Day 6: Tuesday, Week 1—There’s No Place like Home

Job 5:8-27; 1 Peter 3:8-18a

With all the travel I have done, there is something wonderful about coming home to Wisconsin. There were places along the way that were nice to visit but coming home to Wisconsin was the best.

Here we have four seasons, not too hot in the summer, not too cold in the winter; enough snow for sports and recreation, but not so much that we need to build a second story entrance. We have plenty of water, hills enough with the Baraboo range, glaciated plains, and the great driftless woodlands. In fall, the leaves have great color; spring is brilliant with wild flowers and gardens. And trees grow on their own! If you’re not from Wisconsin, I’m sure you have good reasons for calling where you live home too, but Wisconsin is where I belong.

At the end of the camping season, we would pack everything into the empty side of the garage. Our tent was safe; life was good; and, when we counted up, our blessings were overflowing.

We may complain about the weather and other aspects of home as if they are the plagues of Job; but, if you don’t like the weather, the sun will come out tomorrow (or maybe the next day). And for the other complaints, I just need to reread paragraph two above.

In our faith lives, we oftentimes take trips to other places, but it is good to know that at the end of the day we can rest at home, secure in God’s arms. In the world of migration, it is good to know that your tent is safe and so are you.

Just a note: The writer of Job must have been a proto-Lutheran. For, “See, we have searched this out; it is [most certainly] true.”

Prayer

Lord, we look for you in so many places, only to discover that you have been here all of the time. May we always know your presence in the abundance of your love. Amen