IKEA Made in Europe

One thing I’ve learned about Europe is IKEA is a big deal. Practically every country I’ve visited since September has an IKEA. I’ve slept in IKEA beds, read by the light of IKEA lamps, and drank from numerous IKEA glasses of all shapes and sizes.

The tagline at the bottom of each glass, “IKEA – Made in Bulgaria, or Turkey, or France,” has become a comfort of home. Odd – yes – as in the U.S. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve stepped through IKEA’s doors into the warehouse-style shopping Mecca. It’s big and cheap, which let’s be honest is the American way, yet it doesn’t have the presence in the U.S. like it does in Europe.

How could a store, which I have not actually been to in Europe (ironically), be a sign of home? I’ve come to the conclusion that home is relative. It’s a feeling. A comfort. It’s people. But it’s not a place.

I’ve been happy to be at home in many countries but it has nothing to do with the country itself, or the bed I sleep in, the lamp I read by, or the glass I drink from. It’s the people. How enormously blessed I am to have “homes” around the world. When the people you serve and work with are family, well home becomes where they are, not just a building or a bed.

“Home is where the heart is” is perhaps one of the worst clichés, but for these last two months I thank God it’s true.