During July, I am rerunning four blogs from the past year. I hope you enjoy a second serving from some of my favorites.

My wife loves to watch HGTV. I am good for one or two programs before my eyes glaze over. The shows blur into a DIY jumble of FixerUpperLoveitorListItFliporFlopHomeTownPropertyBrothers GoodBonesHolmesonHomes.

The shows’ clients often express a heartfelt desire for their “Forever Home.” If I’m awake for this predictable portion of the episode, I always guffaw aloud. There is no such thing in this world.

Annelle O’Kelley was a faithful member of a church I served. She was born and raised in the family’s ancestral home. Shortly after getting married, Annelle and her husband moved back home with her parents. She continued to live in the same house until her death at 94 years of age.

Four generations of the family lived and died in the home. Annelle spent over nine decades at the same address on Langley Avenue. However, it was not her forever home.

In 2 Corinthians 5:1, Paul wrote:

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed,

we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven,

not built by human hands.

This world is not our home; we are pilgrims “marching through Emmanuel’s ground to fairer worlds on high.” Some day we will reach journey’s end and enjoy our forever home.