There's No Place Like Home

Home. What a fascinating concept. Yes, concept. Also a place, sort of. I know my true home is in heaven. And I'm glad I've got that, because on earth, this "home" idea is a lot more complicated.
My family moved every 3-4 years while I was growing up. (No, my Daddy wasn't in the military. That's just how things worked out.) When we were still in Maine after 4 years, I couldn't believe it. I went to one high school. Just one! I went to the same school for 4 consecutive years! That was a big deal for me.
Now let me give you a brief timeline so that you can follow what I'm going to talk about next:
June 2004-I graduated from my high school in Auburn (actually my graduation was in the hockey rink in Lewiston. Yeah, I graduated in the hockey rink and had prom at the local ski resort. How Maine is that?)
August 2004-I started college in Grove City, PA
April 2005-my parents moved from Auburn, ME to Old Orchard Beach, ME (about an hour south)
Summer 2005-I worked on the Blue Ridge Parkway at the Pisgah Inn (about an hour south of Asheville, NC)
Summer 2006-I worked at the Hannaford grocery store and lived in OOB with my parents
Summer 2007-I worked in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming
October 2007-My parents moved from OOB, Maine to Mexico (Ok, Arizona, but only about 15 miles north of Mexico)
Summer 2008-I worked in the Tetons again
I am currently living in Grove City until the rest of my support comes in and then I will live in COSTA RICA!!!!
Now you see why "home" is a struggle for me. I think it might be for anyone who has gone away to college for 4 years. Home may still be home, but time has passed, and people have changed. There is at least a different dynamic. (I can't imagine there not being one, but I could be making incorrect assumptions here).

People ask me where I'm from and I don't know how to respond. First I usually ask them if they really want to know. That is to warn them that they're not going to get an easy answer. Then, sometimes I say "the northeast." Sometimes I say "Partly Maine, part Arizona, part Wyoming, part Pennsylvania, and Costa Rica." That one gets some good looks. I might as well have 5 heads with horns and ugly bumps when I say that. It's kind of fun though. Other times I just tell people, wherever we are when they ask me "Here, for now."

I am going up to Auburn, Maine this weekend. It will be interesting. I am excited. I still know quite a few people there. I have been to visit Auburn a few times since I graduated high school, but I haven't spent 3 consecutive days there since Christmastime 2004. WOW! And each time I go back, life there seems familiar, but more distant. So, I'm on yet another adventure. It will be good to see some of the people I've actually kept in touch with. And I'm really looking forward to visiting my church there and sharing about Costa Rica. I am one of their official missionaries now, so it will be good to strengthen my connections with the people there. Thanks for your prayers-I'll let you know how it goes!