There is "no place like home," or is there?

It's Good to Be Home

by Judy Lytle

When I return to my house after a time away, I usually say, “Ah, it’s good to be home.” The familiarity is unbelievably relaxing and comfortable. Yet in preparation for our return to the mission field, on December 31, 2008, we sold our familiar home in Nashville and embarked upon a journey we continue to learn about as we go.

Since January 2009, our home has been in more places than I can count. We stayed with family and friends before leaving the States. When asked where we were living, I would just respond, “Right here.” We were in our new home on the seminary property in Panama for about 18 days before traveling to Uruguay where we lived in several different places during a two-month stay. For most of our time in Uruguay, our home was a 15-by-18 foot efficiency apartment [pictured above] in the heart of downtown Montevideo, a city of about 1.5 million people.

During our ministry in Uruguay we frequently traveled by bus—short rides in the city and long trips to the border town of Rivera. The bus ride to Rivera is about six and a half hours, which gave me plenty of time to think. I remember thinking on one of the return trips, “It will be good to get home.” Home? Our little, one-room efficiency? Yes, in the short time we were there, that little room became home to us. We were happy there.

Over the past few months God has taught me many lessons. One is that home can be anywhere. We don’t have to have a nice house, beautiful furniture, manicured yard, sunroom, or even family and friends close by to be at home. Home is where God places us. Contentment comes with the knowledge we are in God’s will and are where He wants us to be (Philippians 4:11).

Another lesson I’ve learned is to not cling to anything too tightly. As Job said, “the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). All the things we consider necessary can sometimes become baggage weighing us down on our journey to our eternal home. “More” is not necessarily better.

I found myself falling into the “materialism trap” when I lived in the United States. It is so easy and natural. Do we ever get enough? If it is not a bigger house, it is a new car or nicer furniture, etc. Hasn’t God promised to supply our needs? “Things” don’t bring happiness and can disappear in a blink of an eye. No matter what life brings, God is good all the time.

We returned to Panama, leaving our one room to move into the eight-bedroom house on the seminary property. Yes, I said eight! Before you think I’m completely crazy, let me explain. Our house is a dormitory for seminary students [pictured above]. Six of the bedrooms are dorm rooms with four in use by four young men studying to be pastors or missionaries and two others are used by pastors when they come to help teach classes.

That has been another adjustment for me—going from my own house in the States to the small quiet apartment in Uruguay to a large space where the only private place is our bedroom and bathroom. Lesson number three: God gives us grace for every circumstance.

I guess the final lesson I’ve learned is that I’m not home yet. What will our eternal home be like? I’m sure it will better than anything I can imagine or dream! When I get to heaven, I’ll say for the final time, “Ah…it’s good to be home.” And it will be completely and eternally good.

About the Writer: Judy Lytle and her husband Steve are on special assignment with FWB International Missions at the Chame Seminary. Visit www.fwbgo.com for more information.