Thursday, July 24, 2008

Home Sweet Home

I have a few moments to think now, so I'll bring you all up to date on our lives here. We've been back from our eighteen day vacation for four days now. Let me just say first that eighteen days is waaayyy too long for a vacation because it ends up feeling more like torture than a vacation toward the end. Especially when your five year old boy wails, "I just want to go home!" and you still have a whole week left to go before you can leave! But all in all, we had a nice time doing things that we don't normally do and our summer has been fun!

We had a wonderful week at Camp again this year. There were about 770 campers (+/-) and the weather was beautiful for a change! I was thrilled to be able to attend more classes and forums and sermons than I have in the last five years put together, I think! The older the boys get, the easier it is to participate as an adult once again. It was nice. I was also asked to participate in a forum on grieving this year. Our forum covered the topic of grieving the loss of loved ones at different ages and how that affected us. I was asked to share my experiences of having a miscarriage. It was not an easy forum to participate in, but I knew that God wanted me to share my experiences and to be very open and vulnerable. II Corinthians 1 speaks about us being able to comfort others with the comfort that we ourselves have received and I know that God has given me many opportunities to comfort others who suffer miscarriages with the comfort that I received when I experienced mine. There were no dry eyes in that large room full of people that day as several of us shared our experiences with grief, from my miscarriage, to a mother who watched her four year old die of cancer, to another's loss of his wife of only 2 1/2 years to a husband who had been with his wife for over forty years and only on her deathbed did she finally ask Jesus into her heart. This was definitely an emotional day for me at Camp, but one that I'm thankful I could experience.

After Camp, we got to go to Dianne's again to drop off Karen (who was a second mom to Christopher, especially at Camp! He started calling HER Mama!!!). The boys were thrilled to have a sleepover at Lily's and have asked several times since when we'll be going back for another one. As we were driving out of Dianne and Gabe's driveway, Stephen asked where we were going this time. Home, I replied. "Which home? OUR home?" Yes. And then I heard him sigh a soft and very contented sigh and muttered under his breath, "Ahhh. Home sweet home."

So we are home. Our laundry is washed, put away, and already worn and soiled again. The suitcases are back in their spots. The lawn (jungle!!) has been mowed. The family is settled back into their routines. Time to mess it up again next week when swimming lessons start!

It's good to be home!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Isn't it interesting the anticipation of going on a vacation compared to the anticipation of going home and sleeping in your own bed! Not to mention your own daily routines, etc. Yes, there's no place like home, even when you're only gone for a day. Just think of the anticipation Gramp and Gram had of going to their heavenly home! The older I get, the better it looks, also. Thanks for sharing.

liz said...

I'm glad you were able to be here part of the time you were away from home. You were gone a LONG TIME! One week has about done me in!