Praise for Home

            "People say she's crazy
            She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
            Well that's one way to lose these
            Walking blues
            She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes...."

This morning I was driving home after I dropped Lucas off at preschool. I was listening to Paul Simon's "Graceland", having grabbed the CD on a whim before I had left to drop him off. And this song was playing, my favorite on the album. And as I sat at the corner of Farmer's Lane and where HWY 12 dumps the freeway traffic, I noticed a woman walking down the side of the freeway. She was dressed in a cotton dress, her hair pulled up in a twist at the nape of her neck, her earrings medium sized balls dangling low, a purse slung over her shoulder. She was older, maybe late 60's, early 70's. And I thought it odd that she was walking down the freeway. I wondered if she had run out of gas or something. She was shielding her eyes from the sun with a piece of paper. And when she reached the bottom of the freeway exit, she turned around and rested against a lamppost, holding the sign in front of her, along with money that she counted and recounted. And I realized with surprise that this woman was begging. She looked clean, like she cared about her appearance, and I realized the stereotype I hold in me about certain people. Because she looked so normal, it seemed odd that she was there at this major intersection, counting her money and begging for more.

The sight of this woman made me think about my comforts once again, one that I thank the Lord for time and time again. I was driving on my way HOME. Home. What a wonderful word that is! When I hear the word HOME, I think of someplace warm, where love is abundant. Home can be many places, it doesn't mean just a house. And I have several places I can call HOME. And for that I am eternally greatful.

Today I praise God for my home, for the love and comfort I have in my life. The Lord has blessed me so immensely that I cannot praise Him enough for this. I pray for that woman, that maybe she does have a place that she can call HOME, and for anyone else stuck on a corner with an outstretched hand, and even those that appear to have diamonds on the soles of their shoes.