Second Home

         For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
         So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
(2 Corinthians 5:1-9 ESV)

For a season several years ago, my wife's brother Kevin and his wife Theresa were owners of two restaurants by the same name, one in Tulsa and one in Oklahoma City. It's about a two-hour trip between the two cities, and they would be at each one for several days a week, which meant, on days when they were needed in Oklahoma City, an awfully long commute from their house in Tulsa. Add to that the fact that the restaurant business is a late-night thing (many times the staff of a restaurant that serves dinner is still there well after midnight, even if they close at 9 or 10, cleaning everything up and getting ready for the next day) and you've got a seriously grueling late-night drive going on. Instead of trying to go back to Tulsa after a late night at the Oklahoma City restaurant, Kevin and Theresa simply rented an apartment in Oklahoma City to stay at on those late evenings over there. When they left their home in Tulsa, they had another home in Oklahoma City. But when they left their temporary home in Oklahoma City (which, when the restaurant was closed years later, they did not continue to rent), they could come home to their real home in Tulsa.

About a week ago, Theresa left her temporary home in Tulsa for her real home in the presence of Jesus. The wonderful thing about that trip is that there's no two-hour commute, and there's no rent to pay. She didn't leave without a fight, but once the fight was over, she was immediately away from the home she had in her body and instantly entered her home with the Lord!