Scripture for Today:  II Corinthians 5:8  “We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”

I love the sappy Christmas carol with the words, “Oh there’s no place like home for the holidays.”  I am blessed to have my whole family here in France with me this year; my son, my two daughters, and their husbands, AND my baby grandson!  It is a rare event.  Somehow, as the kids grow into adults, coming together gets more and more complicated.  Oh, and then there is the ocean between us.

I asked my 90 year-old mother on the phone if she thought Christmas is celebrated every year in heaven.  She laughed at the idea and then said that they probably are celebrating every day up there!  But I do wonder if those that have gone before us mark the day in some way.

Our verse for today expresses Paul’s preference to be “home with the Lord” rather than at home in his body.  I love the idea of HOME.  It brings to mind love, warmth, and shelter.  This holiday season I am working hard to make our home warm and welcoming for the family’s arrival.  But Paul believes that being home with the Lord is far better than living here on earth.

There are friends and relatives of mine already with the Lord.  I miss them.  But they are home.  What is more, they are home for the holidays, in their true home.  The holidays they are enjoying far outshine what we can do to celebrate here on earth.  No budget, no tiredness, no dashed expectations, no overindulgence!

It is true, there is no place like home for the holidays.  How much more this is true for our eternal home!