I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love.”
John 15:9 MSG

I’ve had my Christmas music playlist on shuffle this week as I’ve been out and about, and this Perry Como song has popped up a lot:

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays,
'Cause no matter how far away you roam,
When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze,
For the holidays, you can't beat home, sweet home.

The song paints a rosy picture of folks making their way home for Christmas. Perhaps overly rosy: “From Atlantic to Pacific, Gee the traffic is terrific.” Yeah, right!

What makes going “home for the holidays” so special? Home is where we are familiar with our surroundings--people and places and things--and where our surroundings are familiar with us. Home is where we’re at peace and where we can relax. We’ve all had that place at one time or another. You know the one: the place where you can leave your baggage, literal and otherwise, at the door, and the second you walk in you feel safe and warm and loved. Maybe it’s grandma’s house, mom and dad’s, a special aunt/cousin/sibling’s, or a friend’s. Maybe it’s your favorite coffee shop, the library, or even the gym, and we at Chatham Church certainly hope you feel that way when you walk in our doors each week! 

For some of us, the journey “home” isn’t always easy. It’s hard, costly, and maybe even confusing, and the final destination isn’t a place where we feel safe, warm, or loved. Whether your earthly home is filled with warm fuzzies or not, we all have a home in and with God. Bonus: it’s a perfect home; one with no toxic talk of politics and current events, and full of the security of unconditional love. God knows everything about you, so there’s no need to keep up false pretenses. You are free to leave your worries with Him at the door, curl up by the proverbial fire, and make yourself at home in His love.

Does going “home for the holidays” conjure up memories of love and joyful interactions, or are they less so? Maybe your childhood memories are good ones, but loved ones have passed or the kids have grown and moved away; Christmas isn’t the same anymore, and neither is how you feel about being “home for the holidays.” Take a minute today to leave your worries with Him--perhaps even make a list on paper and physically put them down--then sit in His love for a while.

To read or re-read the overview/summary of this week’s passage, you can click here.