Home is where the heart is...

I have heard so many times the phrase home is where the heart is. I had never really thought too much about it, other than agreeing with the statement. It naturally made sense. However, through some pondering in the relative isolation that is Metter, Georgia. Now, that is not to insult my hometown. It is an easily observable fact that there are not as many entertainment opportunities in Metter as there are in Athens. So, I have a lot of time to think.
So, I just moved home from Athens for the summer. On May 31, I will be leaving to be in Houston for nine weeks, but for the time being I am in Metter. Actually I live about ten miles north of the metropolis of Metter. There are four red lights!
So, I began to think on the topic of home and what it meant to me and what it meant to other people. I know a wide range of people. There are those that go home every weekend and yet at the end of the week are so anxious to do it all over again. I also know some people who will go whole semesters without going home and it doesn't phase them at all.
I do think everyone has a home. It may not be their house, furthermore it may not even be a place at all. It could be a person, people group, situation or action. So with that thought, I began to wonder where my home was truly. I knew several places that it wasn't, but that didn't really help me any. Then, I  had what I shall call an epiphany. I realized that if I was looking for my home, then what I was really looking for was my heart. What an epic thing to be searching for! I know some people might say it is in your chest silly, but of course that is not what I am talking about. I want the seat of emotion, soul, and spirit. The source of outpouring of passion and joy.
I love my parents and my family but my house in Metter does not entirely feel like home. I have only lived there since June 2007. When I am there, I feel restless. More so than that, when I was in Elberton, the place we lived before Metter, I felt even more not at home. I cannot even place the reason why to explain why this is. I can remember moments though where I felt more home than others. So, to help with this search for home and heart, I made a list of the things I enjoy. I wouldn't take your time to make you read another one of my lists but I will generalize what I listed into two categories. There were the activities where I was able to take care of things whether it was children, plants, animals, family, or friends. There was also those things that fell under adventure: hiking, camping, trying to speak in Spanish to non-English speakers or some kind of adrenaline rush (for instance: I really want to go skydiving...). It was in those moments that I felt most alive and at home.
"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." -Howard Thurman
Howard Thurman was an African American minister and theologian who rose to great notoriety despite growing up in the segregated South. I think he is absolutely correct in his statement. The world looks to Christians and typically sees people that are bored and boring. The Christian life should not be boring! So, why not examine ourselves and see what makes us come alive. Then we can use that to glorify God! 
I think that this place where we are alive is also where we feel at home. After all, home is where the heart is...