May 25 – “Back”

Well, yes, we are home.  I have to say the vacation was much needed and as usual far too short.  But we are glad to be back in our own bed.  Now we can get on with the business of see what life will be like with just the two of us.  Empty nest and all that.  Well, except for when Cailyn is over.  Or when Jachin, Micah, Josiah, and Noa come for a visit on their library days.  Or when Caleb and Zak and Luke come down.  I guess there will be some days when we’ll be alone.  But bring ‘em all on.  We’ll take whatever comes and embrace it.

Yesterday was sure an interesting one.  We had a wedding on the beach that was scheduled for 3:00.  Memorial Day traffic coupled with a pretty bad wreck on I45 near the new Buckees caused a virtual shutdown of traffic, so we had to wait for several key guests (grandparents.  And you can’t start without the grandparents).  They also were searching for a site that was relatively secluded.  That was an impossibility.  They did manage to come to an agreement with some homeowners that allowed us access to a somewhat less-trafficked site, though.  Once we got started (around 4:00) the wedding went off without a hitch at all.  They all returned to the church, where they had done all the preparations.

Meanwhile, the group that was scheduled to stay in the retreat center had arrived and discovered that one of the air conditioners appeared to be on the fritz.  Shouldn’t be a real problem, since the other three should carry the load.  But communicating that was difficult, since English was obviously the second language for everyone the group.  They did understand that the Alcoholics Anonymous group would be coming to meet in the other building, though.  Should be an interesting weekend around Seaside.

Our other two places to be were a lot more fun.  Nathan and April were hosting a crawfish party at their house.  Always a lot of fun to hang around with fire fighters and their families.  Some of April’s co-workers from UTMB were there as well.  The other party was also in Jamaica Beach.  Every year the community has a Memorial Day celebration and park fund raiser.  Lots of folks this year.  They also had crawfish, but their menu included barbeque.  My stomach doesn’t usually handle the spiciness of crawfish, so we grabbed some of the barbeque instead.  Lighthouse Charities did the preparations.  Always a great job.  It was good to see a lot of the folks from Seaside there, and to hear their “welcome backs” and “glad you had a good times.”  And I have to confess I got a little choked up when they did the ceremony honoring veterans.  I guess my emotions are still hovering pretty close to the service.

Everyone has been really encouraging about our vacation.  I didn’t realize so many had taken the time to go on that adventure with us by following our FaceBook picture posts and my blog notes.  Thank you to everyone for that.  We loved reading all the comments and suggestions as we drove along previously untraveled (by us) roads. 

Psalms 22:23 says, “You who fear the Lord, praise him!  All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!  Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!”

Father, thank you for giving us a place here to call home.  I know our real home is there with you, but it is sure good to have a place to come back to where people actually know you have been gone.  Amen.