It's been a whirlwind six days for me. Last Wednesday, I spent the night in my bed in Houston. Thursday, I slept in Wichita. Friday, I bedded down in my hometown of York, Nebraska. Saturday saw me sleeping in Wichita again. On Sunday night, my sleeping quarters were the Southern Belle Hotel in Nashville, Arkansas. And Monday night, I returned to Dave and Sally's home in Wichita. I get tired just thinking about it! My itinerary included leaving school and flying to Houston followed by driving to Nebraska for Dave's induction into the York High Hall Of Fame. Our Uncle Bill, Mom's younger brother, passed away Saturday morning so we left at 6 AM Sunday traveling to our matriarchal motherland in rural Howard County, Arkansas for the visitation and funeral. We left from the graveside and returned to Kansas arriving back late Monday night. Dave and Scott went back to work Tuesday morning and I slept until 7 AM which passes as sleeping in for me. Five days until I go back to school!
You know that song, There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays? Well, I kind of ran the gauntlet of homes in four days. Houston, Wichita, where my brothers live, York, Nebraska where I was raised, and Nashville, where we often gathered as a clan on Mom's side. Except for Can Tho,Vietnam, which has become an adopted home, I basically touched all the bases of my life within ninety-six hours. There's always a longing to return to the places we knew way back then and truthfully, it's never the same. Still, the blessings of strumming the strings of remembrance far outweigh the disappointment of time and reality. When Adam and Eve were banned from the Garden of Eden, they lost access to the only home they had known. But there were no loved ones or kinfolk left behind to pull them back to the place from which they were banished. As their descendants, we have no such constraints.
Two days ago, we stood on the same plot of land where our parents/grandparents/aunts-uncles-cousins are buried. But, it's the also the same place where our Mom and Dad were united in marriage on a long ago Christmas day. A sweet lady told Dave and me that she was present the day our folks exchanged vows- there are fewer and fewer of those witnesses. My generation is where our parents' generation was thirty-five years ago. The beat goes on but the drumbeats have been silenced for some we love. We know we'll see them again but not on this side of eternity. As we left the New Corinth Cemetery, we drove across the road to our cousin Bryan's house to change clothes for the seven hour drive back to Wichita. As I looked out from his backyard, I saw the pasture where my mom and aunts and uncles played as children and snapped a few shots as you see above. My guess is that it has changed little in those decades even as we have aged. Babies are birthed, grow up, and grow old and yet another generation is born to replace their elders. It's the cycle of life on this side of the curtain. We'll see the other side soon enough......and our earthly longings for home will cease. Until then, we live to carry on what our parents carried on from their parents and grandparents and so on and so on. And our Father in Heaven looks down on His children and smiles.
Applicable quote of the day:
“No matter who you are or where you are, instinct tells you to go home.”
Laura Marney
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
No comments:
Post a Comment