Home is where the heart is

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Philippians 1:3-5
My wife and I  lived in our home since 1991. One day I  went for a long walk  and happened to see a model home on the street where camp Guy Robinson once sat. This was a very wooded area the YMCA operated  to give young kids a camping experience without the overnight stay. It was not far from the townhouse we lived in.

 I am pretty sentimental about Camp Robinson because I was involved in the YMCA from the time I was a little tyke in the Y Indian guides with my dad.  It was one of my warmest memories of my dad and I. We had this tee pee head band we  wore to all of the gatherings.  Each week the boys along with  their dad's would make a craft, have fun and eat snacks.  I learned how to swim through the YMCA day camp. Not this camp, but Camp Christmas tree. The YMCA was a huge part of my upbringing and so when the YMCA opened the gym near Ridge dale  my dad brought a family membership for us. He was a believer in the Y. 

 The Y was where dad met my mom.  He happened to walk into the YMCA building on the University of Minnesota campus where his future wife worked as a receptionist. He was smitten by her beauty. He later  learned that this gorgeous woman lived next door to him. She with her sister and husband and he with his brother and  wife.  

  As my wife and I toured the model home I began to dream of our dream home next door this home. I kept that dream alive until my wife fell in love with this dream. It took some doing because she was growing in love with our first home until she decided to see what I was seeing in my dream.

Our home has been a place of precious memories.  There were the family gatherings  for holiday and birthday dinners.  There was the deck planning party when we had my cousin's family over and his boys helped us dig the footings for our deck. There were the phone calls made with the news of our adoptions. There was the excitement  of being told that we were going to be the parents of a new born boy in Cuenca, Ecuador just as my wife's parents entered the front door. There were many birthday celebrations for our son and daughter. 

So often we forget about the positive memories when tragedy strikes a home. When a loved one dies in our home we try forget that memory by placing the home on the market and moving somewhere else where we won't be bombarded by the daily reminders of that memory.  The problem is when we move in order to forget  we also leave behind the wonderful memories of our loved ones. 

Home is more than just the tragic reminders of things we want to forget. Home is a place of celebrating those positive memories and creating new ones.  Since our tragedy of 2007 I have learned that God is also in the remodeling business. He is able to help you create new memories in the place that carries the reminder of sad ones. Like our family it didn't happen over night. It took months to create those new memories. There was a lot that had to be done like sorting through the emotions and acknowledging to God that it HURTS. It requires that you process each of your emotions and allow yourself to cry.  Yes, it is OK for you to cry.

Linda and I watched the builders erect our new home which would become a home that would be filled with love.  There was tragedy that happened in our home, but there were many positive loving memories that filled this place.  If you are in a place where all you see  is heartache, disappointment, and tragic reminders trust Jesus that He will walk with you on your journey of heart ache and that He will help you create new memories. 

 There will come a day when your son and daughter will return home with their families and when they do they will remember the good things of the person who is no longer part of their lives.  Each of you will smile as you look at the pictures of the one who is no longer there. As you do, it will occur to you that God fulfilled his promise to you which was that he helped you create those positive memories.  Home really is a place where the heart is!.

The family featured in this video clip chose to celebrate the loss of their loved one. As they celebrated this way they were creating positive memories that would last a life time.