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Brenda Bradford Ottinger

Encouraging Women to Live Rooted in the Sacred

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Home is (blank)?

Mother’s Day has a way of centering thoughts on home, doesn’t it?

For some it’s the home of their youth where boo-boos were kissed and stories were read.

For some it’s a beloved home-state where the soil smells like childhood and dreams.

For me, at it’s simplest—it’s where my people are. My four guys who bring the blessed mix of beauty and chaos that claims home to my soul.

But, at it’s most true—Home is Him.

An excerpt from my welcome page reads:

I’m a middle-aged woman who spent much of life chasing roots…looking for the belonging my soul craved. Not knowing a familial sense of belonging, I longed to be enough.

As you might imagine, my heart holds a tender place for others who’ve also known the hunger for roots.

Over the years, the Lord has spoken belonging over me, whispering into my famished heart that—He is my Home.

Some days, I’m still a little girl searching for home—then Jesus shows up and reminds me I’m welcome, I’m claimed, I belong. Because He said so.

And, just like that, in the midst of chasing roots, I’m touching Sky…keeping company with the One who placed Heaven in my heart so I’d search for Home—and find Him.

What about you, friend? How do you fill in the blank? Home is ________?



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Comments

  1. Liz says

    May 18, 2017 at 6:58 am

    Home is where the Army sends you…. LOL That’s what we say here. I truly believe this nomadic lifestyle helps keep me longing for my true home in heaven. Blessings, friend!
    Liz recently posted…Word Nerd Wednesday – TabernacleMy Profile

    Reply
    • Brenda says

      May 18, 2017 at 11:59 am

      Praying for you as you set out on another adventure, friend. May the army send you to a beautiful place to call home. ((xoxo))

      Reply
  2. Bev @ Walking Well With God says

    May 18, 2017 at 7:04 am

    Brenda,
    I love this excerpt….beautiful. I would have to agree and say Home is where Christ is. I have moved around the country and I have made several houses my earthly “home”. Each home has been an oasis from the battering of the world and is a place where Christ was worshiped as King. Ultimately, my true “home” is in heaven with Jesus. There will always be a homesickness in my soul…a feeling that something is lacking or not quite as it should be until I am finally “home” in my Savior’s arms. Until that time, I wholeheartedly agree that home for me is Jesus and with the family and friends that walk through my door and choose to do life with me. Good thought provoking question for today. YOU are home to me….what a blessing you are. You are the hands and feet of Jesus in motion here on earth!
    Blessings and love,
    Bev xoxo
    Bev @ Walking Well With God recently posted…Why, I Think, God Says What He SaysMy Profile

    Reply
    • Brenda says

      May 18, 2017 at 12:02 pm

      Bev, you bless. Thank you for such sweet words I don’t know that I’m deserving of. Praying for quick and full recovery on your foot, friend. One week down! ((xoxo))

      Reply
  3. Michele Morin says

    May 18, 2017 at 7:25 am

    Home has become surprisingly important to me — I pictured myself rootless and single, but God had big surprises in store. In my pile of books is a treasure by Jen Pollock Michel called Keeping Place. She writes about the meaning of home, and I can’t wait to begin reading!
    Michele Morin recently posted…Laughter on the Pathway of LamentMy Profile

    Reply
    • Brenda says

      May 18, 2017 at 12:04 pm

      Oh, I can’t picture you rootless sand single at all, Michele. Interesting. 🙂 I’ve not heard of that book, but it sounds like one I need to read. Let me know what you think of it. ((xoxo))

      Reply
  4. Joanne Viola says

    May 18, 2017 at 8:31 am

    Home is where I am loved and that is surely where He is. I am also grateful that home is wherever my family may be. Precious to think on today. Th
    Joanne Viola recently posted…Scars and StoriesMy Profile

    Reply
    • Brenda says

      May 18, 2017 at 12:05 pm

      Where we’re loved. Yes, amen, Joanne. Love is home’s foundation, isn’t it? ((xoxo))

      Reply
  5. Tyra says

    May 18, 2017 at 10:55 am

    Home is….safety
    Tyra recently posted…Would You Dare?My Profile

    Reply
    • Brenda says

      May 18, 2017 at 12:06 pm

      I like that Tyra. Thanks for sharing! ((hug))

      Reply
  6. Janis@Heart-Filled Moments says

    May 18, 2017 at 5:04 pm

    Home is where my family and friends are. Where I find strong, loving Christian fellowship. Sometimes my heart has been torn because my extended family are in California (my birth place). But I know that where He has planted me is where my true home is. Always in Him.
    Blessings,
    Janis

    Reply
    • Brenda says

      May 19, 2017 at 7:20 am

      I understand that feeling of displacement, Janis. When we lived outside the south for a decade, I always longed for the familiar. It’s such a blessing when we’re able to get to that place of being home where He’s planted us. Love your perspective. Thanks for sharing, lovely to meet you. ((hug))

