Hotel not Home
Posted by Richard Harris | | Posted On Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 10:17 PM
Traveling is something I rarely do, but within the last month I have found myself on the road a bit more than usual. With travel comes the question of where to stay and of course unless you have family the only logical place is a hotel.
Hotels can be nice places. The people at the front desk are very friendly and seem to be very happy you are there. They tell you where you are staying, direct you to the room and even tell you all the little extras they have for you. For instance the place I am in right now is in a small town and it has homemade cookies in the afternoon for all its guest. Now how is that for making the lonely traveler feel at home?
By the way I like the way they refer to you as a ‘guest’. As if you are a long lost friend or family member coming for a visit. They make the bed, get you some extra towels out and get the room all ready for you just like you are Uncle Richard in for a visit. After all I am a guest and that is how you treat guest. Not only do they get your room ready but while you are gone they sneak in and clean it and leave you some extra towels. Goodness these hotels know how to make a guy feel at home. Never mind that they make you pay for your visit, you are still their guest.
You would think a guy would want to live in a hotel all the time; you would be wrong.
No matter how many homemade cookies they make for you or the fact you can keep the temperature at whatever you want in the room, there is one thing a hotel will never be and that is the one thing we want the most; home. A hotel is not home.
No matter how nice they are to you up at the front desk if you got in trouble they would care little. But at home if you find yourself in trouble there are people who surround you with love and care when things go badly. That is home.
What if on the other hand things went good and something exciting happened while on a trip? What if you got a new job or made a big sale? Is your first call to the people up at the front desk, no of course not, you call home and tell those who love you and will share in your joy.
People in hotels are short term members of your life. You might be in one hotel one day and another the next. Home is all about long term. We need and desire long term relationships, we like stability, we are eager for people to share our life with. Those people live at home and unless you are on a family trip that is where you long to be.
A home is not brick, mortar or glass. I have seen and even stayed in some wonderful hotels. They have everything a person thinks they need. From beautiful high rise structures to cozy resorts by the beach; they look and are nice places to visit. But still are not home.
From the smallest dwelling to the largest mansion home is the people who live in it. Homes are built by the love, care and concern that are shared with the people who live inside the walls not the walls themselves.
Home is even a place where you can disagree with each other and still sit down for a meal together. Home is a place where forgiveness is provided when needed. Home is a place where those who have failed can go and rest their soul and prepare for the next stage of life. Hotels are nice but you get none of that in one.
How is your home? Not the walls, but the spirit within those walls? Is your home in need of repair? Call on God; He is the foundation of any good home. And if yours needs some repairs, no one can do home improvement like he can!
Godly homes are not perfect but in them you will find what you need more than a soft pillow or 200 cable channels. You find His love, that’s home.
By the way; at home all cookies are homemade and the people who bake them know your favorite ones!
Scripture: Psalm 127:1a, “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it…”
Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to take care of our homes by being lead by your spirit in how we act in it. Help us to make it a priority in our daily lives. Help us to treat those within it as precious gifts from above. We ask all these things in the name of Christ, Amen.
