Home.

It's funny how perspective changes in 5 short days. Up until now, Indiana was "that state we drove through in 2003 that was so flat and boring and hardly worthy of attention". Not anymore. As I flew home today, I left behind 5 special people in Northwest Indiana who are confident they are following God's will. In the process though, I think they've managed to take my heart with them (smile).

I began to tear up today as I drove home from the airport when I heard the words "Auntie Anne" from Tiffany as she talked to Dillon. Just thinking about this week and my little guy Trevor made me a little sad because Trevor is the only one who calls me "Auntie Anne"...

• Trevor was such a good boy he slept from 11 PM on Monday until 11 AM on Tuesday (as did his 14-year-old sister but we won't mention that:D) That was great because we only traveled for 3 more hours and he handled it very well.
• Jack and Kim hardly took any furniture with them so there was this big empty house with a china hutch, a computer table, and filing cabinet in it. Trevor and I ran around and around the cabinet so much just laughing and scaring one another. Finally I flopped on the floor because I was tired. Trevor peeked his head around the cabinet and said, "Roaah!". I just laid there and didn't act scared like I normally did. He came over, looked at me, and then nodded his head while saying, "Okie... I'll do it again!":D
• Trevor has a one-track mind.... literally. When we got there on Tuesday, J & K were going to settle on the house while I took the kids to K-Mart to get sneaks for Trevor. He was so anxious to get out of the car that he didn't realize we had one stop to make before we could get out. So he kept saying over and over, "we go to house? we go to house?". Uh, yeah, as soon as you sit down in your car seat and we go get sneakers! Finally he sat down, we got sneakers, and we were all very happy once we got out of the car;).
• I promised the kids I would take them to the sand dunes on Lake Michigan since it was about 5 minutes away. Someone told Trevor we were going to go swimming so (here's the one-track mind again!) "we go swimmies? we go swimmies? we get on swim-min trunks" and with a shake of the head, he walked away, knowing that we were going to do his one passion: swimming.
• One evening I was lying down and Trevor came over and said, "Come on! Wake up Awntie Awne!".
• An amazing thing happened on Thursday night during church: Trevor actually sat through the whole service without making noise! Lest you think it's no big deal, he never did that at LVBC. But we think it was because it was something new and unfamiliar to him so I'm sure we'll hear about future church services;).

It was a good week full of fun times. Well, except for Tiana sitting straight up in the backseat at 4 AM shouting "Wait! No, no, don't!" while I was driving. I thought I was going to hit someone or something like that! Or that we thought for sure the cat was going to have her kittens in the car (she kindly waited until 36 hours after we arrived!). Or that Trevor escaped from the house about 20 times (someone forgot to keep the door locked) and we thought for sure he was going to run into the street with a car coming. Or leaving at 6:15 AM this morning because J thought there would be major traffic on the way to Chicago (there wasn't PTL!) and arriving at the airport 2 1/2 hours early and then having my plane delayed for 2 hours and hitting rush hour Philly traffic on the way home. Or trying to call Tiffany from a pay phone for 45 minutes to let her know that I haven't even left Chicago yet so she shouldn't leave for Philly.

But you know, come to think of it, it was a fun week after all, even with all those mishaps. Because without those mishaps happening, I wouldn't have funny memories to share with my mom and friends... I wouldn't have something to tuck away in my mental filing cabinet and pull out when I think of my family out in the mid-west... I wouldn't be able to thank the Lord for the time He had given me throughout the years.

As I sat in church last night, I enjoyed the preaching and the singing. I enjoyed the laughter and the chatter. I enjoyed the smiles and friendly "hellos". I enjoyed the bantering and joking. But in my heart of hearts, I realized that wasn't home... for me. As much as I love my mid-west family (ha ~ now I can call them that:D), I know that my home is right here at LVBC. If there ever comes a day that I'm to leave, God will have to show me that clearly. Until that day, I ain't movin;). Vacations put it all in perspective for me. There has never been a time that I've come home from vacation that I don't thank the Lord for where HE has put me: right at LVBC. And I know like usual, come Sunday morning, I'm going to enter those church doors and smile at those around me and heartily join in the singing and listen to my Pastor preach and know that I am home. And you know what? It sure feels good to be home:)...