At the time I was born, our family lived on a farm southwest of Crosby, ND. When I was ten years old, my parents built a new home on a neighboring farmstead, and so it was my growing up years were spent between two different places.
As I headed off to college, my first year was spend at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. This was also the point at which my now husband came into the picture, resulting in a wedding rather than a return to UND the next year. Instead, the second part of my college career was spent in Williston at UND-W, where I earned an Associate of Arts degree in the Financial Clerical field. Once again, a phase of my life was split between two locations.
After graduation from UND-W, my husband and I returned to our hometown of Crosby and moved into a newly completed apartment complex known as "Wallin Manor". Soon thereafter we began work on a three bedroom house, which was constructed by my husband and his father. Before moving into our new home, however, we also spent a few months housesitting for my husband's grandparents. Once again a pattern of two living spaces in the early years of our marriage.
We have now lived in our home for nearly 42 years. It is a handy location, right on Main Street of Crosby. The next block north is home to our local grocery store, and our church is located one block to the south. My husband always says, "We get fed from both directions!" It has been a great place to live throughout the course of our marriage, and it was where we raised our two children. It is now the place our four grandchildren come to visit, and I really could never have imagined living anywhere else. That is, of course, until my husband began his career in state politics!
Now, every other January, we move to Bismarck for the four months of the Legislative Session. Our "home away from home" is a small condominium unit rented to us by a "snowbird". When we first went to check it out, I was amazed at how many similarities there were between her furniture and ours. It was as if God went out of His way to make me feel "at home" during these seasons which brought me away from the security of our home in Crosby.
One portion of Scripture comes to mind as I think of all the places I have lived. It reads as follows:
"From one man God made all the nations,
that they should inhabit the whole earth;
and He marked out their appointed times in history
and the exact places they should live.
God did this so that they would seek Him
and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him,
though He is not far from any one of us."
Acts 17:26-27
Yes, even way back in the beginning, God knew all about the places I would occupy during the space of time He has allowed for me to live on His earth. It is all a part of His perfect plan for my life. It is what keeps me sane during these "back and forth" trips. . .knowing He knows all about it, and has a purpose for each season of my life.
It is also comforting to know my time here on earth is only part of the picture. No matter which home I find myself in here on earth, there is another "heavenly home" awaiting me. What a blessing it will be when God settles me there for good! Until then, the verses in Acts 17 tell me my part of the bargain. . .God provides the time and the place, and my duty is to seek Him and reach out for Him. It is a daily process, which involves Bible reading, prayer, and Christian fellowship. And no matter where I find myself, He is never far away!
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