Home bodies on the move
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I have been constantly on the move.” 2 Corinthians 11:26
Recently a young woman who has know us tangentially for a decade or so asked where we were living now. I explained briefly that we were between houses right now and did not have a permanent home and were using this as an opportunity to travel. Her reply: “Well, you aren’t really home bodies.” 
Actually, we are. We love having a home and using it as a base for hospitality, friendship, equipping and mobilizing. Lyn loves to have seasonal tubs close at hand so decorating a Fall or Easter season is easy and fun. We prefer having clothes in a closet, rather than in a suitcase or storage. 39 years ago (today) when we started dating, neither of us expected we would be on the road with essentials in a small travel case. (We probably suspected we would be watching grandkids play in a garden in South Africa.)
“I have been constantly on the move.” 2 Corinthians 11:26
To be clear, there have been long seasons when we delighted to stay at home with our children. Once or twice a year we traveled on vacation overseas, but mostly we were “home bodies.” Even in these times when we could not go to the world, however, we invited the world to come to us. Friends visited from other countries–lots of them–and we reciprocated. Missionaries (many of the young and cool variety) sat around our table and told stories of God’s amazing deeds. Our kids, now living in America, knew there was a world outside California. We moved house more than once, but not as many as those in the military. If you are thinking, “Well, when you sign up for the military you know you will move a lot” then ask yourself, “When I signed up with Jesus did I not sign up for active duty and a life of following a mover and shaker?”
We are home bodies, but we value three homes: the one on earth, which we temporarily do not have, and the spiritual home we create for others on this planet, which is wide and welcoming, and a home in heaven. Your earthly home will never match your heavenly mansion, but it is okay to long for a place on earth that reflects in some way your heavenly long-term address.
All of us are made to be home bodies… and we are made to be “constantly on the move.” The bible does not say, “Blessed are those who settle, who stop taking risks, who hole up at home and watch the world on CNN, who have ‘stay’ and ‘they’ buckets in their brains.” In this season I take comfort from one of the Apostle Paul’s marks: “I have been constantly on the move.” 2 Corinthians 11:26
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