Missing

Life is funny... You can just be roaming around, enjoying your day-to-day living out your routines, and out of nowhere it will surprise you. This week has been one of those moments for me.

Coming off of a fabulous 4 day weekend and a wonderful trip to a place we love dearly, it's been a hard week for me. I've been trying to play tough. I've been trying to pretend there is no way I could be homesick, but the reality is...

I miss home. I miss home in such a way that I can't simply take a trip back and get my fix and feel better. I miss the everyday idiosyncrasies of home.

I miss my Oak Grove Family. I miss the school, the kids, the families, the staff. I miss the lightness of the environment, the love felt in the building, the culture that was The Grovers.

I miss dinner on random weeknights with our parents. I miss getting a call from Mom or Dad on any given night to see if we'd like to join them for dinner. Pizza Sundays.

I miss hanging out with my kiddos. Knowing they'd swing by for trick-or-treating, or spending a Saturday evening with them, or making the most epic sledding hill in history.

I miss my best friends. I miss being blessed enough to work in the same building as one of my best friends. I miss random Thursday night Tutti Frutti dates and card games. I miss laughing incredibly hard about  silly things like "I can't have a baby shower, my stairs are too steep."

And I miss their babies. All three of them. Even the one I haven't met. And I grieve for all the moments I'm going to miss with them.

I miss Missional Community. And what a supportive, encouraging, loving group of people we had there.

I miss Vetter dates. All the random things we did. All the amazing conversations we had. All the dreams we shared.

The list could go on an on forever.

Yet when I look to the future I know we will build memories and friendships and moments in this new place that will make me long for them someday like I have for every past home. We are creating a new home.  And as we embark on this journey I remind myself to enjoy the present because it never sticks around for long.