It is a long way home, but it is worth the trip.

Sunday September 13, 2015

I write this in an airport waiting for a jet airplane to fly me back home. When I got up this morning I had one thing in mind, I was going home.  I had a speaking engagement, but that was secondary.  I was most looking forward to my wife picking me up at the airport and driving home. We have a lot to talk about; we always do, but this time more than usual. 

But getting home is not easy.  First of all, I have to check and recheck the hotel room; I don’t want to leave anything.  Also, make sure that I have the rental car full of gas, so I don’t end up paying $5 a gallon for them to fill it up for you.  Once at the airport, I give the rental car a once over to make sure I don’t leave anything valuable in it.  Check the car in and drag all my stuff through the airport to go get the boarding pass.  Oh great, the flight is overbooked and they didn’t assignment me a seat. 

Now let’s go follow the ritual of the TSA screening: 

Pockets empty?  Check!

Belt off? Check

Pants about to fall to my ankles? Check!

Jacket in the bin? Check!

Shoes off? Check!

Laptop in a bin by itself?  Check

Exposed to radiation?  Check 

Casually groped by a stranger?  Check

Now a race, like when you were at summer camp as a kid: gather up your stuff and put yourself back together.  A quick hike to the gate to sit in a chair designed by the Spanish Inquisition to extract confessions.

As I wait for the flight to the city where I am connecting, the airline is asking for volunteers to spend the night and fly tomorrow.    Without a confirmed seat assignment I am feeling a bit concerned.  I will have to wait for my flight and hope that I get a seat.  Getting home is a hassle; oh, but it is worth it.

Eight weeks ago I asked you to pray for my father-in-law.  We discovered he had cancer.  Yesterday afternoon he made it home.  His was a long trip home, with some important milestones along the way.  Over the next few days we will talk a lot about his life and those milestones.  We will hear and tell again- or for the first time-the stories that helped shape him into a man who loved the Lord, loved his family, and loved to laugh.  These stories will weave themselves into conversations and remembrances, which will come out in tears and laughter, and will culminate in the celebration of his life at his memorial service.

He made it home.  It was a long, and at times, difficult trip.  It seems hard to realize that it has only been two months since he was diagnosed with cancer.  Three months ago we were worried about him falling and hurting himself and about his blood sugar being too high.  We were apprehensive about his driving and his not seeing on-coming trucks or people in his path.  We wondered how long till he would go somewhere and get lost and not be able to find his way home.  As he approached his four score years, we were concerned about his medication levels and his worsening digestion issues.   But he has made it home; he is at rest.  We also put to rest our worries for him. 

This is so like Dad.  Over the years it was always Dad who was the first to want to go home.  It didn’t matter if he had come to our house for the day, or after worship service, or on a vacation, he was the first one in the car and ready to go.  On more than one occasion, mom was still visiting and hugging good-bye while dad sat behind the wheel of the car, motor running, window down and ready to go home.  Dad loved to visit, but he was always eager to go home. 

We are sad, but not for him.  We are sad for what we have lost, not what he has gained.   He is safe at home.  His travels are over; he can rest with the One who loves him.

Dad, we are glad you are safely home.