Home Again :)

 On Tuesday, June 14th, the girls and I picked up Daryl from the Dulles airport after he went on a mission trip to Ethiopia with my brother and dad and a group of others with Engage in Lives.  Kadie, Colton and my mom were there, too!  It was so fun.  The mission trip was great and productive, and God was so kind to each of us during our time apart.

Here is something I wrote one night while he was away and am finally posting... 

If I weren't afraid of putting out in public that my husband is out of town, I would be screaming on my blog or facebook or to anyone else, "I MISS MY HUSBAND!" 

This is such a teeny "trial" - not that you could even call it that, I suppose, but I do feel like him being so far away and not having him "with" me or available to me has been teaching me a lot about the concept of being "sorrowful, yet always rejoicing" (2 Corinthians 6:10).

The first week has not been "hard."  In fact, our friends and family have blessed us so much and kept us so entertained.  But I love being with my husband!  Not to hurt anyone's feelings, but I'd rather hang out with him than anyone else - hands down.  

I remember at our wedding, during the toasts, our best man saying that we had spent time together almost every day during our engagement and so it gave him great confidence for our marriage because he knew we really did like eachother :).  So missing days with him is painful, even if they are good days :) 

And Anna, bless her dear, sweet, little heart, had a hard time, understandably.  I understand the length of time he will be gone and God has given me faith in His unbelievably good Sovereignty and care for Daryl and I - even if things don't go as he or I would plan.  She doesn't.  Her lack of knowledge and faith combined with her love for her Daddy has made this a pretty stressful week for her.

She ended up sleeping with me one night.  Another day during her nap it stormed and she woke up and freaked out.  I was confused at first but then she said, "My daddy is out there in the stoooooorrrrrrrmmm building a schoooooool....waaaaaaaa..."  I didn't even try to explain that it probably wasn't storming there or that it was the middle of the night there, but I did reassure her that there were indoor places there and if it was storming Daddy would take a break and go inside.  I think before he left we told her they don't have houses just like ours and so perhaps she assumed he was camping?!  :)

All that to say, we miss Daryl.  Sorrowful:  I miss my husband.  I miss him terribly.  Pretty sure at some point I'll cry about it.  Definitely been stressful at times - like it's much harder to unload the car after going to Sam's without him.  It's definitely not as fun at dinner time, etc.  

Yet rejoicing:  I have a deep, deep unshakable joy that he is doing works that God created for him to do from eternity past and am so glad he is getting to have such a great experience.  God has provided deep joy in His meticulous Sovereign over all things and deep joy in His absolute goodness to Daryl and I as His children.  He is supplying me grace here to care for our children and prepare us to move and He is supplying him grace there to adjust to the time changes, the culture, the work, etc.  He will supply us both grace in all things regardless of whether one of us goes "home" earlier than we would think (let's face it folks, I've thought about the very statistically low fact that his plane might not make it back over the ocean - but praise His glorious grace, it is God who is in control of his plane, ultimately, and that same God has crazy good plans for both of us in life and in death).  

Sorrowful, yet rejoicing.  That's a lesson I would have never got on my own :) 

Well, I should go to bed.  Did I mention it's hard for me to sleep without him here?  

Note:  The plane did land and I am so thankful God held it up all the way to Dulles :)  It has been a joyful reunion week!