There's something about an airport at Christmastime that makes you realize how wonderful home is.........

Watching the hugging as families are reunited,

Seeing the faces of children, parents, and spouses as they smile at the sight of each other.

Home.......

where the heart is.

Home........

a place to rest a weary head.

Home........

laughter, acceptance, a warm embrace.

Maybe.

And then again, maybe not.

Maybe home isn't always a happy place for you, so thoughts of an earthly home aren't always pleasant.

Maybe the parts of home you long for can't be found on this planet anymore because the people who made the house a home have passed away.

Maybe there is hurt, disappointment, anger, bitterness, sadness, or some other not-so-pretty emotion attached to the word "home."

Sometimes this life doesn't seem fair when it comes to the word "home."

I have students who weren't really looking forward to Christmas break.

Parents in jail, grandparents who died this past year, feelings of being unloved by their family......

so many reasons to not see the beauty in the Christmas lights.

I visited with some women who are in jail on Friday evening.

Sitting on the bottom bunk of one woman's bed and listening to her heartbreaking story of being involved with a drug dealer, having a daughter with him,

feeling trapped in a world that she fears returning to.......my heart sank.

Home for her is a place where she may end up destroying herself if she doesn't have help.

As full of love as my earthly home is, we have heartache here too.

Grief is a constant visitor throughout our holiday.

He sometimes chooses to sit quietly to the side but often makes himself known in very loud and unexpected ways.

We are learning ways to make this uninvited visitor part of our holiday experience rather than allowing him to control us.

Maybe your season has a visitor named Grief, too. Or maybe your visitor is named Regret, Rejection, Depression, or Loneliness.

I am very aware of the fact that "home" for many of you may not stir positive emotions,

but I want you to know this,

"There is Good News for you in the manger scene!"

Because Jesus was born, died, and rose again,

there is a Home being prepared for you that will absolutely

undo permanently,

overshadow completely,

replace fully,

and restore totally

your earthly view of Home!!

Even if your home is perfect in every way, the Home being constructed for you in Heaven will surpass mightily the love, peace, and joy that fills the walls of your earthly house.

I love that because of what Jesus did on the cross

WE ALL HAVE EQUAL ACCESS TO OUR HEAVENLY HOME!

And the greetings there will make airport greetings look lame.

The hugs, the laughter, the peace we will feel as we fall into the arms of God and share the joy of hugging those who arrived before us!!

OH MY!!!!!!!!

My heart can barely contain the thought of it!

From this day on, I want to live as if life is the airport lobby, where I'm waiting for His embrace.

The suspense of passengers coming through the gate,

The smile as I see the face of someone I love,

The hug as I realize that the distance between us has been taken away......

That's what I want to think about as I wait for Jesus to return!!

I want you to live an "airport lobby" kind-of life too!

Jesus is coming!

He promises this!

John 14:13

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Matthew 24:30

"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.

They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory."

Oh, what a day that will be!

Today, I'm praying that each of you can look to the skies and know without a shadow of a doubt that ONE DAY our faith will become sight as the clouds are rolled away and Jesus returns to take us all

HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Live expectantly!

The reunion will be "out of this world!"

Literally!