home

Well, I made it home this afternoon at about 2:30. It was a long and dreary drive complete with rain, fog, mist, and even a bit of snow. Getting out of Pittsburgh was...well, interesting. Whoever designed those city streets had to have had a very twisted mind!

Though I'm home, I think part of me is still away. I'm just kind of out of it. Coming back to the reality of home and family and church life after such amazing times away is always difficult for me. I guess it's my "inner monk" fighting for more time apart. :)

The kids were so happy to see me. Belle just latched hold of me, very quickly defending her messy room by saying, "I'm still working on it." Markus grabbed my neck and held me for quite a while. He kept saying, "Daddy! Daddy!" Even being away from the kids for a couple of days is rough. Markus seems to change and grow each day. Belle is all too quickly becoming a young lady. I can't imagine life without them. As I sat at the dining room table catching up on some emails and Tara sat in the recliner nursing her respiratory infection, Belle and Markus wrestled, snuggled, laughed, and played. That's when I realized that, yes, I'm home.