Time away

I was away from my boys for a little over 27 hours and more happened than I could have expected.  Everybody is fine.  My Dad is a wonderful care giver to those little urchins and they love him dearly too.  Nothing ever goes perfectly smoothly in life and that is just the way of things.  But oh how a mother's heart can hurt when she can't instantly pick up her little boy and tell him that sometimes life is hard, but it is okay.  We all make mistakes and that is how we learn, but some mistakes are more painful than others.  You want to be there directly for your child when they happen, but that is not how life works either and I guess that is okay too.

So anyway, we were at a planning for tomorrow conference with the church pension fund.  We came away feeling like for the most part we have things under control.  We are going to consult a financial planner and try to make sure that what we are doing is right for us.  There have been some changes in our lives in the past few years and not everything reflects that.  We are also very blessed that the Church Pension Fund is an old fashioned retirement program that will hopefully be something that helps us have a somewhat comfortable retirement.

We met some really amazing people.  We met a new couple in the diocese who are our age and enjoyed getting to know them.  I am hoping to get back in touch and perhaps have another clergy spouse to share stories and struggles with.  I got to go to a group for clergy spouses and heard some amazing and uplifting stories of their lives in the church.  Nobody had easy lives, but all those women are people who I would aspire to be like.  We had dinner with a neat lady who told of losing her husband and moving away from the place she'd always lived and reestablishing her life in RI with new friends, new challenges and new joys she hadn't anticipated for this stage of life.

It was really one of those times away where I learned the things I'd expected - financial planning, what exactly the Church Pension Fund is and what it offers to us and some of the things that we need to be doing now and as we go forward.  More importantly though, I heard stories of God in people's lives.  I saw and heard grief, joy and amazement in people's eyes and words as they told their stories.  I told some of my story as well and felt affirmed and not alone.  I was reminded that with God we are strong and when we come together and share our stories we can be stronger.

I am not often away from my boys these days and I am glad for that.  I was not expecting that this short period of time would be a difficult time to be away.  It was, but it was also where I needed to be for my boys.     Tonight, I am thankful to be home, to be able to tend to my boys and that those hours away gave me the gift of renewal and some special gifts to contemplate as I go forward.