Coming Home...........

Yes............Bethany is coming home! I can't tell you how much that means to me. There has been a reason why I have been listening to that Michale Buble song "Coming Home" for months. All of us have missed that girl and her hubby but I don't think people can quite understand just how much the miles of separation have tightened our relationship as a family.

People have commented about the tight connection that my kids and I have. I know with certainty today that it has been forged by God through the fires of grief and loss. Remembering 12 years ago the immensity of our family circumstances, being sustained daily by the hand of God and the prayers and love of the Body of Christ wrenches my heart even today. As we watched a husband and dad prepare for eternity then leave this earth, God was tightening the cords of our love for one another. And as the years have marched by with school events and graduations and weddings and babies, each one of those milestones has been marked with a "stone of remembrance" - missing Dad or "Grandpa", remembering the impact his life has had upon ours and wondering what he would think of this family God has formed, Jersey included!

So as I think about Bethany coming home, I am thankful that I am giddy with excitement! This separation has never seemed "normal" although many have tried to tell me otherwise. Don't get me wrong. I do understand the "leaving and cleaving" but I will always miss having her within an hour or so from home. I know I am strange and most parents by this age are rejoicing that the kids are out of the house. But not his momma. God has given me much comfort, love and opportunities to serve through my family and I will always look forward to them coming home whether is has been only a few days since I had seen them last or months.

Coming home..........I am thankful that God has given us an earthly family to love and enjoy while we wait for our heavenly home.