I spend a lot of my time on the road. Sometimes I appreciate the unusual food or experience and then there are the days when I wonder about the price I continue to pay. The wind is howling, rain threatens, and there is homework. Everything calls out for family working together. Instead, I am gathering my clothes together for yet another trip, worrying about pending emails, and wondering about the piece of the roof that just fell off.
When things get tough, and life is as real for me is as it is for anyone that I know, I always wonder where I can hide. I just want to go where everything is ok! I want to be told that the challenges will be shortly evolving into amazing opportunities. Hearing and experiencing the warmth of family would be a good thing. Knowing that I truly belong gnaws at my soul. I just want to be with family.
Ironically everywhere I turn I am a long way from home, if I even understand fully what that means. The closest thing to safety is the three girls in my life. As wonderful as things are when we are together, it is clear to all of us that we are a long way from the broader family we hold close to our hearts. When I travel it is as if I have journeyed to an island. I share my space with friends and I miss those close to my heart. When things get rough there is little I can do but bow low and push on into the wind that batters and tugs at my heart.
Wisdom comes along and gives us all some counsel. “Don’t leave your friends or your parents’ friends and run home to your family when things get rough; better a nearby friend than a distant family.” (Proverbs 27.10)
You are not alone and neither am I, no matter how bleak the scene. Friends share the path, the Spirit marks the journey, and each has a guardian angel. Community is and can be ours now.
