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The Heart is Where the Home Is
By Linda Settles
Last edited: Friday, March 06, 2009
Posted: Sunday, December 21, 2008
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Matters of the Heart
For some of us home was not a safe and beautiful place--it was a place of terror, and sorrow, and shame. We do not want to go back--and we need not. The experience of some may be "Home is where the heart is"--that is true for my own two daughters who love being with us and celebrate the holidays with laughter and love--but for me "The heart is where my home is" and right now, that is hundreds of miles away from the place I was born and raised.
Please don't misunderstand me, I have no need for bitterness. God has made good on His promise (spoken through the prophet Joel) "I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust have eaten." Indeed, He has--and He is. Home has become a sanctuary from the storms of life--our home (like our heart) takes on the nature of what we put into it.
For those whose birth home, though imperfect (as all homes are) is a place of longing and wonder, you have been given a great gift. Treasure it. For those whose home is the one you have built since leaving the home of your birth--rejoice and be glad in it. You too have been given a great gift.
I have found that grieving the "things that are behind", i.e. the past, is a prerequisite for embracing the joys of the present.
©
Linda settles
www.RedeemingOurTreasures.com
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Site: Redeeming Our Treasures
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Reader Reviews for
"The Heart is Where the Home Is"
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| Reviewed by Cryssa C |
1/12/2009 |
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Grieving...and then moving on and putting the past behind us...
Cryssa |
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| Reviewed by Emile Tubiana |
12/30/2008 |
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| Dear Linda, your story is very moving and God knows how many people were uprooted from their place. We belong to the uprooted people and thank God we are happy where we are. Let's pray that the happiness may stay with all of us. Love Emile |
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| Reviewed by m j hollingshead |
12/23/2008 |
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| well said |
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| Reviewed by J'nia Fowler |
12/22/2008 |
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My sentiments exactly Linda. "shake the dust off your feet and go where I send you." loose translation. My husband is an only child, and never had kids of his own and we live 4 provinces away from my demented family so we thrill at the family we have created, the home sweet home of God's making. Thank you for this write.
Blessings always J'nia |
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| Reviewed by * Starman * * |
12/21/2008 |
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Linda,
Let us rejoice and be glad with you Linda. In this place of misfits and magi they call the AuthorsDen, we are blessed by your great gift. Welcome home, Linda. Welcome home.
Rockie "Starman" Coppolella
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| Reviewed by Alan Busch |
12/21/2008 |
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Dear Linda,
An important message at this time of year when the concept of "home" becomes overly sentimentalized. If you like Linda, check this out:
http://www.aish.com/family/
Sincerely,
Alan |
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| Reviewed by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado |
12/21/2008 |
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Good story, Linda; well done! Merry Christmas to you and yours!
(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in Tx., Karen Lynn. :D |
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