Make This Place Your Home

Yeah, you already know it.
Because you're cooler than I.
You actually watch American Idol.

No, not really.


But, if you do watch, you already know this guy. I just met his music. It was during a cool-down after a gym beat-down so, since I was practically unconscious anyway, I figured I'd pay attention to the Ipod spin a bit more than usual. And what did my little ears hear?

Hold on, to me as we go 

As we roll down this unfamiliar road 

And although this wave is stringing us along 

Just know you’re not alone 

Cause I’m going to make this place your home 

Settle down, it'll all be clear 

Don't pay no mind to the demons 

They fill you with fear 

The trouble it might drag you down 

If you get lost, you can always be found 

Just know you’re not alone 

Cause I’m going to make this place your home 

Settle down, it'll all be clear 

Don't pay no mind to the demons 

They fill you with fear 

The trouble it might drag you down 

If you get lost, you can always be found 

Just know you’re not alone 

Cause I’m going to make this place your home

This summer's theme has been friendship. I didn't plan on it. I'm not even sure I could have planned on it: it has been too good to be anything other than Him all the way. 

Boy, did I need it. I needed to recover, to heal, to remember that friendship - in its best and purest form - is...well, this song. 

On the tablet of my mind, I've written a hundred times over what I've learned about friendship in the last few months. Each time, my feeble attempts go the way of the giant pink eraser, accompanied by a subconscious "tsk, tsk" - and I know I'm not even close.

Then, laying on the floor with eyes closed and body on fire, I heard them. The words I wish I'd penned, appearing at exactly the moment I was supposed to hear them.

Did you know that most writers use home not as a literal noun to indicate a structure of residence but, rather, as a metaphor for safe haven, for belonging to place...for being part of a family? Too often, home shifts in life. We move where our address dictates, and that's a reality we can't always avoid. Change your zip code enough, though, and you learn a fact you won't soon forget: Home truly is where the heart is. 

In a world of transience with little hope and lots of fear, there are still great friends left. They're the ones who promise, "You're not alone. Don't back down. I'm not going anywhere. Go ahead and blow it. Get lost in your fogs and fears: I'll hold the light. I'll be at the end of the long and narrow road. And when you're done with the demons, the troubles, the tough spots that wear you thin...come on home." 

They're the heart of wherever you are. Near or far. Now and later. 

They'll stand the test of time. 

If you've got 'em, stop looking around.

You've got the best.

You've got a place to call home.