Leaving Home Just To Rush Back

I know lately I have spoke about being thankful for being home for Thanksgiving and such.  Today, is another post in regard to being home or close to home.  Anyone who has lived away from home due to the military, their career, or just choosing to move away from home can somewhat relate to my feelings of being home.

A couple weeks ago while heading to Minneapolis with my sister I was speaking with a dear friend of mine. During our conversation she said something that made me realize something. She said "isn't it funny how you were rushing to leave home and now are excited to be home?"  I have been thinking of this comment for the last couple of weeks.

When I was in high school I could not wait to leave my hometown of Duluth, Minnesota.  I wanted to get out. I wanted to leave the city of 90,000 people, leave my family and friends. I wanted to venture out on my own and I did not want to come back. I wanted to see the world. I graduated in June and by August I was signing the papers to leave for the Army in November. During one of my Army schools I met my husband. I returned home in April and began my Army Reserve drills. When I returned home I knew that I could not stay there. I needed to travel. I needed to see what the world had to offer.  By August I was married and moved to Texas.  Less than a year later my husband received orders to move to Minnesota. We were stationed about three hours from my family.  At that time I was okay with being close to home because we had our daughter at the time. We felt it was important to raise her close to family.  During our stay in Minnesota I was called up to active duty and was deployed for almost nine months. While deployed my husband received an assignment to England. I arrived home in August and by March we were on our way to England. In England we welcomed our son.  After England we went to Maryland, then Alaska, and now Wisconsin.  The older I get the more I realize how important it is to have family in our life's. 

I have missed out on the births of some of my nieces and nephews. I have missed my siblings graduations.  I have missed birthdays. I have missed holidays. I have missed the important bonding that families need.

As I was home a couple of weeks ago, my sister and I were coming down from a hill that my city sits on.  As we were coming down both of us were just awe struck at how gorgeous our hometown is during the evening. I could not believe that I wanted to leave this city.  It then dawns on me. I could never really appreciate my city or my family if I did not leave.  I have missed out on many events and bonding time but now I can treasure it more than I did before. I am so grateful that God has shown me this over the past couple of weeks. I love being so close to family and once my mom and my stepdad move back this way, it will make it all complete.

Families are a treasure from Him. Times can be rough within a family and healing make take years. However, we are not guaranteed tomorrow so we need to treasure what we have today.

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!