What does home mean to you?

Author Jo Swinney has just published a book all about this. Married to an American gangster-turned-vicar, Shawn Swinney, they now live in the ultimate English suburb, Surbiton, and have two young daughters. Jo came in to Christian Today to talk with editor Ruth Gledhill about the quest to belong.

She spoke about how her daugher Alexa, aged 10, recently became suddenly ill with asthma and was hospitalised. Had Jo waited another hour before taking her to the doctor, she might not have made it. Returning from hospital after that made her appreciate yet again the importance of home.

She described how she moved many times as a child with her family, including three times before she was five, lived in Portugal and was then sent also to boarding school.

She said it is very rare now to meet someone who has always lived on one place and has no intention leaving it. 'People are much more transient in their outlook.'

Jesus talked about home being with his Father, she said. She quoted Matthew 8: 'Foxes have holes but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.' She said Jesus modelled commitment to his friends and his home was among them. 

And referring to the difficulties facing young people today, she said the physical location is important. 'But you have to also within yourself feel stable and find a stability inside.' Work and a church community can also give a 'sense of groundedness and rootedness' as well as involvement in local politics and the neighbourhood, she said.  'That investment pays back in the sense that is your place and your people.'

Follow @JoSwinneyon Twitter, and find out more about her book Home here.