There's no place like home, there's no place like home...

And no matter how far away you roam...there's no place like home.

Where's home? Where the heart is, where you hang your hat?

...But then again, you can also never go back, can you?

We just got home from our family vacation. We went home to visit our families in Michigan. It is so good to be home. Home where all my STUFF is. Home where I am the Mother Hen. Home where I am not an intrusion, but rather I am part of the surroundings.

Going to visit family has never been like this year. I have been watching my daughters grow up for the past seventeen and a half years, and this year, things have definitely changed. This year my sister's little girl is planning to elope and she is contemplating buying five acres and a match box for $50,000. My other sister's little girl also graduated and has moved in with her boyfriend and (apparently) all his friends, and a mouse.

This year, I heard my sister praise my parents for the good childhood they gave us, and marvel at how they did it. It truly warmed my heart.

This year also was the year I became the dark ewe to my Mom. Usually, I am the complacent one, and there are others who tend to thwart her well-laid plans, or break her heart. This year it was me. She was more gracious to me than I expected. I am grateful for that.

This year, my Dad and I had a deep conversation about God and what He is all about. Numbers 31 (God's vengeance on the Midianites) caused him to stumble many years ago, and he has never come back from it. Now he sees God's hand as one of injustice and cruelty. This year I found out that a childhood friend's brother was in a auto accident some time ago, and is a paraplegic. He struggled with his faith as a result. My Dad used this as an example: Why would God do that to someone who loves Him? I asked him what Byron is doing now, expecting to hear that he is on the street of Detroit begging bread, and shooting up. He said that Byron is now a minister in his wheelchair.

He who has eyes, let him see.

This year, upon parting, I pleaded with my mother-in-law to seek the Lord in her struggles, but lost my nerve as I hugged my father-in-law. His blood is on my hands.

Well, it is good to be home, and on my way home...