Home is where...

   Every morning I wake up to the sun on my pillow, and the dogs scratching at the heavy wood door eager to say good morning. The family calico jumps on her shelf impatiently waiting for her slave to grant her wish of food in her dish, and I pull on muck boots heading outside into the brisk autumn air.

   Red pines guard my home like tall soldiers. Acres of woods hold memories of four childhoods, and the once young trees are now aged with a charming grace. The spring still gurgles and leaps through the woods; sounding the same as it was 17 years ago. Horses nicker at the opening of the creaky screen door. The dogs run out from underneath you, eager to chase the legendary squirrel that they've never caught. Chickens cluck and squawk at the sound of coming footsteps, quickly followed by the thud of hooves on the soft ground. Dark brown eyes anticipate the fall apples on the ground, nickering in anticipation of the crisp crunch of apples. 

And yet I have two homes.

One here, in a little town in Northern Michigan and another that I've only read about in a legendary book. You might know it, it's called Heaven. Okay now no closing the tab or switching to a different page, no I'm not crazy.  It's described as Paradise, a place with no more sorrow, mourning, or pain, a city of pure gold, clear as glass, a place with many rooms.

A place that seems too good to be true.

But it's true.

It's just as real as the phone that you hold in your hand, or the laptop you have on the table. 

It's more real than your Facebook news feed, your twitter, or latest Instagram post. 

It's real, genuine, and a promise from God.

"I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand."

John 10:28

Once we are forgiven, we're always forgiven and nothing we can do can change that.

I know a lot of people would fight this and say, "Once you've committed so many sins.. you're done you've lost your salvation." but to say that you've lost your salvation is going against Gods word, making the God of all creation out to be a liar.

 He says that no one can snatch you from His hand. Not even yourself. But does that mean we just get to live like wild people and do what ever we want because we have a forgiving God?

No. It doesn't.

There was a reason why God gave Moses the ten commandments.

Think about the children of Israel they disobeyed God and ended up spending 40 years in the desert.

Think about David and how he committed adultery, he later lost his son, because of that sin.

Our sins have consequences.

 But if we have the forgiveness of our savior, the consequences of those sins is no longer death. 

We repent, and confess and we receive a sweet forgiveness from our heavenly Father.

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and purify us from all unrighteousness." 
1 John 1:9

Life comes with pain, sorrow, mourning, and hardships.

Life also comes with forgiveness, love, joy, and an eternity in heaven with God.