rechelle's lifelyrics

“There’s no place like home… ” That is a well-known quote from Dorothy in the 1939 movie, “Wizard of Oz.” Dorothy was a girl who ended up in strange surroundings instead of planted firmly in her familiar safe-haven that she had somehow taken for granted. It’s an elaborate example of how we humans tend to forget the meaning of the things we hold most dear until they are coincidentally far out of reach.

“Home is where the heart is,” “Home away from home,” “Make a house a home,” and “Feels like home” are all sayings that give the same sense of comfort and belonging we associate with home. When I was an independent consultant for Tupperware, and then later for Home Interiors many years ago, I ventured into many homes of people I didn’t know. It was fascinating to experience that kind of personal context around people I originally met in someone else’s space. I was there to help them be more organized (Tupperware Modular Mates) or feel more comfortable through decorating, but I was also observing lifestyles of people who lived in cluttered, clean, noisy, quiet, crowded, sparsely furnished, or many other conditions in their daily lives. I’ve been a guest in homes that were very untidy. A few of them had things on every surface so there wasn’t really a place for a guest to sit down. Going into an environment like that has made me feel very uneasy, but it was their home – their place of comfort. I have come to realize people are so different from one another, and our comfort levels are based on so many variables. Just because I feel comfortable in a setting doesn’t mean that everyone else does, and vice versa!

Now that I’m doing more traveling, I’m finding out what makes me feel “at home” versus downright uncomfortable in a space. Maybe I’ve become more particular about my preferences as I’ve gotten older. If the room seems dirty, I have a hard time sleeping. If there isn’t a place for me to put my toiletries and arrange my things in a way I’m used to, I feel out of sorts. I must admit I’m pickier than I realized when it comes to what kind of surroundings I need to really feel settled. But I think the comfort of home is even more than our surroundings.

I wrote a song many years ago about two very different friends of mine, and part of the chorus says “Feels like going home whenever we get together…” It was that sense of belonging, and feeling safe in their company that I was encapsulating in those lyrics. I’m so thankful I have people and surroundings in my life today that feel like home. We have truly been planted here in Oregon after the great deliverance God gave us in 2011 from tempest and trauma in Southern California. Even though I seek a country not made with hands, I am grateful for my Home Away From Home that provides a lot of comfort in this crazy, mixed-up world.