Ireland

How is it possible to feel at home in a place you've never been? It is strange and wonderful. There you are in a place entirely new and yet there is a comforting feeling of peace and belonging. Ireland is such a place.

Paris had filled my days with excitement. Every second was filled to overflowing. My eyes drank in the sights as my mind feverishly plotted how to see everything on my list. When our 4 days in France drew to a close I was happy, but quite exhausted. With a weary body I dropped into my seat. We took off and I calmly stared out at the clouds thinking how nice it would be to see my dear friend who I hadn't seen for a year. How lovely to be all together as a group! I was ready for some green instead of city. At that moment I was content, but not overflowing with boundless excitement. I was too tired for that.

Alternately I dozed and chatted with Mom about inflight magazine articles. As we started the descent into Cork I closed my eyes to rest and wait. Just then, Mother poked me and said "Look!". I glanced over in time to catch the first glimpse of a landscape greener than green and golden in the afternoon sun. It was a "Moment". I couldn't take my eyes away. The lower we flew the more I could make out a patchwork of farm land, small cottages and the coastline cliffs. For the rest of the landing I was glued to the window, speechless.

There are moments in life. You know...the "Moments" that freeze frame in your mind. I treasure them. I hang them up on a memory hall of fame. They are moments when you have great clarity about life. They are moments when a part of your soul finds a match in that place of beauty. They are moments when you know its the end of life as you know it.

My time in Ireland was filled with such moments. The day I stood on the cliffs of Inishmore and heard the waves crashing against them was the end of life as I knew it and the beginning of life where that sacred moment is forever a part of me. As I looked out over Killarney a little piece of my soul found a match. Ireland didn't just make me feel at home, it made a home in me.

I believe there can be more than one place on this planet that feels like home. And when your heart finds a home, it never fully leaves.

Final Thought:
If an earthly place can so quickly embrace us and feel like home, how much more will our eternal home be like finding the resting place we've been searching for all our lives? I can't wait!