Day 32: Home

 I came to the place I know as well as one of my children. Every plant in the yard.  Every leaf.  Every chip in the paint. 

I walk the yard.  Spring has come since I left a week ago. Flowers are blooming. The apple tree is dappled with blossoms. Grape vines covered in bright green leaves.  I check in the chickens. One has gone broody sitting on a treasure trove of brightly colored eggs. Over a dozen. So awesome to come home to self delivered groceries.  

Inside the house is cold with the emptiness of our vacancy. Curtains and windows were opened and boys and backpacks,  fresh air and sunlight tumbled into the house. Soon there were train tracks being built and magnatile creations around the floor mixed with shoes and dirty socks. Miles sat at the table working on a little book he had been making before we left. He sighed and smiled at me,  "It's nice to go on adventures but it's nice to come home too."

There was a time that God was distant.  Many years I struggled to find God's presence and at last I resigned myself that faith would be a practice of cold choice without the warmth it had previously had. 

And one day I landed in a perfect little apartment with a beautiful garden. There was a church a few blocks away.  I walked over to see the church and a couple was walking into service. They came up to me and asked me to join them. I sat in the pew and it was like coming home. It was good to be home.