Today we hear from  guest blogger Sara Cogsil. She recently completed her internship at Advent Lutheran Church in Cedarburg, WI and is a member of  Proclaim.

Home.

I have always had a difficult time defining “home.”

In reflecting on “home” over the past few years I began to think of it in terms of wherever I happen to be making a life for myself at any spot on this journey called life.I have used it to reference the city where I was born and raised, my grandmother’s house where I took up residence for some time in college, and both of my parent’s current houses although I haven’t ever lived in either.  I also refer to my current dwelling place as my home even though it has changed a dozen times since I was fifteen.

And it seemed to work until this past weekend.

You see this past year while I was completing my internship in Cedarburg, WI, two men who were pastors to me died.  Pr. Joe was serving my “home congregation” and Pr. John had retired from my “home synod.”

One saw a call in me before I saw it myself; the other gave me the nudge to go to seminary.

One was a mentor in college, one was a mentor in seminary, and both were mentors in the pastoral office.

One death was somewhat expectant, the other was a shock, and neither was easy to accept.

I knew they both had joined the church triumphant, but I became more aware of this reality when I travelled to Cambridge, OH and joined the worshiping community of Christ Lutheran Church once again.

It was in sitting in the pew between my partner and a dear friend, I experienced God anew.

It was in looking at that old familiar cross and hearing the Baptismal waters in the font where God claimed me that I was home!

Home in the Body of Christ.

Home as I gathered around the table joined by my life partner, my dear friend, and the saints, especially Pr. Joe and Pr. John.

Home as I was sent back out to the calling in which I yearn to follow.

Home in the loving embrace of the Alpha and the Omega.

Home as a Child of God.

Thanks be to God.

Sara Cogsil is currently a senior at Trinity Lutheran Seminary. She is originally from Cambridge, OH. She anticipates graduating in May and looks forward to where God might be calling her to next.