It’s Good To Be Home

Vol. 17 No. 07 | February 17, 2014

I am fairly certain that if you were to search through sixteen-plus years of A Norvell Note archives you would find at least one note with the same or a similar title. There is a reason. It’s good to be home. It was good to be where we have been for the last two weeks, and a huge part of us wish we were still there, but it’s good to be home.

In addition to the articles I have written on the subject, I have said the words more times than I can remember or calculate. At the end of long, full and sometimes difficult days of work I have walked through the door, closed it behind me, and said, “It’s good to be back home.” After weeks on mission trips to foreign lands and domestic locations I have unpacked my bags with a grateful heart for what I have seen and heard and prayed a prayer of gratitude for how it’s good to be home. With a semi-broken heart from leaving family and friends on incredibly relaxing and sometimes extravagant vacations I have laid my body on my own bed, and taken a deep breathe expressing that it’s good to be home.

Weary travelers embrace loved ones in airport terminals with tears in their eyes, thankful to be home. Parents greet homesick college students at their front door and hear them say how good it is to be home. Road weary travelers stuck in rush-hour traffic or stranded on the highway in winter weather conditions reach for the doorknob of their houses with an exhausted thought of how good it is to be home. At Christmas-time weary shoppers haul their packages and super deals in from the garage and collapse on the sofa with a relieved feeling of being glad to be home.

It is good to be home.

After nine months – plus a little extra – Norah was born at 3:41 a.m. on February 10, 2014. Following an unexpected, and certainly unplanned, extended stay in the hospital she, her mom and her dad went home. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends rejoiced with them for finally being home. Eventually those who have walked with them through the experience have or will return to their homes. Each will cross the threshold of their home with mixed feelings of relief, regret and deep gratitude of how good it has been to be gone but, oh, how good it is to be home.

Hebrews chapter 11 consists of brief stories of men and women who lived full lives of faith in God then went home to receive the rewards of their faith. Near the end of the chapter the writer shares a list of fairly well known men and women who lived and died for their faith in God. Then, there is one last group of men and women simply designated as “There were others.” They are described as:

“They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated — the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:37-40, NIV)

Surely they joyfully expressed a satisfied feeling of it being good to be home.

One day all who faithfully walk with Jesus until the finish of the journey will join that planned celebration with those who have gone before us when we hear these words: “Good work! You did your job well.” (Matthew 25:21, The Message)

On that day we will all say, “It’s good to be home.” Come, Lord Jesus.

Tom

© Copyright 2014 Tom Norvell. All rights reserved.