Old T-shirt and Jeans

You know that feeling at the end of a long day and you get home, head upstairs, get out of your work clothes and reach for your favorite pair of jeans and the oldest T-shirt you own?  You shrug into them and suddenly life is a little bit more comfortable and you breathe a little bit easier and your mind switches into a lower gear as you begin to wind down from your day.

Maryland Blue Crabs and Family
Best Dinner Ever

For some reason, that's what coming to Pennsylvania has felt like this time for me.  It's been a full year since we moved to Kentucky and started seminary life.  It has been a good year.  We have made friendships that will last a lifetime.  We have learned so much about God and love and life and hope.  We've also learned what Kroger to shop at, where the library is, how to get the best and freshest donuts at Fitches IGA, where we can hike and where we can play, and why school starts so early in Kentucky.  

But that's part of why coming back to Pennsylvania feels so comfortable.  As I told Luke on our first
day here, "I can drive these roads mindlessly.  I know exactly where I'm going and how I"m going to get there."  My synapses don't have to fire as much as they do in Kentucky where I still say to myself, "Hmm, what would happen if I turn here?"  I walked into Walmart last night at 9 pm and ran into three friends from church, high school and work.  I went to church and was surrounded by a congregation who knew me, my kids, and my husband.  I ate crabs with my parents and siblings in the house we grew up in and knew where all the utensils went and where to grab a tasty drink.  It's comfortable.  It's familiar.  It's second nature.

Grammie, PopPop and the kids

As we wrap things up in Pennsylvania, it is a little hard to think about leaving behind this comfort and heading back to a place that while now more familiar still isn't completely broken in.  It's hard to say good-bye again to friends and family and to not know exactly when our paths will cross again.  It's never easy to say "so long" to familiar things and comfort zones.  But that doesn't mean it isn't good.  If there is one thing I have become convinced of in our year in Kentucky, we have heard and followed God's voice.  We are exactly where He wants us for this time.  And He is with us every step of the way.

The thing about that favorite T-shirt and pair of jeans you have hanging in your closet or folded in your drawer is... you'll never let it go.  Unless the shirt gives out on you or the jeans fray apart, it's likely they will remain within your reach.  I love the people in Pennsylvania, family and friends (and some who have moved to New York but still visited us in PA) and it is the greatest comfort to me knowing that they are always within my reach.  As I read recently, "True friendship isn't about being inseparable; it's being separated and nothing changes."  The relationship is greater than the distance, the love stronger than the sadness, and the history longer than the miles.

Campfire, S'mores, and Illos are the perfect combination for a great night

For all of you we got to spend some time with this week, thank you!  Your friendship and your love was a comfort and a joy.  To my sister, thank you for making your home our home and letting us live, eat, laugh, have guests, drink coffee, do laundry, and come and go with love.  To my parents, thanks for our crab feast, for coming with us to Laurel Lake, and for loving us so much.  

Our last day in PA will be filled with wedding joy and birthday celebration and while I will certainly not be wearing an old t-shirt and jeans, it may very well feel like I am.  We return to the Bluegrass tomorrow to our "new" old house and our "new" old friends and "new" old life.   We are beyond grateful for the blessings we find in all our homes (here, in Indiana and in Kentucky)  Our life is blessed and full because of the people who fill it and the God who blesses it.  And there is nothing more familiar and comforting than that.