Yesterday, I placed my Christmas card, with this photo included, at over 100 apartment homes where I live. The picture is of our common area which is such a beautiful gathering place. I added these words to the photo: \u201cHome is oh so sweet with friends like you!\u201d It is true. So many new and dear friends to do life with. And placing my card on each door shelf gave me good exercise to maneuver myself throughout five buildings with four floors. I wasn’t the first to extend love to my neighbors. I had already received many Christmas cards from friends here. We’re doing our part to spread Christmas cheer and joy!
I remember the years, to my family\u2019s chagrin, when my annual tradition was to insist on getting family photos at Thanksgiving. It was like jumping off a cliff for them to give me that time and to smile with their sweetest smiles. I can\u2019t tell you how many times I had to photoshop one head to another photo because that kid was sticking his tongue out or looking the other way or scratching his crotch! Lord, have mercy! With the extra cost of postage, I would mail out over 100 Christmas photo cards. Now, thank God for social media where we can display family photos every day of the year if we want to \u2013 and many of us do!
Today I return to my “home sweet home” after staying with my two boys and their dog for the last week. I\u2019m thinking of the solitude and sweet peace I am about to experience.
Solitude is the state of being alone without being lonely. It is a positive way of appreciating ME. I have learned that my place of being alone is often where I find myself very good company. But, even more so, my aloneness and solitude is so incredibly heartwarming when I know that my Savior is there with me, watching over me, ready to talk to me. He doesn\u2019t demand the remote control. He doesn\u2019t care what food I\u2019m eating and doesn\u2019t mind if I stay up late or turn in early. He is such a gentle and loving friend that He doesn\u2019t even mind if I don\u2019t talk to Him that much, but He sure is ready to talk when I give Him my full attention.
I open the door of my sweet apartment home and it seems to invite me in like an old friend. I remember again that I am loved, not because of what I do but because of Who I belong to. Home is where my heart is, and since I\u2019m not at HOME in heaven yet, I\u2019m learning this: Home is also Who is within my heart AND my home. And, might I add \u2013 having wonderful neighbors like I do here, just adds further reasons to declare \u201cThere\u2019s no place like home.\u201d
Matthew 6:21 says \u201cFor where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.\u201d I know that my true home isn\u2019t found on this earth. Heaven is my real home and everything I do or say has that home on my mind. Right here at Christmas I am fixing my heart on God\u2019s presentation to us of His beloved Son who became one of us. He knows us and gets us. Oh what a Savior. Oh hallelujah. Home is where my heart is and my heart is with Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yesterday, I placed my Christmas card, with this photo included, at over 100 apartment homes where I live. The picture is of our common area which is such a beautiful gathering place. I added these words to the photo: \u201cHome is oh so sweet with friends like you!\u201d It is true. So many new and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22358,17302,22357],"tags":[22351,22350,4241,819,22352,22354,22356,19933,2066,22353,3690,22349,775,22355],"class_list":["post-15306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gathering-place","category-home-sweet-home","category-spreading-love","tag-apartment-homes","tag-christmas-card","tag-christmas-cheer","tag-family-photo","tag-gathering-place","tag-good-company","tag-heaven-is-home","tag-home-is-where-the-heart-is","tag-home-sweet-home","tag-postage","tag-solitude","tag-spreading-love","tag-thanksgiving","tag-threasure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15306"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15309,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15306\/revisions\/15309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}