Our Japanese neighbors are going home.  They lived next door to us for the last 4 years.  We didn’t hear much from them.  They were a very quiet family, a mother, a father, a son and a daughter.  All were very accomplished and thrived here in America.  When my husband told me they were leaving, he commented that they would miss all this open space here in Arizona.  I told him that “home” always calls to us.  No matter how enjoyable a visit to another place may be, it is not “home.”

“Choosing Life” tells my story, an only child growing up in the northeast.  I have made my home here in Arizona, but even after all these years, Phillie and the Jersey shore call out to me.  The traditions, the food, the smell of the salt air and the wildness of the North Atlantic.   But I also had a disconnect.  We moved every year from third grade to ninth grade.  I was always “the new kid.”  When I was told by the publisher to choose another name for myself, I was drawn to the name Barbara, a stranger.  For indeed, I am a stranger wherever I go.  Even here in Arizona, I don’t really belong, even though I love it here.  It’s difficult to limit my heart to one place.  But if my name was Barbara, then my initials would be BS, so I chose Tracy (strong).

As Christians, we are all strangers on this earth.  This is not our “home.”  When Jesus returned to Heaven, He promised us that He would prepare a place for us.  And, when the time was right, He would come back for us and take us “home.”   I love every day here on Earth, but I long to go home, where I will really belong.