Today was a mercifully good day here. I’ve been homesick and lonely, and despite a couple good phone dates and some quick but wonderful drop-ins from Hannah, it’s been extra hard to wait to see Derek and the big kids again tomorrow! But today God was good.
I had a coffee date with my friend Amy, our pastor’s wife here, and a mentor to me in my early years of parenting. It was so fun to catch on the last 14 years of each other’s lives and hear about the progress of Holy Trinity, catch up on each other’s kids (theirs are all grown now!), and talk books and parenting. I did a great pilates reformer class at the studio across the street, which was really good for my sore back. Annie’s little buddy Alex got to go home today, which is a little sad for her because even though she doesn’t know Spanish and he doesn’t know English, they liked hanging out together at the nurse’s station, but it’s so hopeful to know that kids do get to leave her eventually. And I had a long, lovely phone date with Elysia, talking books, homeschooling, and all the kindred spirity things. Then Adom, the girl from church who brought me a (yummy) dinner tonight, is a Notre Dame grad, so even though we were meeting for the first time, we chatted for a few minutes about South Bend and Chicago and the similarities and differences and the dear, healthy church here that we’ve both been part of. I finished Sam Allberry’s excellent What God Has to Say about Our Bodies, and I highly recommend it to everyone. The last chapter has your heart racing in excitement to be with the Lord!
And Derek and the kids are coming in tomorrow! I can’t express how much Annie and I miss them all. I love being with my family, and while this is technically a vacation from cooking and cleaning and chauffeuring around, it’s more fun to get to have a break with more of the people I love best, not just Annie.
Last thing to be grateful for is that Annie stood by herself again today–this time, for almost 30 seconds without holding on to anything! It’s been a long three weeks, but we are truly making progress.
