The Homesick Heart: Longing for Spiritual Intimacy

I gave away my first copy of this book to a homesick heart I met in Cambodia - a German intellectual who did not yet know God. I knew that Mrs. Fleming's descriptions of our human longings would resonate with him, and that God could use her writing to reveal Himself to my friend. Now I find myself in need of reading _Homesick Heart_ again. In the midst of another "transition time" (it seems my life has been little else, we've moved so much) I am longing for "Home." Sometimes I feel like I'll just pine away and die, and wonder why God doesn't provide a place to settle down, a place where I could have our belongings on shelves and in drawers instead of boxes, a place where the chronic pain I live with would be more "doable" because life would be more stable, a place where our five children could live without worrying about messing up a rental home. I need to read Jean's book again and be reminded where my longings come from, what they are for, and in Whom they will be ultimately fulfilled.

This book said it was written for women. I am male and found the book extremely deep. Since I was young I have always asked the question "Why am I here and where am I going?" I so much wanted to find someone or something that I could trust in and as a child made my parents the Perfect gods. However, when my father passed away and my mother was less then perfect I have been searching for the person to be my all. I always have had trouble understanding this LONGING of my heart and this book has shed some light upon my search. Another human has the same LONGING that I have and only GOD himself can fill it. But this book also leads me to relize that only when I am re-united with God will I be fulfilled. Fullfillment will not and cannot be found here. I am an alien, a foriegner. I greatly appreciate the way this book was written, with so much care and insight on a subject that is hard to put into words. It is a whisper. A fleeting moment. Usually only lasting a short time then gone. My favorite sentence written on page 120 is, Jean quoting from a Donald Bloesch is, "Our greatest afflication is not anxiety or even guilt but rather homesickness-- a nostalgia or ineradicable yearning to be at home with God." Do you LONG to know that GOD loves you and is whispering your name? Read this book. It is a treasure to me.