Thursday, July 10, 2014

Not Realizing what I am Missing

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.