Sweet home, sweet home!!

I can still hear Tahya shouting that as we drove up our Etta hill after a vacation. Even though we had some great adventures when our children were growing up, pulling into our carport and unlocking the door to our blessed dwelling was always a happy ending.

This summer a lot of young missionaries are going to have a refresher course in gratitude for home. Many will take long trips into different cultures and climates. I’m firmly believing that 99 percent will rejoice at the sight of home.

CandyLee is with a mission team in Croatia. Their pastor leader is a former resident of Croatia where he grew up as a missionary kid. I was pleased that the team would have an experienced leader. He will probably feel like he’s home.

Preparation for the trip involved several weeks and a different culture’s wardrobe selection. CandyLee left feeling confident and excited over her adventure. However it only took an overnight flight and a place void of family and familiar places for her to confront a twinge of homesickness. It wasn’t the weepy kind — just a hint of nostalgia that a short visit home would have remedied.  

Part of her homesickness is probably related to the temps in Croatia. She told her parents that it was hotter than Mississippi. She could bear the daytime temps, but their sleeping accommodations weren’t air-conditioned. Her hot nature and the below 70 temps at home that her body had adopted were instantly assaulted with the Croatian climate. Non-sweaty sheets and the hum of the A/C will never be taken for granted again by our Croatian missionary.

Othel’s sister, Sue, spent last week moving from ICU to a hospital room due to a series of serious ailments. Expert care and heavy doses of antibiotics attacked the culprits, and her doctors allowed her to go home today.

I messaged her to see how she was feeling. She had showered in her bathroom, lain down in her own bed and taken a very restful nap. Her last comment was, “I feel blessed!”

Sweet home, sweet home — a place we can easily take for granted until we’re away from it. Someday all of God’s children will enjoy the ultimate blessing of “Sweet Home” — an eternal home that Jesus promised to prepare for His own.

I remember the jubilant chorus I’ve sung so many times:

“When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be,

When we all see Jesus, we’ll sing and shout the victory.”

What a wondrous new meaning heaven is going to give to Home, Sweet Home.

Letters to Camille Anding can be sent to P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, MS, 39602, or e-mailed to camille@datalane.net.