Next Week, It Won't Look Like This...

 Each Sunday a program is printed for our local congregation and on the back side is a list of those serving missions. Next week it won't look the same. A couple of names will be missing.

And I'm going to miss that.

But only a little.

Just over 29 years ago I wasn't a dad preparing to pick up his son. I was the one preparing to be picked up. I remember certain things about that day. Our plane made an unscheduled stop in Oslo which meant we missed our connection at JFK. Which meant we had to spend the night in NYC (the one and only time I ever set foot on New York State soil...) and caught a flight to Chicago. We then went to Casper (or Cody--I don't remember which...) then finally we made it to SLC.

I was very tired and extremely jet-lagged.

But I remember and hope to never forget the feeling I had getting off the plane and seeing my mom, and family waiting to welcome me home.  There are few feelings that can match being loved by those you love and returning to those people after an extended absence. We've been preparing for day all week. This afternoon we took three blank poster boards and turned them into easily-recognized messages. It's a physical symbol that will inadequately express how we really feel.

So tomorrow our lives will change again and our son will come home. Just as everything that has a beginning must have an end. Tomorrow each of us in my family will have endings and new beginnings. Lives will change; doors will close and windows will open. Yes, I will miss some things about the life we've lived these past twenty-four months.

But only a little.

Home Sweet Home...

Today the first big snow storm of the winter season, even though it's not really winter, and the big storm was not really big. It was, however, big enough to cause commuters to take extra care while driving too and from work. My commute took longer than normal and I didn't drive. It's all part of living where we do. We accept the seasons and the joys and challenges of each.

Before coming home I checked the website for the train and tried to schedule it so I wouldn't have to wait outside too long before the train arrived. I must have read it wrong because I ended up on the platform standing behind a wall of plexiglass as the wind swirled falling snow around my feet and face for 20 minutes. I was glad I had dressed appropriately for the conditions.

I only work 15 miles away, but because of the mountains and the lake effect we have here, places only a few miles apart can had have varied snowfall totals. I wasn't sure how much snow we got at home, or more specifically, how the roads would be. I checked with my wife a few hours before I left work. She said the roads were okay, but it was getting cold.

Luckily, the streets were pretty good. I was able to scrape the snow off my car and drive the mile or so until I turned on the dead end street where we lived. I wasn't able to get the Christmas lights up yet, but as I neared my house I was so grateful to be home. Sure the house is getting old and things are needing to be repaired, but to me, there's no place I'd rather be.