Homesick

Music camp, tennis camp, Bible camp. My daughter has had many options this summer for participation in various camps. The most recent camp experience has seen her come down with a case of real homesickness. I remember when I first went off to college suffering terribly as a freshman wanting yet to be back home. When Jesus told the disciples that He was leaving, He also reassured them that He was going to prepare a place for them. (The Greek word actually means "dwelling place" not mansion.) I have had one church member scold me for not using the word mansion that Jesus was preparing for her. Somehow she missed the point of the passage in John 14, that He was going to come and take them home so that they could be where He was. I am hoping and believing that my young daughter is homesick because of her mother and I (ok, her kitty too!) and not because of the big house on the tree-lined street. Are you homesick for heaven? If so, isn't it because of the Father Who dwells there and the Son Who is set to come at any moment? Is it not wonderful that Jesus takes up residence in us now, as He states in verse 20, that "I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." I guess heaven will be that place where this reality is not distracted from by all the trappings that surround us now. If you are not homesick for heaven and the Heavenly Father, you may need a spiritual check-up.

Prayer request: elevated bilirubin sure causes a lot of itching. Please pray that it continues to drop along with the liver enzymes so I can get some relief.