Painting Pictures of Egypt

As many of my acquaintance are aware, I, with my family, have moved several times in my life. As I get older, each move seems to become more heart-rending and difficult than the last. Sometimes I have pondered the fact that I am often dissatisfied with where we currently live, and then we move again, I miss our past home so much that it becomes a kind of forsaken Eden that I was forced to leave. A year or two ago, my sister introduced me to the song "Painting Pictures of Egypt" by Sara Groves. These lyrics express my present thoughts and emotions about moving better than I ever could myself. I thought I would share them with you now.

I don’t want to leave here

I don’t want to stay

It feels like pinching to me either way

The places I long for the most

Are the places where I’ve been

They are calling after me like a long lost friend

It’s not about losing faith

It’s not about trust

It’s all about comfortable

When you move so much

The place I was wasn’t perfect

But I had found a way to live

It wasn’t milk or honey

But then neither is this

CHORUS:

I’ve been painting pictures of Egypt

Leaving out what it lacked

The future seems so hard

And I want to go back

But the places that used to fit me

Cannot hold the things I"ve learned

And those roads closed off to me

While my back was turned

The past is so tangible

I know it by heart

Familiar things are never easy to discard

I was dying for some freedom

But now I hesitate to go

Caught between the promise

And the things I know

BRIDGE:

If it comes too quick

I may not recognize it

Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?

If it comes too quick

I may not appreciate it

Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?