Coming Home

 Well, it’s safe to say the day didn’t kick off with a bang, but hey, we’re rolling with the punches! Woke up at the insane hour of 4 AM, only to discover that our flight home was switched to a later time, which then promptly got canceled. Rebooked for tomorrow? Not on my watch—Sawyer’s graduation is a once-in-a-lifetime event!

I dialed the airline about six times, and each call felt like a game of telephone gone wrong. Finally, I broke through the digital barricade and—ta-da!—we’re now booked on flights today. Instead of the breezy American Airlines non-stop from Dublin to Dallas, we’ll be hopping on Aer Lingus to JFK in New York, then catching AA from NY to Dallas. But hey, it’s today, not tomorrow, so crisis averted! Thank you, Lord!!!

Breakfast was delivered by this creepy little robot.

The flight looked like a game of musical chairs with all those empty seats—five right next to Kody, no less! As folks were shuffling around to find their own space, I was taken aback when this character decided to cozy up next to me. He plopped down, his posterior instantly claiming my territory. Kody, ever the sneaky photographer, captured my sheer delight at the situation. Spoiler alert: I wasn't thrilled! The moment I could, I made a tactical retreat to the row beside Kody, where personal space was once again a thing. 

Airline lunch? Let’s just say it wasn’t quite the fish and chips we’re used to—it was more like a culinary crime scene!

A wee cup of tea

In case you didn’t get a good look at this character, here’s a shot after the long flight. Btw, he coughed and hacked the whole flight. So glad I moved far away from him. 

Oh, but wait—there's more! Our AA flight from JFK is now delayed until 5:30 PM, so praying we’ll touch down in Dallas around 8:30. Then it’s a delightful hour-long drive back to Sunset, where David will swoop in to take Kody home. They’ll be driving into the wee hours, so pray for safe travel for them!

And yay! Our plane is here and we are scheduled to board in another hour. Thank you for sharing our journey with us! Until next time…

We are coming home, in more ways than one.

"Time is filled with swift transition,

None on earth unmoved can stand

Build your hopes on things eternal

And then hold, hold onto God's unchanging hand"

The only thing in this life that does not change is the principle that nothing stays the same. Even if we are deceived into thinking we do not change, the world is changing around us as we sit still. To stay grounded in this constantly shifting world, we must “hold to God’s unchanging hand.” Here I am quoting another song.

To start at the beginning is to start with God. God was here before we were, before the world even existed.  He will be here after the world is gone and all is said and done. He is the first. He is the last. He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega.

He spoke the world into existence. He created time. He created us. He created change. He is our eternal rock when our world is in upheaval and things are changing so fast our head is spinning.

Sometimes we’d like to hold on to the old, the comfortable. We’d like to keep our kids (grandkids) little just a bit longer. We would like to stay in our comfort zone forever.

Sometimes we would like an opportunity to start something over again and do it better this time because sometimes we have a knack for getting things in a mess.

Sometimes our age inspires reflection of past events and milestones. Sometimes it makes us sad to leave the past behind. If we put our trust in Him, we need not fear the future or the remainder of whatever future we have left on this earth. 

If we understand what “a new heaven and a new earth” means, we’ll look forward to it. (And if we’re not looking forward to it, we must not yet understand it.) Anticipating our homecoming will motivate us to live spotless lives here and now.

So until that final day where former things are gone and a new life on the new earth has begun…keep pressing onward and upward toward Christ.