Bart Millard - Homesick

HOMESICK
Bart Millard of MercyMe

Homesick

Copyright 2005 by Simpleville Music, Inc.

Published by Integrity Publishers, a division of Integrity Media, Inc.,
5250 Virginia Way, Suite 110, Brentwood TN 37027.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Song lyrics: Homesick Copyright 2004 Simpleville Music (ASCAP).
Administered by Fun Attic Music & The Runway Network. All rights reserved.

Published in cooperation with Mark Nicholas for Simpleville Music, Inc.,
Nashville, TN.
Written in cooperation with Wendy Lee Nentwig.

Scripture quotations used in this book are from The New American Standard Version (NASV). Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Interior and Cover Design: The DesignWorks Group, Charles Brock,
www.thedesignworksgroup.com
Cover Photo: Steve Gardner, www.pixelworksstudio.net

ISBN: 1-59145-365-8 (hardcover)

Printed in Mexico

05 06 07 08 09 RRD 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Make two homes for thyselfone actual home
and another spiritual home,
which thou art to carry with thee always.

- ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA

We are all homesick. I think it goes back to the moment Adam and Eve took that first bite. The sweet taste of fruit was still on their lips when they felt an unfamiliar ache. A longing for something for someone for somewhere else. They were homesick.

For Earths first couple, freshly banished from paradise, this separation was a new sensation. For us, its an ever-present awareness. I have felt its tug more at some times than at othersmy first day of school, leaving home, welcoming my children into the world and thinking about the day when I will have to let them go, watching family and loved ones slip away but the feeling that somethings missing will never fully go away this side of Heaven.

And thats probably as it should be. After all, this world is not our home.

WERE ALL HOMESICK.

Theres no place like home.

- DOROTHY GALE IN THE WIZARD OF OZ

What is this place called home? Is it where I hang my heart or where I lay my head? Maybe its a little of both. Home for me is wherever my wife, Shannon, and our two kids are. But its also a place for me. Those four walls represent an emotional sigh of relief because once inside, I can let my hair down. I can be myself blemishes and all and Im loved just the same. I just feel better in my skin when Im home.

Ive read somewhere that more than seven million people in the US buy homes each month. I see countless home-improvement TV shows, huge do-it-yourself stores, and rows of books on the subject of home. It is apparent that this whole idea of home has a strong hold on us, and there is something ingrained in our nature that makes us want to find comfort and settle down in one place.

This world may not be our final destination, but that doesnt stop us from trying to make ourselves at home here. We settle in, take on a mortgage, hang up pictures, and tend our yard. But no matter how hard we try to establish deep roots, were not meant to stay.

When Im on the road, I miss the predictability and consistency of everyday life back home. Sleeping in my own bed, my own place on the mattress. Getting up early to fix my son Sams breakfast while I catch the latest sports headlines on TV. Its such a powerful connection between my heart and home that even when Im on the road, Ill find myself waking up at 7 a.m. My family is hundreds of miles away so there are no kids for me to feed, but in the fog of early morning, my heart sometimes forgets.

Dont get me wrong, I wouldnt trade what I do for anything I think you can love your job so much that you actually feel guilty about doing it but nothing compares to home. Nothing.

I close my eyes and I see your face.

If home is where the heart is, then Im out of place.

- FROM THE MERCYME SONG HOMESICK

Its a rite of passage, that first night spent away from home. Ill never forget my first time. To some, it can be exciting, but it can also be terrifying. Away from everything that signifies security, the world can seem pretty scary. Its the point at which most of us are first introduced to that powerful emotion known as homesickness.

Greenville, Texas is also home. Population 23,000 and some change. I grew up in this town the town that in some ways raised me. My wifes parents were my first-grade Sunday school teachers. People went the extra mile to show me right from wrong, and there are families all over town that had a hand in making me the man I am today. The town of Greenville and the people who live here are home to me. No matter where I go in this world, theres always something that reminds me of home.

Home is where one starts.

-T. S. ELIOT

What makes a place a home? A little bit of everything. Its security, its belonging, its not needing a road map, its knowing everyones names. Away from home and in the whirlwind of life, so many people are just competing with each other and striving for more and more. But at home, folks root for each other. You dont have to impress them. Get thirteenth place in something, and theyd still be proud.

Home is like this sweet, elderly lady at my church who tells everyone they sing great because she doesnt want to hurt their feelings. Home is a place that cares, and its where we get filled up so we can face another day.