Which is Home?

I know I haven't been posting much.  Believe me, I know it's been too long when I start getting texts from several different people saying, "Is everything okay?  Why haven't you been writing?  Is your blog messed up?"  No, no... it's just that I've been so busy.  The first couple of weeks of school and a packed social life has consumed a lot of my time.  But I need to set aside more of this time to write.

When I first came to college and moved into my dorm, I was adamant about not calling it "home."  If I got a ride from a friend and he said, "I'll take you home," I would feel a little offended.  I always called it "my dorm" or "I'm going back to relax now," but I never said "I'm going home to relax now."

Home was where my family lives, where my real bedroom is, my hometown.  Home certainly couldn't be this small and unfamiliar dorm in a college town where no family is in sight.  How could I ever call a place like this home? 

Lately, I've heard a few opinions on this subject that have really made me think.

At church on Sunday, the pastor took a moment to share why he believes we should call Aggieland home, even if we feel homesick for the places we came from.  He told us that if we refuse to call this place home, then we're putting ourselves into a place of transition and not living in the now.

If this isn't home, then it's harder to actually settle down and make a life for the Lord here, because we'll be pointing our thoughts in the direction of: "When I finish college, when I get this job, when I accomplish this thing, when I move away..." and not so much: "This is my home.  I am going to change it for the Lord with the abilities and resources I have right now."  I need to cherish this city and the people in it and decide to live in this moment and work for the Lord where I am right now. 

A week and a half ago, I was riding in a car with a friend.  She said, "I didn't always do this, but I call Aggieland home now.  Even if this is 'just' where I go to college, it's my home too.  The people here are special to me and I love it here.  My hometown will always be home to me, but this place is home too."

My dorm may feel uncomfortable and cramped at times.  It has more of an institutional feel and less of a "homey" feel.  I don't know if my dorm room will ever feel like a home, but perhaps the house in which I'll live next year will.  But this place, Aggieland, is homey.  It is familiar.  And I love the people here.

Although my hometown, the place where my family lives, will always be home to me, I'm going to allow this place to be my home too.

I don't want these four years to be a time of impatience, waiting, and transition.  I want them to be a time of transformation, but a time of joy... and being home.