Packing.

It's that time again - the long-distance was hungry and Michael & I are always "on board" (as they say in Nascar) for the next chance to satisfy it! That sounds a bit dire, but we are just in a season in our life together when, even though in heart and spirit we are together, physically we must be apart somewhat regularly. We've learned that this time has been given to us as a gift to strengthen our relationship and our marriage, these lessons are building our individual identities (but also expanding our joint identity, too) in what we do and how we are going to use it. There are still hundreds of unknowns, but the unknowns have a way of bursting open in your lap at the most unexpected (and sometimes - no, often - "inconvenient") times, providing a sudden clarity one never even dreamed to attain. Those revealed unknowns are replaced with new ones, and the cycle repeats itself, bringing us closer together and closer to God in the process.

All of this is so easily deduced by looking back at our lives, but it is quite another thing to wake up each morning believing & practicing it. In theory, the process in itself should make that easier to do, but often it drives people further from God and further from one another in their frustration and confusion of what the future holds. It is no small wonder that God has asked us to take only today for now, to not meditate on the worries or stress of tomorrow...because we all know Today is going to come up with more than enough of that on its own! Michael and I both have to work hard and remind one another to keep this attitude, especially during this upcoming time of coming and going in our times together.

Like I alluded to in my first words of this entry, and have mentioned briefly in others, I leave for over a month this coming Thursday. I will start packing today, as it is literally one of my least favorite chores on the face of the earth. (What do I really need? What will the weather be like? Am I going to have time to go running? What if I've forgotten something?) I will also be doing a bit of cooking for Michael - he is home through Monday morning, so I want him to have some good food leftover, even though I know he wouldn't starve on his own. After all, he's been living for 24 years that way...but I don't see any reason not to make him some casseroles if I have the time.

Here's a pic of Michael & I from a couple of weeks ago when we went out with some of the guys and their wives in downtown Columbus - it's one of our best, really.