Apples of Gold Encouragement

This scenic view looks all too familiar.

While sitting here, I find myself drawn to this picture of home I’ve saved in my memory; a hidden haven, nestled and tucked away off an old dirt road where only birds and squirrels know its whereabouts.

A place of hospitality where you’re welcomed into the arms of peace and tranquility, a neighborhood of Christmas evergreens, with old oak trees and acres of flowers growing wild in every color the eye can dream of.

A place where the sun tip-toes quietly in the morning when life is just beginning to yawn and stretch with their eyes barely open, rising and greeting through the kitchen windows on a husband and wife who share a cup of coffee at a table set for two.
Yes, this scenic view tempts and draws me to sit for a while to savor the choir of birds and critters serenading an audience they are unaware of.
Remembering a place called home in the country where childhood memories were lived and made for our kids and grand-kids enjoying their two-acre playground for almost eighteen years.

Though truly content in whatever address we currently call home,

As Home is wherever I am with you.
We secretly long for another hidden haven, nestled and tucked away off an old dirt road where only birds and squirrels know its whereabouts.

Yes, this scenic view looks all too familiar.
It was the year of 2017 and we had moved again after packing up our quiet life among the wild flowers and evergreens.

Our journey from our home in God’s country found us at a fork in the road where the next step could be about us, or about our parents. We chose to move one street over from them to assist in their care.

No, we didn’t move to the home of our dreams, but we did move to the place of honor according to God in Exodus 20:12,

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Three years later, David and I were packing again; my mother’s home as well as ours.

Bittersweet are the years as just when you are getting used to the idea of your surroundings, life changes again.

My step-father Roger went home to be with Jesus and mother’s health forced an address change to a nursing home.

The reality of our age is setting in as good-byes to loved ones become an unwelcome guest in your life.

After selling our home before finding another, David and I inquired of the Lord in a Motel 8,

“Where to next Lord?”

I was looking out our hotel window and in my journal penned these words dated August 3, 2017:

The first leg of our house hunting journey has us parked at a Motel 8 for the next two weeks.

While this is not the Hyatt and the only amenities are a mini fridge and a microwave, David and I couldn’t be any happier.

The fridge has enough room for a few days’ rations which is fine with us.

We light a candle and enjoy our frozen dinners for two.

Oh and yes, we have our own coffee pot, coffee and cream; couldn’t leave home without that.

God is so good because if our room had been located on the south side, our view would have overlooked the parking lot and all the surrounding businesses.

But we were placed on the north side so when you look out the window, all you see is God’s creation.

Being on the second floor the wind is given permission to blow through the open windows of our room, allowing the eavesdropping of conversations that critters were having at night.

We are camping without the tent.
Yes people, we could be depressed staying where you dare not take off your flips, or be ever appreciative of the view God has prepared in advance for us.

It’s your perspective; it’s what you choose to see.

God’s got all the details.

We truly are enjoying the adventurous ride.

Yes, Home is wherever I am with you.
After four moves in total, our picture of home among the wild flowers and evergreens off an old dirt road still remains tucked away and close in our memory.

We’re always asking and could be packed in a moment’s notice,

“Where to next Lord?”

As God has been our mission coordinator and traveling companion for twenty-nine years, sending us into neighborhoods where broken hearts need mending, where marriages need hope, where lonely ones need company, where discouraged need encouraged, where sick need assistance, where lost souls need Jesus, where streets of addresses need a lamp-post to shine His bright light and love.

We’re ready and willing Lord…

Until then…

We’ll hold tight to contentment and carry our dreams wherever we go.

But trust that God’s dreams for us are bigger and greater than we could ever imagine….

No matter the place we live.

Because it’s all about perspective.
It’s what we choose to see.