A tepid breeze lifted the leaves of the cotton plants behind the home place mixing scents of pine needles and the show pigs housed in the barn. The barns and house were bathed in heat and light that simmered and stewed.
It’s not the same walls and roof that sheltered earlier generations, the years had taken their toll and in place of the old, new walls had been constructed. Ten siblings along with their parents lived life in the white farmhouse, ten siblings that would go on to have dozens of children, and scores of grandchildren and great-grand children.
Six of the ten siblings are still alive, and those siblings are quick to reminisce about the days at “the home place.”
Their longing is tangible, as it saturates the conversation. As an apple pie fills the whole kitchen with its soulful aroma, the memories and feelings of the home place suddenly fill you, too.
Home. At the end of the day, don’t we all just want to go home?
At the home place, worries melt away as you walk through the front door. At the home place, you can always find a smiling face, a kindly word, and a delicious dessert (or four) to enjoy. There’s a place for you at the table, a place for you to stretch, take off your jacket, and sit a spell.
The powerful imagery of home pierced my soul, and my thoughts turned toward heaven. I imagine that’s what it will be like when heaven becomes our home place. We round the bend and there it is: the home we’ve always known, yet different somehow.
My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
John 14:2-3
Jesus standing on the porch and welcoming us, “Come on in and sit a spell…” There will be friends and family gathered round, a feast to enjoy, and no time to rush us back out the door. Aunts and uncles, friends, and heroes of the faith, all together, no one excluded. How my heart longs for that day!
There’s a spot for you at the home place.
