An End...and a Beginning.

Yesterday morning - before the sun was up - we hugged and kissed Laurie, Stephen, and Kasey and started the long drive home. Words cannot express what it meant to this mom's heart to leave them all, so although many of you can understand where I am at, you might have to read between the lines a little bit. It begins a new year of sorts as Stephen prepares for deployment.
I will begin by telling you that we had a wonderful time - and although I will fill you in on some of the best times (well really they all were the best but I will be kind to you and give you the highlights) tomorrow when the eyes are a little more rested and I have digested the fact that we are home again. Don't get me wrong - it's always a blessing to come home...it's just hard to leave the kids.
Last night as I tried to get to sleep in the motel room from he double L, (it was like something out of a Stephen King movie...details to follow in a day or two), I thought about the fact that so much will be happening in the coming year for our family. Good, bad, scary times. And yet, I know there will be blessings as well. I was a bit weary yet had a million thoughts racing through my head so sleep did not come easily. But after awhile - when the tears of missing the kids were shed quietly - I began to take stock. I ended the tossing and turning and fell asleep after thanking God for the blessings He had bestowed upon our family in the past 11 days. A mom needs to remember to give thanks instead of being needy...know what I mean?
This blog was two years old on Sunday - thanks for coming along with me and being such good friends for all of this time. I am hunkering down for the long haul - for a year of uncertainty, of prayer, and of trust in our Father. Because I know that He is holding us in His strong and loving hands. All of us.
Be blessed my friends - it's good to be home again with you.
God bless our troops and all of us who love them.