P.S. Snips and Whit

Home: That growing up place where you knew every street and back ally. The short cuts to the places you enjoyed most were etched in your memory. The place you called the neighbors and their pets by name. You knew exactly how long it took to reach your favorite ice cream shop where you and grandma went on hot afternoons during the summer. Home; where friends were made, life lessons learned and school programs practiced and performed in front of the entire community. Sunny days may have found you at the swimming hole and starry nights lying on the hood of a car talking with your bestie about the future you had planned.

For most, home is a heartwarming word that conjures up thoughts that somehow bring a pleasant feeling. Sometimes people stay for a lifetime, and some move away; but home is never lost in their memory.

My wife and I moved from our childhood homes many years ago and have not moved back thus far. Though we visit, not nearly often enough, we miss out on many details of the day-to-day activities whether great or small. The landscapes have changed, the old store closed, and a new one has taken its place, probably a Dollar General, but I digress. Friends moved on and what was very familiar takes on a slight air of difference. Usually, the hardest part is the time missed with family as days turn into years.

As time passes we live and build our lives in our new home and after a while, it begins to become the norm. Children are born, jobs demand our attention, responsibilities taken on quickly root us to this newer place as it slowly becomes not only our “new” home but our children’s first homestead. On occasion, we can pack up the car and head back to our home full of excitement to go back to the familiar, that can seem as an adventure to just another place to our children. Maybe a little like a vacation spot with the caveat of family to greet them. Though children love time spent with extended family, one thing remains different, it is not their home. So when we talk about ‘home’ they have to see it through our eyes, feel it through our emotions and know it from our shared stories. If we stay away long enough, our children will develop roots in the new place with their own friends and memories and possibly their own families. As we grow nostalgic and even desire to go back one day to our childhood home, that call of yesteryear often falls on deaf ears to our children who are busy in their current lives. Unfortunately as it may seem and as noted people move back to their origins and often leave friends and family behind, so the return is bittersweet.

As in the natural so in the spiritual. I liken the church to home.

Church- the place you first laid your burdens down. That place where your dirty past and sinful stains were taken away. Mercy and grace replaced fear and doubt and the comforter called the Holy Ghost, made you feel free and alive. It’s where you heard the old gospel songs and the sermons that changed your life. You saw and experienced miracles, where brothers and sisters gave a friendly smile and encouraging words at just the right time. Perhaps you met your mate there and learned about God’s love and how to share it with everyone you met. The church was not perfect but it was a place of life and hope. A blessed life for the present and an eternal life to come. Yet sometimes people move away.

It could be for a myriad of reasons. Offense, disappointment, a busy schedule that pushed one out of attendance to church. The list of reasons may be varied but they all lead to the same place- away. The danger in this step as I have witnessed, is when people move their family away from the church and the body of Christ, it often is the journey that affects their children most of all. It is subtle and not always quickly noticed but the tale tell signs begin to show from indifferent attitudes to actions that betray what was once held dearly. Though we may say to ourselves this respite from church is but for a season, we slowly plant the seeds into our family that church is not ‘that’ important. With new found freedom, the once spiritual activities are replaced with other things that choke out the experiences we once knew. If we stay gone long enough, their lives find new homes; far different from the church home left behind.

Thankfully God doesn’t give up on us. His mercy and grace reaches for all no matter where we are. How wonderful when the prodigals make their way back home and find restoration. The angels also rejoice when one lost soul repents and Jesus is magnified and his love shown to all who have strayed from home. The difficult side of this move back is when there remains loved ones left behind on this return journey. Like Naomi in the book of Ruth, she and her family left Bethlehem Judah during a famine. We may return with less than we left with. Her husband and two sons went to Moab with her but after many years she returned to her homeland with only one daughter-in-law. Though welcomed back and blessed she had this one lament: I went out full and the Lord had brought me home again empty. Ruth 1:21.

Help us Lord to consider what staying in the church really means for us and our children. For if we leave and stay gone long enough, our children won’t grow up hearing fervent prayers in a pre-service prayer room. They will not have Sunday school teachers who help them develop a daily prayer life. They miss out on a youth pastor challenging them to develop godly beliefs and character. They miss opportunities to attend youth conventions and youth camps where friendships are forged with fellow like-minded young people. The wisdom of a pastor, God’s chosen man, to guide them as they learn to listen and obey God’s voice while developing godly convictions is not present. Mostly they may miss that heartfelt tug of God’s spirit that wants so desperately to have a relationship with our children. His covering, blessings, and anointing are worth too much for them to miss out on.

We all need the church! As this world continues on a road of insanity, Jesus declares is Matthew 16:18, “Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” God will not allow hell to overcome His church! With all its imperfections and flawed humanity, He has established the church as a place of safety. A sure foundation that He will protect against the forces of evil.

So let us all be careful when and if any consideration to leave ‘home’ is presented. May we weigh the cost for us and our family if we should desire ‘greener’ pastures. The journey back may be long and difficult.

Thanks be to God that even if we have ventured away, His grace and mercy is ready to welcome us back. He is able to restore what has been lost and heal our brokenness.

Wherever your church home is, stay faithful, and stay attached. Dig deep and lasting roots that will keep your children grounded at home. Blessings will be in the future of all His children who abide in the house. There is only one thing we have that will follow us into eternity; our family. Let us lead them well.