My Heart Is Where My Home Is

I am generally pretty independent and brave. I don't get nervous easily or homesick often.

But I'm no super-woman, and sometimes I'm just lonely.

Tonight is one of those times. How can I be lonely, you ask? I don't know. I'm surrounded by friends I absolutely adore nearly 24/7. Today was no exception, I went to a house showing, got coffee with a friend, went out to dinner, procrastinated with Taylor as usual. There is no lack of business and activity in my life. But every now and then I feel a hole in me that can only be filled by a hug from my mom or a song from my dad.

On nights like this, when I'm thinking and not sleeping, my heart always goes back to my sweet family. Sure, I enjoy being self-sufficient, but at the end of the day (quite literally) I realize how blessed I am to have them. My brother Sam's witty jokes and endless hugs. His constant drawing and movie quoting. (Sam, your drawings blow my stick figures out of the proverbial water. You are truly talented.) Dad's messes from constant construction projects. The strumming of his guitar coupled with his light, airy voice. Jess's inexhaustible energy and bouncing and running and talking. His hair flips and "I love you's". Mom's morning cup of chai and her shelves of books. Her love of conversation and the hugs only she can give. This is home. I can feel it, smell it, hear it, see it.
 

Everything has moved so quickly since I left for school that I never really thought I was "leaving home". I often forget that I don't live at home anymore. I'll only be there for less than a month this summer and for a few weeks during the year. Will home ever be "home" again? I don't really know how to handle all the transitioning in life, but I have a feeling it never ends.

When I'm feeling lonely, I don't know what else to do but thank God for it. So many kids go to college to escape their families or get away from their town. So, thank you God, for homesickness, because I reminds me of the ways you've blessed me. Tonight, when my heart is where my home is, I thank God that he has given me a family that I love enough to miss.

(Disclaimer: If you're anyone except my mom, sorry about the mushy-sentimentality of this post, but, that's what I get for drinking coffee at night and expecting to sleep at a reasonable hour. If you are my mom, you can stop crying now ;) )

What do you do to remedy loneliness? Is it a new thought to treat it as a blessing in disguise?

I hope your week has been nothing but wonderful!

~Olivia