Where is Home?

A few days ago, my husband asked, "Do you feel at home in Eva?" This question caught me a little off-guard. As I thought about my answer, I couldn't help but answer with "Yes and No." There are a lot of things that make a place home. And for me, it feels as though home could be in a number of places. Eva feels like home in so many ways. It's the first place we "came home" together after our wedding and honeymoon. I think for that reason alone, it will always feel like home in some sense.

Yet, saying that Eva feels like home entirely would not be an honest response. Because every week when we have the opportunity to spend time in the Shoals area for school, I feel like I am being reunited with a piece of my heart. The Shoals is where I was "born and bred." And I think that for the rest of my life, the Shoals will always hold a special place in my heart. There are parts of the Shoals that I long to have in my life. A few of these might include: 1) Friends and family, 2) Christians everywhere I go and churches on every corner, 3) Mars Hill Bible School . . . and this is just to name a few.

Eva feels like home in a lot of ways too. Simply because it's the first place Matt and I have lived together, it feels like home. It's the first place I've truly been an adult. It's the first house I've had the responsibility of keeping on my own. It's the place I've learned to cook (and been scared out of my mind when I had a small kitchen fire!). It's the place that I've shared good times, bad times, and in-between times with my new husband. It will always feel like home for these reasons and many more.

But there are ways in which Eva just doesn't feel like home. I guess the biggest way is that most everyone that lives here also has family that lives here (or very nearby). And at times, I feel out of place. All of my family and very closest friends are at least an hour and 15 minutes away. All of Matt's family is at least 2 hours away. When most everyone in Eva has a large family right here to spend time with, it feels like we are outsiders in some ways.

We love Eva. And we are blessed to be here. And we don't want to be anywhere else right now. But as I have pondered Matt's question, "Do you feel at home in Eva?" I've internalized something very important that I think will get me through a lifetime. Home, for me, is where Matt is. And home, for Matt, is where I am. We are married. We truly did leave and cleave. And now, home is wherever we are together. I don't know where all God will take us in our lifetime. But I know one thing: the Shoals will always have a special place in my heart. And no matter where I go, it will always feel good to go back. The same is true for Eva. I think home can be defined as anywhere that I live with my husband (and future children?) and make memories. Home, for me, is where I am emotionally tied. And God has blessed me by allowing me to make homes in at least two places now. There are places and people I love in the Shoals. And there are places and people I love in Eva. And no matter where we go in the future, where there are people and places that I love and memories that I cherish will be a place that I call home. Home is where my heart and my family is.