Today’s song is not from the golden age of Rock and Roll, but is a 2010 Country Music hit. This is My Temporary Home was written by Luke Robert Laird and Zac Maloy, and was recorded by Carrie Underwood. Underwood grew up on a farm in Oklahoma. She was a college student in 2005 when she won the ‘American Idol’ competition. Judge Simon Cowell predicted from the start that she would not only win, but would go on to be more successful than all the other ‘American Idol’ champions. He was right about that, and she is now one of the top female vocalists in the country, both in country music and pop music.
THIS IS MY TEMPORARY HOME
Don’t miss seeing this award winning video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LraOiHUltak
Little boy, 6 years old
A little too used to bein’ alone.
Another new mom and dad, another school,
Another house that’ll never be home.
When people ask him how he likes this place…
He looks up and says, with a smile upon his face,
Refrain: “This is my temporary home
It’s not where I belong.
Windows and rooms that I’m passin’ through.
This is just a stop, on the way to where I’m going.
I’m not afraid because I know this is my
Temporary Home.”
Young mom on her own.
She needs a little help, got nowhere to go.
She’s lookin’ for a job, lookin’ for a way out,
Because a half-way house will never be a home.
At night she whispers to her baby girl,
“Someday we’ll find our place here in this world.” Refrain
Old man, hospital bed,
The room is filled with people he loves.
And he whispers don’t cry for me,
I’ll see you all someday.
He looks up and says, “I can see God’s face.” Refrain
This is our temporary home.
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St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) was a Spanish nun, author, mystic, and reformer. In her writings she often encouraged believers to remember that this earth is only our temporary home, our time here will pass quickly, and then we will live in the perfection of heaven, our eternal home. She compared life in this world to a miserable night in a cheap hotel, encouraging us to endure our sufferings here with courage, knowing that in the morning of the resurrection we will be on our way to something infinitely better. Following are a few quotes from the writings of Teresa, mostly from her classic devotional work The Interior Castle.
Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away.
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.
Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience turns a very short time into a long one.
To have courage for whatever comes in life – everything lies in that.
God withholds Himself from no one who perseveres.
Christ has borne with thousands of foul and abominable sins which you have committed against Him, yet even they have not been enough to make Him cease looking upon you. Is it such a great matter, then, for you to avert the eyes of your soul from outward things and sometimes to look at Him?
The important thing is not to think much but to love much; and so do that which best stirs you to love.
Be gentle to all, and stern with yourself.
The closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes.
Thank God for the things that I do not own.
In light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel.
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Hebrews 11:13-14…16 — All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own… They were longing for a better country– a heavenly one.
II Corinthians 4:16-18 — Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
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Give me, O Lord, if you will, the prayers to offer you;
Or let me know dryness.
Give me, O Lord, an abundance of devotion,
Or if not, then barrenness.
In you alone, Sovereign Majesty,
I find my peace,
What do you want of me?
Yours I am, for you I was born:
What do you want of me?
–St. Teresa of Avila