{"id":14609,"date":"2022-03-01T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-01T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/?p=14609"},"modified":"2026-04-28T16:10:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T16:10:41","slug":"homesick-hearts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/homesick-hearts\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith – Homesick Hearts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

AS THE regal, iridescent purple martins flew in and out of their colony housing, she pointed and asked through my phone\u2019s translator, \u201cCan I take one home?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the birds\u2019 noisy chatter, I struggled to explain to my young visitor the birds were wild, but my answer didn\u2019t translate well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCan I have one, please? We have them in my country.\u201d Her face was filled with the hopeful expectation of a child at Christmas, and my heart melted and ached in the mid- summer sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like my new friend and her family, the purple martins travel here from great distances. We enjoy hosting the birds that return year after year to our property. I\u2019m especially fond of their songs and calls. Their clicks and ticks resemble Morse Code more than birdsong; they\u2019re animated conversations in a foreign language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have them in my country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I heard it again and again throughout the day, and I longed to give her the wild bird of her homesick dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our hearts spoke the same language. Her youth may have momentarily blinded her to the source of her homesickness, but I\u2019ve lived longer in a foreign country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hebrews 13:14 reminds us this world is not our home. There\u2019s something inside the believer\u2019s heart always longing for home \u2013 not the homes of bricks and sticks, but of gold and many rooms, the one our heavenly Father is preparing. We are homesick for a city whose builder and maker is God. (Heb 11:10) But until we cross the threshold into eternity, God, being the good Father He is, gives us little joys and treasures to encourage us as He\u2019s walking us home. He loves giving good gifts to His children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An online retailer known for having everything an earth-bound body needs just happened to sell a small, stuffed purple martin, complete with authentic birdsong and chatter. Lucky for me, I\u2019m a prime-card- carrying member of the club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should have seen her smile as the soft, toy swallow sang its endless song to her homesick heart. I think my homesick heart smiled just as large.\u00a0-GN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

neque, auctor at diam vitae, varius bibendum magna. Nunc ultricies aliquet sapien, ut bibendum eros ornare at. Nam imperdiet diam vel mollis lobortis. Aenean interdum lorem in nisl consequat molestie. Quisque bibendum vitae nisi et vestibulum. Phasellus sollicitudin tortor sit amet enim tincidunt, sit amet tincidunt mauris porttitor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AS THE regal, iridescent purple martins flew in and out of their colony housing, she pointed and asked through my phone\u2019s translator, \u201cCan I take one home?\u201d Over the birds\u2019 noisy chatter, I struggled to explain to my young visitor the birds were wild, but my answer didn\u2019t translate well. \u201cCan I have one, please? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14613,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[75,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shelbyville","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nFaith - Homesick Hearts - Shelbyville, TN Good News Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/homesick-hearts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Faith - Homesick Hearts - Shelbyville, TN Good News Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AS THE regal, iridescent purple martins flew in and out of their colony housing, she pointed and asked through my phone\u2019s translator, \u201cCan I take one home?\u201d Over the birds\u2019 noisy chatter, I struggled to explain to my young visitor the birds were wild, but my answer didn\u2019t translate well. \u201cCan I have one, please? 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