It wasn’t much, but Woolcott Avenue has been home since we first landed in Australia, wide eyed, filled with anticipation, and ready to embrace the biggest adventure of our lives. Having made our arrangements from the other side of the world, I felt an enormous wave of relief when I walked through the door and discovered a space that was clean, comfortable, and wonderfully located. It was going to work just fine.
It was here that we began to explore what it really meant to live in another country. We learned the small, everyday things, like where to buy groceries, which takeaway spots we liked best, how to park with the steering wheel on the right-hand side, and how to navigate traffic without losing our patience. Despite the constant hum of sirens and the bland, institutional paint covering every wall, this little apartment became home during some of our most uncertain days
The next chapter of our journey has taken us to the Mid North Coast, with a move to Red Head last week. I feel grateful to have found a quieter, more peaceful setting, one with views that calm my spirit and invite me to sense God’s presence near. Still, saying goodbye to the only home I have known in this country stirred up a mix of emotions. It was more difficult than I expected. In the middle of packing boxes and sorting belongings, a sense of being uprooted surfaced once again. Even though our apartment was tiny and at times I longed for something more, that little place was a sanctuary. It held our first steps, our first challenges, and our first moments of belonging in this new land, and letting it go was not easy.
At some point during the move, amid the surprisingly complex emotions, I found myself filled with deep gratitude for the spiritual home I have found in Community of Christ. This faith community is where I always have a sanctuary, no matter the location or the type of space in which we gather. Even before I met the community here in Australia, I knew I could say yes to making a home here because the spirit you carry was already known to me. It is a spirit of welcome, peace, and shared purpose. It is among the people, not a particular place or space, that I discover what it means to be nourished by love and grace.
While I know we face challenges with our physical spaces or the vast geography that can sometimes make it seem impossible to feel close and connected, we can always be rooted in the Spirit that binds us together across distance and circumstance. Our sacred sense of belonging does not depend on walls or geography but on the love that flows between us. When we gather online, around kitchen tables, or in small worship circles, we are tending to the soil of community and watering our roots in the life-giving presence of God.
In this community, I have discovered that home is not something we leave behind or arrive at once and for all. It is something we carry within us and nurture together. May every moment of connection remind us that home is not somewhere we go but something we become together, a presence we live within, and a love continually renewed by God’s presence.
With gratitude,
Meredith Carr
Australia Mission Centre President