By Nicole Redmon
Home for the holidays! Ah! That phrase sure does have a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?
Being home for the holidays is something that we all strive for I do believe. There is nothing like being at Mama’s house for Christmas or Granny’s house for Christmas Eve or vice versa. The hustle and bustle of the season is just exciting to me. I know at times it can get a little tricky trying to figure out how to fit in all the festivities, but once your missions are complete, there is nothing like settling down in your own home!
Home. What does that word mean? Home is not just the four walls of your house trimmed out with garland and little lights that twinkle. Home is more than that. It's a feeling, an idea! Home can be anywhere that your heart is. There is truly no place like it! We have all heard the cute little sayings about the “home.” We even put up little signs around our house that make us pause and think about how precious this place is that we call HOME. You can be at home across town or around the world from where you live. You can take your home with you everywhere you go. Home is what you make of it! And for the Christmas season, you can have a great holiday with friends and family in your “home.”
There may be times throughout the holiday season when you get a little homesick.
I know this is true for our family. We could sit around and pout and cry about not being with our family and church family, or we could be thankful for the time that the Lord has allowed us to have on the mission field. I bet even our Lord Jesus Christ must’ve felt homesick every now and then. I mean, He only left Heaven to come to this sin-cursed world to save us from our sins. He didn’t even have a place to call home! Matthew 8:20 says, “And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”
But just like He was reunited with His Heavenly Father, there will be times when we will gather again with our loved ones. Can you imagine the reunion day up in Heaven and how wonderful that time will be? It will be more exciting than any get-together down here! Are you missing certain people or places this Christmas? It is ok if you are. Pour your heart out to the Lord and ask Him to help you not to be lonely during the holidays.
Make sure the home that you will be in for the holidays is filled with love!
Christ’s love that is. One hope that I have for my kiddos is that when they grow up and leave our home, they are filled with memories of a good holiday season around the house. I pray that they can look back on Christmas times in their childhood home and say that they may not have had everything that they ever wanted, but they knew that Dad and Mom loved them and each other so much and that Christ was the center of each holiday.
Teach your babies how to love, even on the hard days when it doesn’t come so easily. Let them know how important it is to be thankful for the home that the Lord has provided for them. “Decorate” your home for the holidays with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, and temperance! (Galatians 5:22-23) Not just the pretty things we find in the stores.
Your home doesn’t have to be “Pinterest perfect” to be a loving place. It just has to have Christ in the midst.
I’ll leave you with this thought—our home for the holiday just might be in glory this year! Wouldn’t that be wonderful?! Our earthly homes pale in comparison to the mansion that the Lord has gone to prepare for us! John 14:2, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”
You must be one of His to be in that home. John 3:7 says, “Marvel not that I say unto thee, ye must be born again.” A true, personal relationship with Jesus Christ will guarantee you that home.
A home where there will be no more sorrow or troubles or trials. We will forever be with our Savior. And THAT, my friend, is the home we should all be longing for.