THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Home is so many things to different people...but to me home is where I can dwell in my own comfort zone of my own making. Years ago we had a speaker come to the Stake Center and in his talk he mentioned experiences with some of the Indian Reservations. He told how our government in the last few years had built houses for the Indians instead of them having to live in their tepee's, shacks, etc. The speaker told us of how the government had given the Indians grain to store and to eat.

One day a group of government officials wanted to see how their program of building homes, giving large quantities of food, etc. When they came to one of the homes, they knocked, and listened but no sounds were heard. They peeked in the windows and were taken back by what they saw. The grain that had been given the Indians was piled high in the living room of the house and the Indians were back in their little dirt floor adobe house.

At another place they stopped and intended to visit the Indian family, but again no answer at the door. They looked in the home and this time it was not grain that they saw, but it was an Indian tepee in the middle of the floor...a "home" within a house.

The speaker went on to talk about our "comfort zones" and I have never forgot that lesson. What is comfortable for one person may not be for another. A house of straw, stones, mud, brick, wood, etc., becomes a home because it holds our hearts, our memories and the sweet spirit of goodness dwells there. Our homes reflect us...our personalities, our likes and dislikes.

We lived in a garage when we first came to Moses Lake...we came with three little boys; Brad was 4; Bruce was 2; and Craig was 6 months old. The garage had one cupboard, one drawer, three layers of rolling linoleum, one bedroom. We lived there for 8 years and had three more children. We made this garage our home. Yes, we were crowded but we were family and we worked, played and prayed together in that little home. In 1974 we moved into a new home...a cheap home by today's standards ($23,000) and it was a "budget" home even then and had to be very basic. We had a basement with two bedrooms and on the main floor it had 3 bedrooms. I had so much room. I had cupboards, drawers, tub, etc.

The surprising part of all of this was one day, very soon after moving in, I was in the kitchen in the dining area and I looked out and could see our little garage just a few yards away. I stood there and cried. I missed my little "comfort zone"...it felt like the real home was still over there. So when I heard the story of the Indians on the reservations, I understood so perfectly how they felt. I knew it was going to take time for me to adjust. I have always wondered if the Indians ever did.

Home is not a house of grandeur or "things", but instead is a home where the heart has dwelt because of the growing that was done there, the experiences of life that came ....babies, two sets of bunk beds, two cribs, no dishwasher, mice, snake, broken water pipes, and flood. I could go on and on.

Now the home I am in...have been in it for 36 years...has become my comfort zone...although I have to admit when I see the garage...now lovingly called "The Cottage"...my heart feels a tug because I hear my newborn babies cries, the sweet little voices of my little children as they need a hug, a band-aid, a nose wiped, a story read.

Wherever we are called to go in life, we may have to adjust but if we put our heart in that little corner of the world we have been called to live in, we will find that it will become "home" and we all know that there is no place like home.

Mimi's Thought for the Day: Notice how a baby loves his "blankie" and carries it with him/her wherever they go? He/She is assured of having a little bit of their comfort zone with them in the car, at the store, grandma's, or nap time. We carry something with us at all times too...if we remember to take it with us. It can give us comfort, wisdom, security and a feeling of peace. I speak of the the Holy Spirit. Next time you have to step out of your "comfort zone" take him with you.