My home away from home

I feel like I live a pretty sheltered life ... and I'm okay with that. I am a stay at home mom, I live in a tiny town where everyone knows each other, and my activities are mainly church related. My husband works a public job and I am sometimes shocked by the things he says goes on around there, because I just never see any of it.

But I'm definitely okay with that.

When I was a teen, I saw the world as this big place that I wanted to explore and be a part of. I wanted out of the town I lived in; I figured getting out would be my entrance into that exploration. I wanted to dabble in everything, I wanted freedom, I wanted to experience something truly worthwhile. At that age, I just felt like my life was on hold. I wanted the next thing.

An hour and a half away in college was about all I needed to see of the world. A university is so different than the small town I grew up in. People from all over and all different walks of life. Needless to say, I didn't like it. Although I was seeing and learning new things, it wasn't the difference that I didn't really like. I realized every place is the same and that the same junk that gets on your nerves about one place will be found in another. I also realized I wanted to minimize whatever it was that got on my nerves to the best of my ability.

So when Joshua and I got married, we moved to his hometown. It's just a few miles away from where I grew up and went to high school, so it wasn't a culture shock. I even had some friends who live here. I've never looked back since. It's quiet ... except for maybe the train (which I couldn't live without) and the interstate nearby. It's small and people seem to know each other. Yeah, we've got crime and we've got our issues (believe me!) ... it is certainly no Mayberry. But it is like a little hide away for me.

Sometimes while we're walking through our little town, I think about everything that goes on in the world around us. I think about how prophecies in the Bible are coming to pass ... those which the Lord said to look for in the last days. I think about how this sinful world is really not my home. But my little town ... I feel like I've got a little piece of innocence hidden away here. It's just as fallen as any other place, but it's good for me.

I know a lot of people say before they die, they want to experience the world and see everything. I'm not really interested in that anymore. I've seen little and it did me no good. The only place I want to see is Heaven. This town is just keeping me happy until I get there.

I guess you could call this place my home away from home.