Friday, December 2

Instead of pictures, I extend word portraits of some of my biggest moments during my recent trip to There:

Friday, December 2

Early to rise
Drop boys
and kiss,
kiss,
kisses!

Operation Poinsettia 2011
School of There
still there.
Torches lit,
hugs and reunions,
squeezes and lifts,
hooded nods mumble,
Sweet,
sweet,
sweetest sweet!

AHS
clean stage
and load, load, load!

Starbucks and plant plots,
Tears for Trundle,
MHS…
new tears in ancient halls
Mind what you have learned, Save you it can.
Do or do not, there is no try.
Covenance renewed

McWholeFoods breaks bread
Wowo Well
“You’re forever here,
I’ll never forget you”
Mamma grief plant
’til we meet again
at TCS upper school.

Salad bar
and chunky peanut butter cookies Whole
AHS hello again to Coach Bold Sassafras
Sutherland Janey,
“You constantly make my life easier in a million ways.”
“Get outta here,You go girl!”
“This is from Louie, she says thank you and you know why…”
“Squeal…Ooooh, love her! Tell her I love her!!”

Target bracelets tied up with sparkle bling
Panther pick-up blitz
“This is from The Middle Girl,”
Places bracelets on eager open wrists
“She wants you to know your friendship still encircles her heart and she still misses you so.”
Wrist kiss vows.

“This is from The Oldest Girl,”
Places bracelet on eager open wrist
“she wants you to know your friendship still encircles her heart and she still misses you so.”
Wrist kiss vows.

“STOP!”
“Don’t go anywhere!”
“I got one for you too!”
New Covenant,
6th grade Girl’s Club,
and G tower lifts.

Dr. D’s dignified diva,
Miss V leaps,
tiny octogenarian feet dangle
from reunion bear hug
“Yes, Jesus!
….Mmm hmmm….
Yes, Jesus!”

Bodos remembers Tom’s 911
Barrett’s three,
Father, Spirit, Son.
Colonade curious
Foundations affirm
Starbucks bookend.

Happy Christmas,
Merry Holidays!

Home again.

“Really???…Really?”
“I just have questions”
“I think what the problem is…”
“…There might be a middle ground…
the people who talk too much…
they’re not in the middle…”

“Why can’t I give a poinsettia to a Jehovah’s Witness??
Why is it a Christmas Plant?”

“Really???…Really?”

Don’t belive me,
“Google it!”
Goodnight.
Sleep tight.
I will draw near to You.

Well there was a time when you let me know
What’s really going on below
But now you never show that to me do you?
And remember when I moved in you?
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah!

Thursday, December 1

Instead of pictures, I extend word portraits of some of my biggest moments during my recent trip to There:

Thursday, December 1

French Press morning
extends Johnny
Rise and Shine.

Meet poinsettia truck
High school Louis
poinsettia skips
“It’s poinsettia day, A!”

Coffee at Mall with Princess
“It’s really you! It’s really you!”
She saves my feet
and gifts her mules.

Starbuck reunion with Mamma L and Johnny
Communion of updates,
Fellowship undergirds Praise.
Purest Benediction
excavates
unwavering Love.

Princess lays Chipotle banquet,
lime salt rocks
hot salsa’s kiss
free Diet Coke refills
flow as liquid as the laughter
and stories shared.

caffeine amps
Attitude’s poinsettias.
Cher snips side bang sass
and mirth as wide open
as a fresh eyebrow wax.

Stage 4 surprise stop.
“Who you got with you?”
“Let me give you a hint…long hair…and I clean a kitchen so hard I throw away toasters that ain’t dirty…”
“It’s not Jael is it!?”
feisty woman
cachinnation spice
Cancer cannot fade how He loves her,

Car switch
commands carryout confessions
…mumble, mumble…
“Because I’ve been doing something bad…”
“Don’t even tell me your marriage is in trouble!”
Caesar salad concert buzz.

Ruby Tuesday’s toasts
POSITIVITY.

AHS lauds director,
orchestra ovations.

Homeward bound.

Well I heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don’t really care for music, do ya?
Well it goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah!

Wednesday, November 30

Instead of pictures, I extend word portraits of some of my biggest moments during my recent trip to There:

Wednesday, November 30

Arrival There
Cornerstone,
Solid ground.

Big hugs & Starbucks,
Vinte skinny vanilla lattes
seep joy’s tears
Reduced Fat Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake
render extremities
with extreme sweet.

Spring Q
Mall slide,
B wants, “5 more minutes Here.”
Boys nap,
Mommies pedicure,
purple gel toe-toes.

Surprise McGirls
a trio of squeals harmonize
welcome home.

San Pellegrino Sparking Natural Mineral Water
Jiff chunky peanut butter
lather tart apples,
grateful to share
daily Bread.

Church sojourn,
Sausage ball side,
wide open surprise,
“I gotta pee!”
Women at the well

Redolent Mamma L wonder
uncontainable Joy.

Indescribable Love
flies to Jesus
and Lives.

Well baby I’ve been here before
I’ve seen this room and I’ve walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew ya
I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah!

There Again, Here Back.

Not so long ago, I lived in There, a golden land of hills far, far away from Here.

There was more than just my home.

All of my biggest and brightest moments happened There.

I went to school There.
I found out I was smart There.
I met my husband There.
I married him in the university chapel There.
I had my babies There.

There I first began to teach.
There I was first published.
There my daughter twice beat death.
There my Jesus saved me.
There my friends found me when I wasn’t even looking at a Church that became like our second home.

We left There for new opportunities Here and nothing has been the same since. Our perceptions have become like an algorithm that instantaneously calculates and pings out more than and less than comparisons. We have more Targets and less friends Here, for example. There has more mountains and Here has less wrinkles.

They have injections for that Here.

As we closed our first quarter Here, I began to anticipate a trip There.

I purchased the ticket five weeks out and wasn’t certain I’d actually have the courage to board the plane until the morning The Husband dropped me off at the airport at 4:50 a.m.

I didn’t want to rip off the transition scab and recycle the grief ferris wheel. Rides that go round and round always make me queasy…

I flew There last week without many expectations an even smaller number of people who knew I was coming.

The only things about which I was certain was where I would sleep each night and that Operation Poinsettia would continue in earnest another year.

Time There flew in a panacea of reunion and surprises that were a certain, sudden elixir to my soul. I realized that I had gotten a bit crispy around the edges like a fried tilapia sandwich on a day old bun Here, but felt my feet back under me again There.

Travel to There comes with its own jet lag, of course, just like a hop across the pond. I had me a side of sadness and some re-entry malaise. It’s taken me an interval to appreciate in fullness my myriad of experiences.

My primary take-away?

There is Here too.
As ever, I am There
and He is Here
The Body reaches out
and Jesus is the way.

Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I’ve walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah!