On Wednesday, Kim and I closed on the sale of the house in which we have lived for the last 12 years. People who have lived in the same hometown for most of their lives would probably not consider 12 years to be an extremely long period of time. Yet, for me, it constitutes a significant portion of my life. Having moved around quite a bit when I was growing up and in my young adulthood, it was a new experience for me to live in the same house for 12 years. I spent 26% of my entire life in that house in Carrollton, Texas. (Yes, math geeks, that makes me 46 years old!) It is the house where Kim and I have spent over half of our married life and where we raised our children. I can’t tell you how excited I am that our family will be completely relocated to Broken Arrow in about three weeks. Still, despite my great anticipation, I couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sadness as we closed on the house and as the Sanchez family stopped by on Thursday to look at “their” new house. We are their “renters” for the next three weeks!

Last week was a good opportunity for me to tune my theology in with my life and emotions. Biblically, I am completely convinced that I am a “tenant” for my entire sojourn upon this earth. I am “a stranger and an exile” (Hebrews 11:13) who, like Abraham, seeks a city with foundations (11:10) and “a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (11:16). I know that “this world is not my home, I’m just a passing through,” so why do I seem to get so easily attached and hung up on the things of this world as if they are permanent? These “treasures on earth” can be a deceptively huge distraction from the things that ultimately matter in life and in eternity. It is “relationship” not “real estate” that makes the Pyles family what it is. It is “love” not “location” that ultimately matters. The same goes for our spiritual family in Christ’s church. Yet, churches, too, can just as easily get overly “attached” (and even prideful) about mere buildings and physical locations. I pray that I (and we) will be reminded to not get so fixated on “brick and mortar” but to concentrate more on faith, hope, and love.