No Home Like Heaven

A Castillo-Home-style Breakfast prepared by my Dad :) 

“Just a little further- and you’ll be there.”

“Just study a little harder- and you’ll get there soon.”

“Just run a little faster- and you can rest in a little while.”

I caught myself doing it, did you?

Whether it’s Thanksgiving break, Christmas break, or say… 
Spring Break- it’s the hope of home. 

When we feel like we are in need for it, 
when we see home in the distance, 

we will endure most anything to get there. 

We can be completely content and perfectly comfortable 
in the pressure of the present 

with the certainty of rest in the future. 

We will even follow through with this endurance 
with an ethereal sensation of joy, too. 

Once the proximity of home is near enough for us to 
conjure up a pleasant image of its rest and enjoyment, 

we put our hope in just that, 

leaving the present to remain only as 
time to fill, chores to endure, until that day arrives. 

Until we are home. 

It’s all worth it, as long as we get home. 

It’s all worth it, if we have home to look to.

Our motivation is the hope of rest, the certainty of comfort, 
a place that takes us in, just as we are. 
Even if we are beaten up from relationships 
or discouraged from grades, 

home takes us in once we are exhausted
from what felt like a marathon.

And, I admit, we are quite a bit more productive. 

We are all the more motivated, 
with the destination of home on our minds.

But, what if we pushed a little harder, 

endured what was here more because 
we knew in the future we would be... 

in a new home?

But, I have been feeling that He has an image of home for us 
that looks a little different. 

A little more than a beach and a book, 
the scent of freshly baked cookies, 

and the weightlessness of less schoolwork. 

And above the beauty of the new home 
that surpasses all that a short break could give us.

This new home is with our love, our Savior: Christ, 

unceasingly bringing Him glory- right next to Him. 

And it's nothing if He's not there. 

Knowing that this current condition of ours is completely, 

tightly packed with meaning, 
but also only temporary, 
might change our lives. 

And though this life is only a 
“mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes,” 

its value in the eyes of Christ is priceless, limitless.

It is only temporary, 
but its results of our purpose he has for us are eternal. 

The purpose to shout of the home we are heading to- 

and most importantly, our Father who resides there.

Not the ending beach and a quick read of a book, 

but a endless sea of praise and the eternal Word of God. 

Not the vanishing scent of freshly backed cookies, 

but the constant aroma of Christ. 

Not the temporary weightlessness of less schoolwork, 

but to be swept up in His grace- forever. 

For, this isn't about us. 

It is about Him, 
and the place He has so graciously prepared for us, 

if we choose to look to His Son and 
delight in putting His glory on display.

Every day should be charged with the excitement, 
the passion, and the perseverance 

that we cling to the day before we arrive 
on that doormat of a warm, welcoming home. 

We’re always going home.

Home sweet home.

Heaven sweet home.
Hallelujah; 

That’s worth it all.

“For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain,” Philippians 1:21

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation wait in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed… the creation itself will be liberatied from it’s bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God,” Romans 8:18, 19, 21

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23,24

"So, do not throw away your confidence, it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." Hebrews 10:35-36

"Now we know that if the eathly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands." 2 Corinthians 5:1