Home

People ask, do you feel homesick? Do you miss home? Do you miss people back in Singapore?

Right now, with all honesty, no.

Why?

I ask myself that question too. Why dont I miss home, why dont I feel homesick?

The first thing that I can think of is that maybe I was made this way. I was made to travel, made to move, made to adapt, made to make home wherever the Lord leads me to. My wish or dreams was to be a traveling worship pastor. Maybe that is how I was wired.

The next thing that came to mind was the people. People in school, people in PJ. They feel so much like home. They have almost the same config as the people back in Singapore. Just that I use lesser hokkien, and more English, a bit of my limited Malay and limited Cantonese. Other than that, yes, its not that different.

But I do miss the convenience that I get back home and the people who makes all these convenience. I miss mum and dad for their great love and all the sacrifices that they make. Gugu for all the housework and cooking she does. Its really a headache to do all these chores. My sis who help me get good stuffs at cheap rates and a younger brother who is ever so helpful. I wonder why I dont say these to them, but I guess its an asian culture not to show too much love, which is something I wanna break away from.

What else do I miss? Yea, my crazy bunch of friends from church. I miss hanging out with them. I dont know what to say, there is quite a bit, but all in all, I miss being with like minded people in ministry. I dont yet have one here, as in one that I throw myself in like when I was in CPC. But my worship team and YA comm, I miss them very much. And of course my God parents. I miss meals and coffee sessions. They are luxury back then.

So what is this post exactly about?

Well its about a thought that I had. I was just thinking, what is a home? What is it that people would go back to a certain place called home. What exactly makes a home?

As I ponder, I feel that what a home should be is this.

A home should be build on love. Perfect love. Let me elaborate, some parents or older sibling show love in a harsh way. They use unkind words or do deliberate actions to 'rein' in a child. But our Father God chose to give us freedom, He knew that we, as His children, know how to handle freedom. He didnt rein us in, let us roam free! And that freedom needs to be communicated. You are free to do whatever, but know that you are free because perfect love breeds freedom. And in that love, trust is given. You trust that the person you love, knows how to handle the freedom and that he/she wont choose or make decision that hurts the relationship between you and the other person. Have this communicated, so that the responsibility is on the child. He/she will learn to think and make decisions for him/herself.

You on the other hand have to be prepared for failures and hurts that come. With love, hurts may come, but know that the greater the hurt feels, the greater the love is. Simply because the love you have for the other person is just as great as it hurts. But dont stop loving just because it hurts. I assure you that when Christ said He would send a comforter, He would and the Holy Spirit will heal and refresh your hurting heart. Besides, Christ is the perfect love. If you have Him in your heart, you will be loved always.

So you hope that the child wont fail. You hope that he/she will protect the relationship and make the right decision. But what happens when things dont go right and it hurts? I suggest that you embrace it. Embrace the failure, accept it and bring the child back to love. I remember that Cheryl once told me this: Love the sinner, hate the sin. So how to do that? Dont punish or guilt trip the person, shower love. Help the person to fight the sin. That means to be accountable to each other and then clear up the mess. Reinstate and remind them of their identity. The sin is not going to be their identity. The devil tempts them to sin to steal, kill and destroy that identity that they have. Walk through with them this period of time till things are all made right. Christ died on the cross for our sins and he rose victorious from that death. That means, no sin is too great that He cannot forgive or conquer. So we fight and love from victory.

So after all these thoughts and ranting what is in a home? Basically its an environment of love, a culture of trust, and a safety net for people to fall. Knowing that home is where I am accepted even if I fail, is where I am trusted to make things right again, is where I can fall safely. Home is a SAFE PLACE.

And if every home is just like that, imagine the church which is made up of many homes. I want my church to be my safe place. A place where Love grows and impacts the atmosphere, a place where trust is our core value and a place where I know I can fall safe. We celebrate diversity among individuals, cheer on good works and share warmness by simply remembering names.

I know I am rambling and going on in circles, but I hope you get what I mean and what it is I really wanna say. Its late now and I better get some rest.