Petra

Sometimes I just want to go home. I know that statement probably doesn't make a lot of sense to you, especially because I'm sitting in my house right now. But sometimes when I am in a lot of pain physically or emotionally there is a cry within my heart that I want to go home. I used to think that perhaps I was missing my childhood home, until I heard Mia tell me a few months ago, "Mommy, I want to go home." We were cuddling in bed at the time, so she was home in every sense of the word, but there was something deep inside of her that recognized that she had a different home, one where she would never cry or hurt again.

I think that occasionally we all have that desire. David, who was beloved by God, called himself an alien in this world. Hebrews states outright that we are aliens and strangers on earth. 2  Corinthians 5:1b says: ..we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

This is not our true home, and our souls are aware of that. When we are deeply sad, broken-hearted, physically suffering, or devastated by the hatred we see in the world around us, our spirit cries out to go home. Even though we have not been to Heaven, and most of us have only a vague understanding of what it is, we intrinsically understand that we belong to something different, a place where pain does not exist, because God created us for something better.

This is my thought for this Sabbath day: you know that your soul cries out to go home, but are you truly headed there? Have you made the decision to give your life to God so that you can go home? If not, leave a comment or drop me an email, I'd be glad to talk to you about it. If you have, I'm praising the Lord for each and every one of you today.

Petra by T.L. Higley is the first book in the Lost Cities series. Cassia takes her young son, Alexander, and heads to Petra, the home of her late husband's family in the hopes of finding a place for them both. Instead she discovers that Alexander is the heir to the throne and immediately in mortal danger from the queen, Hagiru, who wants her son to be the new king, and Hagiru has allied herself with the dark gods of the city in order to assure her son's accession. The only people in town who help Cassia is the small community of Christians led by wealthy Malik. Julian has fled from his home in Rome after the death of his fiance in the arena because of his faith in Jesus. He just wants to blend into the crowd, but his attraction to Cassia and desire to help her will test his faith more than he's ever faced. Higley excels at recreating ancient cultures, as in her former Seven Wonders series, and her description of Petra really brings the city to life. It's fascinating reading about the days of early Christianity, especially outside of Jerusalem. The novel is filled with suspense as to Alexander's fate, romance between Cassia and Julian, and faith as Cassia learns about Jesus and Julian learns what it means to be a leader, so there is really something for every reader.

Thank you to B&H Publishing for providing me with a copy of this book for review.