My first home was Austin, Texas. (Please don\u2019t talk to me about last weekend\u2019s Texas and Oklahoma game \u2014 too soon.) We lived in a sweet neighborhood. I remember my fourth birthday party, which was a princess tea party with fancy dishes and little mints. I remember when we brought my first puppy, Pepper, home. I remember when the spare bedroom became a nursery for my baby brother.
\nIt was a good home.
\nMy second home was Lamesa, Texas. We lived just down the street from South Elementary. I remember strolls home after school. I remember insisting everyone stay up all night for my 10th birthday party. I remember bringing my sister home for the first time (even though that was delayed by a car accident on the way back from the hospital).
\nIt was a good home.
\nMy third home was Canton, Texas. We lived in a small house next door to a cute boy, and then we moved to another house with an awesome backyard. I remember plastering my bedroom with posters out of American Girl magazine. I remember my first boy-girl party. I remember coming home from a trip to find my mom had adopted another dog, Sammie.
\nIt was a good home, too.
\nMy most recent home is Searcy, Arkansas. I\u2019ve lived in a variety of dorms and apartments, all filled with warm (and a few sad) memories. I remember practicing Spring Sing moves in the hallways of Cathcart after curfew. I remember the nervous excitement that came with my first open dorm. I remember quietly finishing a puzzle with my roommate on a Saturday morning as we drank coffee.
\nBy this count, I\u2019ve had four wonderful places to call home, but that doesn\u2019t feel quite right. How could I not mention White River Youth Camp, which was easily the highlight of every summer? How could I not include Nebraska or Indiana, the states that have become synonymous with the holiday season in my mind? I feel like I have a whole lot of homes.
\nWhat a blessing that is.
\nI\u2019ve lived in a limited number of houses and cities. But a home is something that endures, independent of time. A home is found within memories, people and growth.
\nA house is occupied; a home is cultivated.
\nIf you ever experienced a time when \u201chome\u201d was a negative word, I feel for you. If you\u2019re enduring that now, I feel for you. A place like that isn\u2019t a true home, and I\u2019m sorry you\u2019ve had to experience such a fact.
\nDuring our time at college, we have the opportunity to truly choose whether we cultivate a home or occupy a space. I don\u2019t know about you, but I think simply living somewhere for four years \u2014 thinking of it as a pitstop on the way to better things \u2014 is pretty sad.
\nLuckily, we have every chance to make a home right where we are. We do this by connecting with people, genuinely and vulnerably. We do it by improving what was here before, doing our own part toward making a better future. We cultivate a home through intentional actions for others and with others.
\nWhen we strive to cultivate a home rather than occupy a space, especially during our time at college, we create something wonderfully long-lasting.
\nWe create something more powerful than a physical location and something we would be happy to come home to in the future.
\nSo, here\u2019s to those of you who have come home to Harding this weekend \u2014 and here\u2019s to those of us setting the foundation for homecomings in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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