HOME!!!

Then the LORD GOD planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man He had made. The LORD GOD made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground – trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden He placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. The second branch, call the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. The third branch, called the Tigris flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates. The LORD GOD placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.
Genesis 2:8-15

I sat down on the bed in the guest house to call home. Nothing, no connection, nothing but silence. I go out to the balcony and lean over as far as I dare. Punch the cell phone buttons to call home. “Hello,” I hear my husband answer. “Hey,” I try to respond; nothing but the disconnect sound of silence. I walk back through the shared living space of the guest house and see three other people occupying internet presence. Ugh. I trudge up the stairs to the third floor hoping to find virgin internet connection. Eureka! Vacancy. I climb up on a chair and hold my phone as close as I can to the modem. (What can I say? I am in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and it is the way of things.) Again I punch the cell phone buttons to call home and then the speaker button. “Hello?” Kevin tries. “Can you hear me now?” I respond swiftly. “Yes. Talk fast. We don’t know how long this connection will last,” Kevin advises. “How are you? More importantly, how is the remodeling going?” I really wanted to know. “Not good, I’m sorry. It is gonna be about another month before we will get to move in,” he informed me. I was disappointed. We had been living in rent homes for over a year now. All our possessions were in boxes. Those boxes moved with us from place to place; never getting unpacked. We had finally bought a home in March. Of course, it wasn’t quite right for me; so I had to complicate things and start a remodel project on it. In a perfect world, I had plans to move into our home before this scheduled trip to Ethiopia. Those are the best laid plans of mice and men. It was now the beginning of June and I was being told it would be another month of construction. “You’re kidding me. Right, please tell me your joking me,” there was no way I could hide my disappointment or my irritation. “Look Kel, I am doing the best I can,” Kevin defended. I felt bad. I had a great day serving the Lord, now here I was whining. “Ok, it is what it is.”
I returned two days later. Kevin picked me up at the airport. “Let’s run by the house and I’ll show you what has been done,” he informed me. I walked in to the house. Guess what! I saw my furniture, I saw walls, and I saw my pictures hung on the walls. It was done! My possessions were unpacked! My husband is awesome!!! He had moved heaven and earth to get the walls painted, carpet laid, and my furniture all in place. He had enlisted both of my daughters help and they got it done. That’s my man! “You were joking me.” I hugged him. I walked through my entire house at least five times that night. I loved it. It turned out better than I thought. I have beautiful gold carpet. I have delicately colored gold walls. It’s me. It’s my taste and I love my new home!

Adam walked from one end of the garden to the other. There were no words to describe the beauty and the majesty of this place. “You made all this?” he wandered. The LORD GOD took such joy in Adam’s reaction to the Garden. Adam couldn’t believe this was going to be his home for all his life. That is what he believed at that moment. It was like walking on green lush carpet. There were no thorns or thistles to tread upon. The trees were beautiful. “Here Adam take a bite of this peach,” God offered. They came upon a river. “This is the Pishon.” God told the man. Adam observed how clear and fresh the water was as it rushed over the rocks. “What is this I am walking on?” He asked the LORD GOD. It had the purest color. “I call that gold. My streets are paved with it,” the LORD informed him.

Again, can’t you just imagine that discovery walk Adam had with the LORD that day. How amazing to see the purest form of gold, and onyx stones. Wouldn’t you have loved to have tasted watermelon grown in the Garden of Eden? Seriously, there probably aren’t any words to describe the day God unveiled Eden for Adam. I gotta believe God just smiled from ear to ear watching Adam discover his new home. Kevin was smiling ear to ear the day he surprised me with our new home.

But ya know, this world is not our true home. God has built a better home for us. Jesus can’t wait to show it to us.

“The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve precious stones: the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eigth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gate were made of pearls – each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass. I saw no temple in the city, for the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY and the Lamb are its temple. An the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light.”
Revelation 21:18-23

That’s my real home!

“He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”
Amen! Come Lord Jesus!
May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.”
Revelation 22:20-21