My very first hometown was for a very, very short time. But I actually knew it better than where I graduated from and now call home until I was in my late teens. I went there every single chance I got to stay with my older, much cooler cousins. I have so many cherished memories of that place. Today I visited for a Christmas event and got to see 2 of my aunts I haven’t seen in forever.

I am passionate about the town I live in. It’s home. It is where we live, where we work, where we graduated and where our kids will too. But a tiny piece of me will always feel at home in that small town. I missed my Grams so much it hurt today. I can’t wait to see her again.

I guess my short amount of time in my first hometown is like the minuscule amount of time I will spend on earth in comparison to eternity in heaven. I call this terrestrial ball home…but it isn’t. The ache of missing my Grams today reminded me of that. Home is where your family is and I’m part of God’s. Man…I can’t wait to get there. Even there I’ll still be just a small town girl.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:3-9