Things that matter

I drifted from conversation to conversation last night, contributing here, just listening there, taking it all in. The boys we like and how to determine and be content with God's will from the girls organizing their luggage in the van; the same old controversial issues and a bed time story around the campfire. The rules of five card draw and the value of each chip from the kids at the picnic table. (This last one being more of an argument than an actual conversation.)


Within two hours of arriving, my family had turned these two beach campsites into home. No wonder I felt a little bit lost as I started the 53 mile drive back to work this morning.

As I'm writing this I'm sitting in a coffee shop just ten minutes away from our house, but without the laughter, the conversations, the arguments - the life - it's just a structure, not a home. Four walls and a roof.

A friend posted a section of Psalms 139 this morning that I read before climbing out of my sleeping bag. My mind was socked in with a fog as thick as the marine layer that rolls in each night.

You have searched me, Lord,

    and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

    you perceive my thoughts from afar...

 

Before a word is on my tongue

    you, Lord, know it completely.

You hem me in behind and before,

    and you lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

    too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?

    Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

    if I settle on the far side of the sea,

 

even there your hand will guide me,

    your right hand will hold me fast.

Merging onto the freeway filled with frantic commuters the thought hit me.  "The where doesn't matter... What matters is who you're with."

Yeah, I know.. earth shattering depth, right?  Well, I hadn't any coffee yet, so don't judge.

Anyways, I'm enjoying my day today, knowing that wherever I go I'm with the One who knows me better than I know myself.  Wherever I land in this crazy life, it can be home.