Feels Like Home to Me

I drove through Travelers Rest the other day (and to some of you, that means nothing....) and felt an overwhelming sense of nostalgia and "home." You see, I grew up there and a part of me, though I have nothing left there, still considers it home. 

I began thinking about home. I feel like I can chunk life into segments of "homes". The first 14 years of my life is the TR segment, then comes Williamston, the. Clemson/Married Williamston (which sort of melds together and is happening now). 

There are defining things about each segment--people, churches, houses--each of which feel a little bit like mine. They shaped me; I grew there; I left pieces of myself along the way. Home has been so many places. Ultimately, though, for me, home is where my people are. It's not a house or a place; it's not a town or a community. It's where I've built my heart. Home is a feeling. 

When I got married, a good friend of mine said, "your house with your hubby isn't gonna feel like home for a long time. You'll feel more comfortable on your mom's couch with your whole family on a Sunday afternoon for awhile. Maybe even after you have kids." I thought she was crazy. That same friend and I heard Chantal Kreviazuk's Feels Like Home (you probably know it from How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days) and I got it. My people feel like home to me; feel like I'm exactly where I came from. As I grow in my marriage, my husband feels more and more like home to me, but I'm still most at home when my husband and all my people are together. It makes my heart full. 

It felt like home when I drove through TR the other day; I will always have great memories of this chunk of life. My heart was full thinking of these memories with my people in this time, but I'm so grateful that I get to do life every single day making memories that will be my nostalgia of home one day in the future. 

What feels like home to you? Is it people? Places? How do you "chunk" your homes through the years? I can't wait to hear!