Rest and Relaxation

For those of you who may not know yet I have come home for R&R. I arrived Friday morning at 9:25 after about 24 hours of travel. The whole intent was to surprise the kids when they arrived home from school Friday afternoon. Because of that Catherine and I did not tell anyone that I was coming home.

Seeing my wife after so long was amazing for me. I kept holding back tears as i landed and then walked through the airport. As I walked into the waiting area I began to cry, and so did catherine who waited off to the side a bit. We just hugged for a while. You all could imagine so I will spare the details. It was a long awaited time for us.

It is a little unusual for me but at he same time not as strange as I thought it would be. Driving home from the airport was the first thing that through me off. I had not driven over 25 mph in the last 90 days, let alone have hundreds of other cars around going 60 mph was a little unnerving. Catherine drove but I did a good job of telling her what to look out for and to slow down on the turns.

It was raining when we landed in Albany, what a welcome sight. You really don't know how nice the rain is until you haven't had any for a while. We took a walk with the dog in the afternoon in it also which was very nice to say the least. I hope to have a thunderstorm before I go, that would be great, to hear the sound of the water hitting the ground and the clap of thunder to accentuate the moment.

Green is a marvelous color. Wow! So much of it that it is almost overwhelming. Short green and tall green everywhere. You can't believe how much you can miss it until it is not there. Now the trees are changing into all of the other colors which also has it's benefits but the green is what I longed for most.

The kids were surprised. I waited in the house until they crossed the street from the bus. I didn't want them to come running across without looking. I stepped out as they hit the driveway. Anna dropped everything and came running, Harrison was stunned and just kept saying "what are you doing?" It was a great moment and made the entire trip worth it for me.

I was able to also surprise the Saturday Morning Mens Group. Harrison came with me and we waited downstairs until they finished the first Worship song and entered the room during the break. It was another long awaited moment for me. These men are part of what I look forward to each week as I usually Skype in for a half hour or so each week from Afghanistan. Hugging each of them reaffirmed a connection that we have with each other as Brothers in Christ.

Today I look forward to my first time back in our Church for three months. I am just so excited and wait with so much anticipation to be there again.

My two weeks will be filled with as much as I can fill it with. I feel as if am am preparing to gorge myself on my life here and get my fill again before returning to Afghanistan. I have no expectations for anything past enjoying this time and to use it as much as I can to be available to glorify God in every moment.