even more deeply for our home in heaven. St. Augustine wrote in his Confessions, “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.” Let us continue to work out our salvation (cf. Phil. 2:12) and follow ever more closely in the Master’s footsteps, so that when the exile of our earthly life is complete, we will enter our heavenly homeland and hear the glorious words, Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master’s house (Mt. 25:23).

Prayer Request: For all those who are far away from home. For those who are estranged from their families.

Prayer: O Lord, our God, indeed You have made our hearts for Yourself. We thank you for the blessing of our homes and our families. Help us to cherish those whom You have given us to love and care for in this life. Bless those who are far away from their homes and those who are separated from their families by distance or strife. Let that restlessness in our hearts be a beacon that guides us in love back to our heavenly home. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.