I’ll never forget the call.  It was something like, “Son we would like to have you come home for Thanksgiving…we are going to burn our home.”  “What?!!! Are you crazy?”  I think was in the general vicinity of my response.  Mom and Dad had decided to burn the house I had grew up in.  They now had a nicer, newer house on the farm, and the property tax on the old one wasn’t worth the rent they could get from it.  So — not to be accused of being sentimental — they wanted to have a house-burning.  So we went home that Thanksgiving.  I walked through the house to say my last goodbyes, picked up a few momentos, watched my kids do what they had always dreamed of doing — completely destroying a house, and then watched it burn.  I lost a home that day.  It’s hard to lose a home — even when you already have one..

My Grandfather was one who knew something about being away from home.  He spent much of his life “away from home.”  When I was a kid, he lived on our farm, in a little wooden mobile home.  I remember going out to his place before the school bus came.  I would sit with him and watch for the bus — I was probably 7 or 8 at the time — and drink a cup of coffee.  I’ve been drinking it ever since.

What I remember most…were his stories. He could tell stories like you wouldn’t believe.  Stories about the road; following the harvest; riding the rails; meals with hobo’s and other great adventures.  As a young boy there wasn’t much better than Grandpa’s stories. Growing up I idolized grandpa and his life on the road. But as I grew older, I came to realize that his life was not quite as glamorous as I once thot.  It wasn’t so much a life on the road, as it was a life without home.  His life on the road was the journy of an alcholic abandoning his family for long periods of time…and I know it was hard on him.  Life without a home is hard.

For the last few weeks in Myanmar, children have been losing their homes.  The government has gone on an orphanage closing spree.  So far, I am aware of five homes that have been closed.  There are likely many more.  At least three of the small orphanages we (Calvary) supports are in danger of being closed.  I realize it’s a Buddhist country, but I’ve been sitting here tonight trying to figure out why a government is closing orphanages that are caring for children that the government would just as soon forget.  I don’t know it just seems harder than my house-burning and even my Grandfather’s running.  When an orphan has to deal with a lost home  That’s hard.  Please pray.