      Reply
  7. Julie says

    May 18, 2017 at 9:25 pm

    Home is where I am loved just as I am. What a heart-warming post-Brenda!
    I hope your Mother’s Day was good:)
    Julie recently posted…5 of the Most Important Lessons I Learned Last YearMy Profile

    Reply
    • Brenda says

      May 19, 2017 at 7:22 am

      ooh, loved just as you are. –Love that, Julie. Thanks for sharing, friend. Hope your Mother’s Day was great as well. ((hug))

      Reply
  8. Lisa/Syncopated Mama says

    May 18, 2017 at 11:44 pm

    Home is happiness (oh, not all the time, but it just feels right to give that answer.) I hope you’re having a great middle-of-May!
    Lisa/Syncopated Mama recently posted…Friday Frivolity – Museum EditionMy Profile

    Reply
    • Brenda says

      May 19, 2017 at 7:23 am

      Your home does seem happy, Lisa. All the fun things you do with your little girl. 🙂 Thanks for sharing. ((hug))

      Reply
  9. Jeralyn Egger says

    May 19, 2017 at 1:04 pm

    Home is becoming my identity as His daughter. I’ve had the head knowledge of that spiritual truth and now I am living the heart experience of my adoption…Abba! Daddy!.
    Jeralyn Egger recently posted…Hijacked…My Profile

    Reply
  10. Maree Dee says

    May 19, 2017 at 2:09 pm

    Home is where I feel loved. Your question has perplexed me because our home we reside in isn’t what I had expected or planned. I envisioned a calm, loving environment where people want to be. But quite honestly it isn’t always like that. So home is a place in my heart where I feel loved, where I find God.
    Maree Dee recently posted…How To Run The Race When Life Gets ToughMy Profile

    Reply
  11. Linda Stoll says

    May 19, 2017 at 3:17 pm

    mmm …

    Home is wherever HE is.

    That’s where I feel safe and warm, rested and loved.

    Thanks for this powerful question to consider, friend …
    Linda Stoll recently posted…On the Necessity of Marking Unsettling AnniversariesMy Profile

    Reply
  12. Lux G. says

    May 19, 2017 at 9:29 pm

    Hope is where love is. 🙂
    Happy Friday!
    Lux G. recently posted…I’m Too Old For This ShitMy Profile

    Reply
    • Lux G. says

      May 23, 2017 at 3:39 am

      *Home. 😀
      Lux G. recently posted…Dear Future HusbandMy Profile

      Reply

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Never can there be too many magnolia pictures. . S Never can there be too many magnolia pictures.
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Says the lens of my eyes; of my soul.
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(“Not so,” says my iphone storage, but that’s a tomorrow problem.)
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Every time I leave my house, I can’t not stop, not stare, not take another jillion pictures.
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This magnolia tree of mine, she keeps a record of time, reaching farther into the sky with each passing year.
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In all her southern glory, she lifts leaves and limbs toward heaven, pointing to the One on whom all glory rests.
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Boldly, yet elegantly, she speaks of a Creator who, year upon year, grows lovely things under the banner of His care in the lives of His own.
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Even in times when life doesn’t feel full of lovely, may we listen to the magnolia’s anthem.
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She doesn’t question the winter, knowing full well that her Maker has yet to deny spring its beauty.
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I wonder how breathtaking magnolias must be in the City of God. ✨
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The May calendar has a way of turning our thoughts The May calendar has a way of turning our thoughts toward home, doesn’t it?
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Perhaps, for you, that’s a beloved Home State where the soil smells like childhood and dreams.
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Or, maybe the humble shelter of your youth, where boo-boos were kissed & fairytales carried you into dreamland.
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Perhaps you’re like me, and yesteryear’s home holds heartache and rejection, insecurity and confusion.
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Far too much of my past I spent chasing roots, not sensing an inheritance of belonging within the halls of my kin.
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Layer by broken layer, though, the Lord is healing me from within, showing me that…
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What our hearts long for can’t be satisfied with what our lives long for.
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The temporal can’t pacify the eternal.
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We’re so prone to searching for home in containers not meant to carry its calling—whether in place or people, title or position, acceptance or belonging—that we seek to satisfy its longing with lesser things.
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Having a sense of home within our circles is beautiful and sacred, but—it’s a shallow substitute for the inheritance we have in God.
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No place, no person, no position—no earthly brand of belonging—can ever claim home to your soul like the Haven of Him.
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Dear friend, do you feel like you’re etching a p Dear friend, do you feel like you’re etching a prayer into the ear of God, day upon year upon decade?
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You’re asking “why,” and “when, O Lord,” yet the situation your heart plays on repeat at the altar of God, remains seemingly unchanged.
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I wonder, friend, do the demands of life leave you I wonder, friend, do the demands of life leave you feeling downright weary at times?
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If so, I understand. Me too.
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Oh, that our souls would rest in remembering that Jesus also knew what it was to feel weary as He walked this earth in human flesh.
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You are not alone.
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