UTA...

"Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'" -Luke 10:8-10

"It might seem strange to start a story with an ending. But all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time." -Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

When you first meet people, one of the generic first question to ask is, "Where are you from?"

It's a completely reasonable question, after all. It is likely you can tell something about someone by where they're from. I'd think differently or expect different things from someone from a small farm town in Kansas than I would from someone who grew up on the beach in California or someone who was raised in the Bronx. Where we're from is a vital part of who are in so many ways.

It's just that I'm not very good at answering it. You'd think after 26 years I'd have a pretty good handle on where I'm from. I should know as well as anybody else. I'm the one who's from there!

But I'm not. You see, I was born in northern California, in wine country. And that's where I spent the formative first 11 years of my life. But then we moved to a suburb of Nashville, and that's where I grew up, per se. That's where I learned to think and imagine and dream. And then, I wanted to move away from home to experience some independence and I went to a little liberal arts school in the foothills of South Carolina where I found my calling and my passion and learned to write my own story.

As if all of that weren't enough, I moved to Texas where I've learned immeasurably more about myself than I'd ever anticipated.

So when people ask where I'm from, sometimes I say Santa Rosa, CA. Sometimes I say right outside of Nashville. Sometimes I say I just moved from South Carolina.

I haven't quite gotten to where I say I'm from Texas.

The other day I was waiting for a high school graduation to start on the campus of UT-Arlington. When you're a youth minister/master's student, sometimes you have to multi-task. So while families were gathering in the arena to cheer their graduates, I was finishing a paper for a Maymester class. What a life. HA!

While I was sitting there, a campus housing commercial came on and got stuck on loop. Over. And over. And over again. Needless to say, it got a little repetitive. I'm sure UTA has a lot more to celebrate than its housing. But after thirty plays, I decided to pull my earbuds out and listen to what was being sold. And I was hooked.

No, I can't say I signed up to take some classes so I could live on campus. But the tagline. I loved the tagline. "Live where your life is."

That was the idea behind UTA's campus housing. You ought to live where your life is. Brilliant!

Some may hear that and think it's the most obvious thing in the world. OF COURSE WE LIVE WHERE OUR LIVES ARE! Where else could we live!? But on second thought, I think a lot of us live other places.

I think this tagline, at least for me, pointed to something much deeper. Something Jesus tried to teach his disciples.

When Jesus sent out the seventy disciples (yes, this is more than twelve, if you noticed. Jesus had lots of disciples and twelve that were closer than others) he told them to enter towns and find a home to stay in. "Don't bounce around," Jesus told them, "but make yourself at home and get rooted in the place!"

What Jesus knew was that you can't be with people if you're not with them. Let me explain. We can be in the same physical space as someone and not be with them. How often have couples been married for years but not sharing the passion of life and love? How often do we pass our homeless brothers and sisters on the street without even acknowledging their presence? How often do we find a job only to think, "When can I possibly get out of here for something better?" How often have people spent so time thinking about how green the grass is on the other side that they miss the beauty of the yard they're playing in?

I think that's why Jesus told the disciples to stay put. I think he wanted them to get to know their neighbors, to find out what made them laugh and what made them cry, what their favorite type of camel was. You know, the important stuff. To take their time to get to know people. He wanted his disciples to be neighbors because that is how communities and peoples' lives are changed: when people are with them.

People have asked me a lot if I think I'll stay in Texas forever. As someone who's moved around a good bit, that seems crazy to me some days. If you'd asked me that two years ago, I'd have said, "No way, Jose!" Now I'm not so sure. I've found people here, people I love and people who care for me. I've found home here. Just like I did in Santa Rosa. Just like I did in Brentwood. Just like I did in Greenville. My life is what it is today because of the people I knew and the experiences I had in all of those places because I found home there.

I know where I'm from. I'm from Santa Rosa. I'm from Brentwood. I'm from Greenville. I'm from Camp Barnabas. I'm from Berea Friendship United Methodist Church. And I'm from Fort Worth. I'm from all the places I've called home and all of the places that have shaped my life because I was willing to be there. And that's why I know, no matter where life takes me, here or there, near or far, comfortable or scary, I've learned to always be at home.

Some of us may only know one home. Others may know thirty. But may you live wherever your life is. May you hear and follow where the Spirit is calling you. And may you dive head first into the people around you, calling you by name, teaching you who you are and who you are becoming. And may you always be at home.

forever unfinished...