Foxes Have Holes And Birds Have Nest: Warriors Often Don't Have a Place to Call Home

Seattle Airport AMC Terminal

Foxes Have Holes and Birds Have Nests
Airport Vagabonds

As I stood among all the servicemen and women who had been traveling for days and were laid out all over the terminal in exhaustion, a scene I’ve been a part of many times over the last 23 years, I couldn't help but chuckle. We often look more like a bunch of vagabonds than the idealistic heroes most of the population imagines us to be. We’re most certainly not. We are not movie stars, and our lifestyle is far from glamorous.

Homeless Professionals

Of course, we have a job, or really a profession if you will. We are warriors. Yet, during our time as warriors, we never seem to have a home. We have a sense of home. We have an idea of what home is or should be. It’s often referred to lovingly as ‘Back Home.’ It’s part of the reason we are in this profession. We are here to protect that ‘home’ or at least our idea of it.

What Is Home?

We sacrifice our place at ‘home.’ We become homeless so that others can feel safe in a place that we love. At least, that is what we believe when we first start out. But as most of us come to realize, as we live this profession long enough, that is only part of the reason we stay. ‘Back home’ becomes less and less important—or perhaps I should say less and less real.

No, we stay doing this not because of temporal ideas of a physical place, materialism, or even glory. To the shock of most of my civilian friends, we, I, don’t stay in this profession for the “Thank you for your service” from ‘Back Home.’ I’m sure the young Soldier, fresh out of training, appreciates it, and that is excellent. I am very thankful for everyone’s appreciation, but those words are not why I, we, most of us anyway, do this year after year, putting up with the hardship, the pain, the sacrifice. It really is something deeper.

You Can Never Go Home

‘Home’ really has just become an idea. I’m not sure how my mother will feel about me saying this, but I have lost home. It’s true—you can never go home. Home to me is where I’m at among vagabonds, including my wife and children. Our families, our spouses and children, are just as much vagabonds as we are. They live these hardships just as much as we do, often the hardships are even harder on them. Some, unfortunately, have to experience the ultimate sacrifice. To me, my wife and children deserve the “Thank you for your service” sentiments way more than I do. To be honest, it almost makes me mad when people thank me for my service in front of my family, as they disregard my family’s sacrifice. My wife and kids have it way harder than I do when I'm gone. That’s why, to us, home is no longer a physical place. Home is the people and shared experiences we have together.

> "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." — Jesus
Vagabond Warrior


I’ve come to realize now that you can never find home, freedom, happiness, or peace if you hold tightly to ‘home’ as a physical place. I've been following an Evangelist for years who recently started a blog called the Vagabond Evangelist. When I first heard that he had started the blog calling himself the Vagabond Evangelist, I thought it was just a funny thing he was doing. He really is a funny guy. But I see now that it wasn’t.

To be a warrior, whether in the US military or in the Army of God, one must lose his or her home. The Old Promise did center around a physical place, Israel. But Israel as a kingdom was only ever supposed to be a shadow of the Kingdom of God. What Jesus was really saying was: “Let go of the physical realm, let go of the physical kingdom. The real Kingdom is with Me among us, those of you who believe in Me. Our Kingdom, our Home is in Heaven, and it is here too. If you just let go of the physical and accept me as your Savior, as the Son of God and the Son of Man, and you become a vagabond in this world among us, then you are home.”

Say Goodbye to Your Home

So, if you are tying your happiness to a physical place, then I highly suggest you let go—at least mentally and emotionally—of those places. Find your home in people, be it in the military, in a tribe, in your family, in a church. Find your home by becoming a vagabond.

If you find this blog post thought-provoking, please share and comment below. Embrace the journey, and find your true home among those you love.

My little vagabond fire team