Home from home…..where is my home?

Over the past months we’ve featured in the W2W blog some interviews with women who are not originally from Edinburgh.  While they’ve made Carrubbers their church “home” their roots are elsewhere.   But for others, like Rachel Meadows, Edinburgh and Carrubbers are very much “home”.  Recently Rachel has been thinking about this and has agreed to share some of her thoughts with us here.  Feel free to connect with her if you’d like to chat with her about what she has written.  Rachel.meadows@carrubbers.org

Where is your Home? How would you define Home? These are some of the questions I have been mulling over for quite some time now and it is clear to me the answer is not always a completely straight forward one. People have different experiences and views and come from all different types of backgrounds and cultures. I am aware I do not have all the answers as I have only ever known one type of experience. I cannot answer for those who have lived in a variety of places or do not have close family. I can however share with you what my personal experience of home has been so far and how I would define it.

Home is a place. I’ve always lived in Edinburgh. It has been a fantastic place to grow up in and I am immensely proud of coming from such a beautiful city, rich in things to see and do and people to socialise with. Edinburgh is very much the place I call my home. I always feel a real sense of pride when I look up at Edinburgh castle on (the occasional) sunny evening or hear the bagpipes as I walk through Princes Street or down the Royal Mile.

Home is family. I have grown up in a family where I have been shown constant love, support, security and acceptance. My parents have guided me wisely and as an adult I count them as my greatest friends. Our house was always an incredibly lively household. I am the eldest of four children and was permanently surrounded with constant noise and busyness. My mum was always there to greet us when we came home from school every day and my dad would read us exciting stories before bed when he came home every night. These were special times where I felt very safe and treasured. But like any normal family we have known our share of stresses and sorrows, but we have always come out the other end and worked together.  To me, my family is what I would define as home.

Home is extended family. My Grandparents have always set a fine leading example and have been instrumental in showing us all examples of patience, kindness and gentleness throughout my life and how to instil these qualities into the home. I have also been richly blessed with a large extended family where get-togethers consist of family sing songs around the piano, dance offs in the living room as well as the kettle never being off. These times are loud, haphazard, fun, relaxing, cosy, joyful and full of love. These are times that I am truly grateful and thankful for.

Home is my church community. I have been blessed to grow up in a church  (Carrubbers) where I can walk in on a Sunday morning and I am known and accepted. It is a place where I feel truly comfortable and supported. I know people understand me there and can see my worth. It is the place I feel encouraged to be nothing less than myself. The people that go there feel like one big family to me.

Friends also feel like home. Spending time with them often feels like getting into a comfy favourite pair of shoes. You can be silly, ditsy and funny, serious or sad and they will stand by you and love you through all the sunshine and the storms.  And so.to me, a place, my family, extended family, church and friends all contribute to my understanding of what home means to me - and I know I am very blessed.  . This is something that has become increasingly apparent to me the older I get. 

Yet, home is more than the sum of all these things.  Home is where peace, love and goodness reign.   It is a place where you feel accepted no matter what, where you are secure with being who you are and are encouraged to be and do your very best with the gifts God has given.  It is a place of familiarity, trust, laughter and joy.

And then, there’s our Heavenly Home!  Heaven is a place which has always been talked about with great excitement in my family.  Every time my Grandad leaves our home his parting words to us are "keep looking up, there's a better day coming". This has always inspired me to think with hope and live life with a joyful attitude, knowing there is something even better in store. One of the songs we sing together at family gatherings is an old hymn called "Meeting in the air".  It is a song filled with great joy as we look forward to meeting people we read about in the bible, all sorrows gone on that glorious day when we will meet Jesus. One of my favourite parts of the song is

I am going to meet you, meet you there in that home beyond the sky,

Such singing you will hear never heard by mortal ear

'Twill be glorious, I do declare;

And God's own son will be the leading one at that meeting in the air".  

When I was little Pastor Wayne Sutton used to say to my Dad about myself and my siblings "you have such treasures man!"  This has always made me view other people as precious treasure. People are what make my life truly rich.

I have always liked to imagine that one day all my family and friends will be in heaven with me. I pray that they will be the treasure God has stored for me and we will all live together at peace in our everlasting home with Jesus reigning as the one true king. 

Some of my favourite verses are in Revelation 21: 4-8. "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away". Over the last few years I have seen friends and family face many hardships and suffering. The reality is that this life is far from easy and that verse always makes me feel relieved that one day we shall no longer endure the hardships of this life. This is the heavenly home I look forward to.  Let’s encourage one another to "keep looking up" because "the sky not the grave is our goal."