You don’t realize what your are missing until you
don’t have it for a while. Sitting out on the back patio of my in-laws home I
watched the wind blow the multicolored trees before a rain came thru, a mother
bird was taking care of her eggs in a tree next to my chair. I glanced over at
our house that is rented and noticed some things that I wanted to change. I
wanted to go over and cut down some weeds and weed out the flower beds.
As I sit and
read to my grandchildren I know that the next time I see them they will have
changed, and they will be changes that I will not be a part of. I won’t be able
to read to them or listen to their laughs or see their smiles except on Skype.
Walking
barefoot in grass, watching the skies as
a summer storm comes through and watching rabbits nibbling in the grass just
feet from where your sitting are sensations that I don’t take for granted anymore.
As I eat a Reuben sandwich I relish it. It may be a year or two before I get to eat another one. Walking into the grocery store and seeing that a whole turkey is
seventy-nine cents a pound and so many kinds of spices and cereals that my head
spins.
There have
been moments while here in the states that I say to myself that it would be
nice to just stay here and be comfortable.
I know that
when I return to Loja that I will be able to see and do things that most people
only dream of doing. I will be able to look out my window and see noisy parrots
greeting me in the morning. I can go around the corner and buy a dozen roses
for four dollars. I can see the smiles and hear the laughter of missionary children
that we teach each day and walk down to the tienda just doors from us and buy a
empanada colombiana. I will be able to lose ten pounds without going on a diet
plan.
We will be able to enjoy a seventy-five dollar
turkey with our missionary family at Thanksgiving and if I miss seeing wildlife
I just have to go to the Loja zoo to see a squirrel in a cage.
We will live
7,000 feet up the mountains in the Andes, walk wherever we need to go and not
have to have a car payment or car insurance to worry about.
Ok, I have
talked myself into going back. Pray for us as we get ready to return to Loja.
Pray for us as we prepare for the next school year. Pray for us as we deal with
our emotions.
