Fantasy or heavenly longing?

I love my life. Love. My. Life. Life is sweet, and God is good to me. Even when I have gone through difficult times of mourning and depression, God has been closer to me than any friend ever could be. And did I mention that I love my life? My husband, my children, my city, my ministry????

And yet my husband and I have the fantasies of relocation. Selling our house, making a bundle, and moving somewhere cheaper and living more simply. We are not living extravagant lives now by any means, but the cost of living here is so high that the thought of moving is very attractive.

And yet when I think of leaving my ministry and my home and starting over, I say NO! This is a blessed place. However, I am often the one to start the conversation with my husband: "What if? What if we moved to Charlottesville, VA, and you got a job at the Medical Center, and I started work on my doctorate, and I worked with college students and we bought a little place with land and had chickens and maybe even horses. And how cool would it be to homeschool in a college town like that. And how much would the kids enjoy it?" The fact that we've never even visited Charlottesville doesn't affect the fantasy at all.

I have been reading in Joshua all the chapters about the allotment of land to the various tribes. It makes my mind wander as to where my earthly dwelling should be. But I am also reminded that I am a pilgrim and that this world is not my home.

2 Corinthians 5

1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

6Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7We live by faith, not by sight. 8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

My husband and I, above all else, seek to please the Lord, and we will not move unless he places a peace in our hearts about moving. The Holy Spirit, our guarantee of our heavenly dwelling which is to come, will speak to our hearts about our earthly dwelling as well, and we will trust in God for direction.

Micah Girl