Keys

Keys connect us to places that we belong.  We have a key to our home; to our work; to our car.  The keys that dangle from our chain tell a story about our life – where we come from and where we go.  Sometimes people have a lot of keys and we think that they must be really important, that they are connected to a lot of places, that they have permission to get into places that others aren’t able to access.

When I arrived back in Washington right before Christmas it dawned on me that I only had one key.  A key to my car.  I no longer had a home so of course, I didn’t have a house key.   I didn’t have a job, so I no longer had a key to a church, or a building.  I no longer belonged anywhere.  I simply had a car key.  The fact that I was homeless and jobless – completely displaced hit home.  That was a somber aha moment for me.  I only had one key; my car key. 

Yesterday I signed a lease for an apartment and I was given the key to my new home.  Although I’ve been living with my friends Dave and Carol for 7 months now and I’ve had a key to their home, it hasn’t been my home.  They have been very gracious and hospitable but staying with someone else is not the same as having your own home.  Having a key to someone else’s home is not the same as having a key to your own home.

I haven’t lived in an apartment since my early 20’s.  My apartment is very small.  It is 650 square feet.  And yet to me it is a castle.  It is my space.  My home.  God has worked wonders over the last 7 months.  He has changed me.  My idea of home has changed.  My idea of what I need has changed.  I just need a space to be.  I just need a key that reminds me that I belong somewhere; that I have a place to go and a place to come from each and every day.  I just need a key that connects me to a place that I belong.  That's all I need.