By Jerria Martin
Martin is the Director of Hope Ministries and adjunct instructor of religion at WCCS.

There is hope in home! “Home sweet home!” “Sweet home Alabama!” “Home, the place where I belong!”

The songs, the poems, the quotes, they come close but can never truly capture the joy of having a place to call, home!

Through my many travels, studying and living abroad, I have learned that home is always with us, no matter how far we venture off.

Home is where the hearts is, thus we never truly leave our homes.

Though our feet may go, our hearts remain. Maybe this is what causes homesickness.

I remember being homesick at Princeton. At times it would get so bad in the winters, I would wish I was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and I could tap my red slippers together proclaiming, “there’s no place, like home” and I’d be back sipping sweet tea under Selma’s summer sun!

It’s always hard to leave the comforts of home. That’s why I have always deeply admired my elder brother’s courage to serve our great country. The last 19 years he has served in Iraq, and twice in both Afghanistan and South Korea. Almost every other year he leaves his home, his wife and kids, family and friends, to serve yearlong orders.

However, upon his return, his first stop is always Selma.

When he’s here it’s like old times, its truly home again. That’s the magic of home. Home wasn’t built in a day. It’s more than just a house, it’s more than just a city or state, it’s the memories, the good times and the bad, the things you love dearly, the people you love dearly and the folk that love you back. That is the beauty of home!

It is home that build us up to be all that we are. Home sustains us, its home that inspires and motivates us. We find so much hope in home!

In the words of bestselling author, Sarah Breathnach,

“Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment, all you have is all you need.”

Oftentimes it takes us leaving home to realize just how special a gift it really is. Returning home after my national and international visits gives me a renewed appreciation of everything and every person our city has to offer. It helps me realize that we have everything we need, because we have each other and a multitude of resources we must learn to use to empower and unite our communities. Because for me and many others, Selma is home, and there is always inspirational, empowering, and enlightening hope in home.