We arrived home late last night to a very tidy house and a bouquet of BEAUTIFUL flowers (thanks Turners!!).
It's SO good to sleep in my own bed again and flip a switch and have a light come on.
It's amazing how much we take for granted.
Today is going to be crazy busy; I need to get all my laundry washed, folded, and put away and finish cleaning up some of the messier rooms in my house (projects begun before Hurricane Gustav). I need to go buy groceries and dog food and cat food, and pay bills and pick up dry cleaning.
Today will not be much fun, but I'm not complaining because at least it's NORMALCY -- something so many here in Baton Rouge are still waiting for.
MANY people continue to be without power here; I think the last official estimate I heard was 45% of East Baton Rouge Parish was still without power.
Considering that's down from 98% just one week ago, I'd say the power companies are doing a fantastic job. The task is just too great.
Please be praying for those who still do not have power or food or fuel.
I know how crazy we were getting after just 4 days of sleeping in this deep south heat and humidity; I can't imagine 8+ days!
I promise to update more later when I get caught up on things here.
THANKS SO MUCH to all of you who were praying for us & are continuing to pray for us.
I will get pictures uploaded and posted either today or tomorrow...
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
09 September 2008
07 July 2008
You Can't Ever Go Home
No matter how hard you try.
I'm still in Arkansas visiting family and checking out all the old hangouts. So much has changed, but nothing really has.
I went to my Alma Mater (UCA) and as I strolled beneath the enormous oaks seeking any shade I could find, I almost felt like I was back in grad school... that is, until my middle daughter started grumbling about the heat and "When are we going to leeeavvve???"
I went by Pizza Inn on Oak Street, where I worked for almost 2 years and, in fact, where I met my husband, Clay.
But my former boss Rusty is no longer there (he's at Church's Chicken right down the road!) and the pizza just doesn't taste the same. Checking my blood-sugar and giving myself a shot before I indulge kind of ruins the ambiance, too.
Went by and saw Rusty so he could meet my daughters... he looks great, but the thought intrusively occurred to me that Nadia's not so much younger now than I was when I first went to work. Suddenly, I feel so old!
Spent a day with my high school boyfriend and his wife (how weird is that!) and found that she and I could be best friends if we lived closer. Such a great, Christian couple; I feel blessed to know them!
And as I drove past my old high school, the old neighborhood, and all the places I once called, "home," I realized that it wasn't so much the town that had changed, but rather, I was the one who had changed.
I may resemble the girl I once was; I may even gravitate toward the same locales.
But that girl is no longer.
Inside, I'm not even remotely the same.
The first time I stepped into a strip club,
The first time I held the hand of a homeless mother or prayed with a woman at wit's end,
Every time I hand out a bag of groceries or help a young mother "shop" for clothing at the Dream Center...
All these things have changed me from the inside, out.
Maybe my old friends and family can't see it, but I know it's there and no matter how often I visit, this will never be HOME again.
I'm still in Arkansas visiting family and checking out all the old hangouts. So much has changed, but nothing really has.
I went to my Alma Mater (UCA) and as I strolled beneath the enormous oaks seeking any shade I could find, I almost felt like I was back in grad school... that is, until my middle daughter started grumbling about the heat and "When are we going to leeeavvve???"
I went by Pizza Inn on Oak Street, where I worked for almost 2 years and, in fact, where I met my husband, Clay.
But my former boss Rusty is no longer there (he's at Church's Chicken right down the road!) and the pizza just doesn't taste the same. Checking my blood-sugar and giving myself a shot before I indulge kind of ruins the ambiance, too.
Went by and saw Rusty so he could meet my daughters... he looks great, but the thought intrusively occurred to me that Nadia's not so much younger now than I was when I first went to work. Suddenly, I feel so old!
Spent a day with my high school boyfriend and his wife (how weird is that!) and found that she and I could be best friends if we lived closer. Such a great, Christian couple; I feel blessed to know them!
And as I drove past my old high school, the old neighborhood, and all the places I once called, "home," I realized that it wasn't so much the town that had changed, but rather, I was the one who had changed.
I may resemble the girl I once was; I may even gravitate toward the same locales.
But that girl is no longer.
Inside, I'm not even remotely the same.
The first time I stepped into a strip club,
The first time I held the hand of a homeless mother or prayed with a woman at wit's end,
Every time I hand out a bag of groceries or help a young mother "shop" for clothing at the Dream Center...
All these things have changed me from the inside, out.
Maybe my old friends and family can't see it, but I know it's there and no matter how often I visit, this will never be HOME again.
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