My three kids are coming home on Saturday …
One from New York City where she works, one from Washington, DC where she works, and one from Philadelphia where he just finished finals. They all fly in to Iowa together on the same flight out of O’Hare.
I can’t wait.
I have enjoyed every minute of the last few weeks getting everything ready for their arrival.
Their bedrooms fluffed and cleaned. Their favorite foods in the fridge. Christmas decorations out. The dog even got a bath!
It reminds me of how God must feel when even one of his children turn their face back toward him after they’ve been gone to the far country for any length of time.
He loves us like a parent loves a child, only perfectly.
I love this image of Him … waiting patiently, urgently, hopefully …
Listen to how Mary Lou Redding (no, not Retton!) puts it:
“God calls us to come home for Christmas.
God calls us to come back from all those places where we have settled for less than the fullness of life promised to us in Christ. God calls us back from all the ambitions and possessions we have pursued, thinking they would satisfy us.
God calls us to let go of any bitterness and resistance to forgive that block the light of love from warming us …
God calls us to come home and rest, to be embraced by one who loves us as we are.
God offers us a place where we are fully known and also fully accepted.”
Isn’t that, in the end, what we all are really looking for?
How might you “come home” to God this Christmas?
He’s waiting …
