Every great migration eventually takes us back to where we began but this time we find ourselves truly there for the first time.

The Journey back outwards is now one that is free and in love.

Along the way we realize that our migration has been all about the scenery. We have focused on the externals, the church, the leadership, the doctrine, and activity only to find that this longing to get home requires that we look deep inside. Now with the Guide we begin to look inward, questioning, doubting, barely holding on and often with a sense of falling apart. The hardest part of the journey has just begun.

Home is somewhere north but north is like half the planet. So, which road do we take? So much hope and possibilities in the beginning, so much luggage to take and so many maps willing to point the way. And yet with all these detours and dreams we are left feeling empty handed arriving at the same dead end again. This week we will learn the paradox that all roads are connected and yet all have their ends. What’s really needed is not another road but a guide.

Our bittersweet beginnings are the realization that we are not where we will be, but right where we have to be. Call it homesick. Having found ourselves in a distant land and awakened to a new sense of alienation our longings begin.

This is part 1 of our 2 part vision series for 2019. As we've followed Jesus's call into Old Town Peoria, we now take a look at what it means to fulfill our ministry where God has us as settlers and pioneers!

This is a Lectio Divina aka "divine reading" meditation formed by Jan Johnson's advent devotional book Taste & See and scored by Wild Earth's new version of the song "Silent Night." We hope this will bless you and enhance your experience of Christ in this season of Advent and Christmas. It is recommended to experience Lectio Divina somewhere comfortable and free from distractions. Merry Christmas!

Lectio Divina means "divine reading" and is an ancient form of reading scripture in contemplation and prayer. We highly recommend listening while in solitude or away from distractions. Content provided by Jan Johnson's book Taste And See. Reading by Leigh Older.

No more let sins and sorrow grow

Nor thorns infest the ground

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found