Almost home….
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One year ago, we listened to warnings of impending bad weather coming in fast and were advised to get on the road to go home as quickly as possible. I called myDarlin’ Robert Kenui Pope to see if he was leaving work, and he said he would be working a bit longer before taking the expressway home as traffic wasn’t that bad yet. And so I gathered my laptop and files, took a photo of the parking deck from my office window already dusted in snow with a layer of ice directly below, and headed out the door.
And my car was nice and toasty, my phone charger ensuring that I would be able to maintain contact with everyone, the radio playing to keep me entertained and up to date on what was going on with everyone trying to do the same as me – just to get home. myDarlin’ and I spoke and he was going to go home to get the fixings for soup and go to the church where a shelter had been set up for anyone who needed to get out of the cold could do so. It appeared to be smooth sailing down I-75 for him for miles, and then as the temperatures continued to drop, it hit…. gridlock, like the rest of the ATL. We checked in on and off with each other, our kids, our friends, to make sure everyone was safe and we thanked God for his blessings in that.
A particular moment that stood out for me was that after over seven hours in the car, my gas tank was beginning to get low and I wasn’t quite sure I could make it home without running out of gas. And I made a decision to turn off of the road just a couple of blocks away to get gas, which resulted in a two hour detour to get back to the same spot I was. Ironically once I got back to the intersection where I had turned off, I looked to find that there was no one on the road in front of me. I wondered if it was just so dangerous that no one wanted to try it, and then felt an inexplicable nudge to just go for it. I crossed the intersection onto practically deserted roads, and was rewarded for my leap of faith as it took me less than 30 minutes to get home from there. Pulling in to the drive 9 hours and 40 minutes later, I was ecstatic to see that myDarlin’ was also home. As we gave thanks for our safe journey home, he regretted that he wasn’t able to make his way to the church as the roads were too dangerous to go back out on.
In retrospect, the commute represents our struggles in life, our wanting to control a situation only to find that we are really not in control, but must wait patiently along with everyone else. And as we come to the intersection in life where we do have a choice, we will be rewarded by our Lord for believing with a smooth ride the rest of the way home.
The sun rose the next morning, like every other morning but today, a pristine layer of fluffy white snow covered everything. And myDarlin’ excitedly put on his jacket, hat and gloves and headed outside like a small child would to play in the snow. Ever since his heart attack that past March, he approached every moment of every day with a new wonder and this one was extra special. And so, as much as I dislike being cold, I bundled up and took my camera out to join him. And those moments will be forever etched in my mind. The joy he had building a tiny snowman, throwing snowballs, pretend snow skiing on the street, eating snow and simply looking up as he threw a handful of snow to the heavens.
I am filled with gratitude today for the love and protection of our Lord on that day one year ago, and for every day before and after. I thank him for giving myDarlin’s childlike spirit, one filled with warm Aloha on a cold winters day, as he gave thanks for yet another day here on this big green and blue (and white that day) ball that hangs in the space we call the universe. And if we trust in the Lord as we come to the intersections of our life, we can experience his grace on the rest of the ride ‘home’.
#KeepLookingUp
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