As a senior in high school who was shopping for colleges, I never considered sending an application to the local university in Chattanooga. I wanted to get out of town.
I didn’t think of it as running away so much as trying to figure out who I wanted to become. I needed to clear my head of everything that I had been told and decide what I believed in. To find my destiny, I needed to be free.
In my mind, I was already gone.
For the next twenty years, I moved from place to place chasing the next big thing. At first I was alone, then with Kim, and finally with kids and all. We never really rooted anywhere – not South Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois, Tennessee again, Virginia, or Missouri. Moving somewhere new is easy when you aren’t connected to anything.
Our journey ultimately led to Texas and God parked us here. After moving into our house and settling into a new routine, a feeling of contentment began to spread through us. The kids were happy. We met our neighbors and made friends. We joined a church that was full of life and joy.
After decades spent wandering, I had found something more valuable than the American Dream that I had pursued across the country.
I found my hometown.
The world may be full of special places, but none of them compare with my hometown. It’s not because of convenient restaurants and shops, good schools, or strong property values. It’s certainly not the hot, Texas weather or rows of similar homes on small lots.
This is my hometown because I love the people here.
My new sense of direction is based on the people in my life. Next week, I’m supposed to help a lady whose house is back behind where the Schultes used to live. Michael’s son moved into a home near Bob’s place. I need to pick something up at the Home Depot by where Erin works.
Everybody knows that we eat at Chili’s every Friday night. Their food tastes pretty much the same as each of the other 1,600 locations, but this is the only one where we can sit in William’s section to hear how his art classes are going and about his plans to teach elementary school one day.
We shop for groceries at the Neighborhood WalMart. If we only need a few things, I use the self-checkout and hope for problems. I know that Mayo will see our flashing light and hurry over with a giant smile to say “Hi, James’s dad. How are you today?”
On our big, weekly shopping trip, we pick the lane where we recognize the cashier. It doesn’t matter if their line is longer than the others. I like to tell them they’re worth the wait.
When senior citizens call the city to ask for help with yard work, Shelly takes their calls and then emails me. She can depend on a “yes” answer and a good job. I’ve got a lot of friends who love to help their neighbors.
This is the only place I would cry for a homeless friend who passed away on a cold, winter night (click here to read that post). This is where I smile every time I see a family enjoying a picnic on a table that I helped some kids to build.
I get to worship Jesus in a church filled with my best friends. I remember the conflicts we’ve had in the past and how they proved their love for me was bigger than our differences would ever be.
Erin just moved across town into Oak Tree Apartments. It’s the same apartment complex that Kim’s parents lived in. When she turned in her application, the person at the desk asked how Kim was doing. This is a special place to Erin.
She hung out with her grandparents there, but she also spent time with kids in the after-school ministry that Kim led. She served those same kids lunches sponsored by Kids Eat Free during summer vacations.
In the grassy patch behind her apartment, she watched the excited faces of toddlers who found Easter eggs she had carefully hidden in plain view. In that same spot, she worked carnivals that marked the last day of Vacation Bible School. Across the parking lot, she joined with a middle-school small group searching for Jesus in the Bible.
Erin loves plants and her new place is filled with beautiful ones with all kinds of names I can’t remember. She transplants them, waters them, and moves them around to keep them growing. It is the same love she has showered over that place for ten years, nurturing young souls to grow well. One day, those people will become strong leaders in their neighborhoods and families because she equipped them well.
Maybe Erin will decide this is her hometown, too. That is her choice to make, but I hope so. Her roots here are strong and she is a community treasure.
James is at home between semesters and we know that each summer may be the last time he lives with us. He will have the same choice to make one day. Will his boyhood hometown become the place he returns to defend and protect?
Like his sister, he has planted good seed throughout this community. It is a better city because of him, too. When his time comes, he will have to decide.
As for me and Kim, we know where home is. God smiles on us in this place. We have traded the American Dream in favor of a community. We know we’ve made the right decision.
This is my hometown.
