Coming back

I've realized that traveling back home to West Virginia after spending time away is hard for me. It's difficult to return after the holidays or great hiking trips or weekend visits with my family. It's just difficult. I haven't really figured out how to come back, or better said, how to want to come back. It's weird, though. I love living in West Virginia; I love the mountains; I love my community; I love the ministry I work with...but it's still hard for me to come back each time. I'm just being honest...

So, after spending a month in India and extended time before and after the trip with my family, needless to say, it was hard to come back to W.V. Perhaps it was the fullness of relationships that I experienced while I was away. Every day spent with Melissa and her friends, each day full of interactions with others, incredibly rich conversations with people, eating and laughing over countless meals with others...it was just so full emotionally and relationally for me. In contrast to living alone, it was radically different and satisfying. Good for my heart. I am still savoring it.

I was pondering all of this as I drove into my alley-way in McDowell County, West Virginia on Monday evening. It had been a long time since I walked into my little white house. I expected silence and emptiness. But I was not expecting notes and food and little trinkets of love from friends in W.V. Several of my friends and co-workers had left these little goodies on my kitchen counter to welcome me back. "We missed you, Merilee," the notes said. It was incredible. It made my heart sing. And then today, I stopped by the home of a family who runs a ministry in the county. The wife did a happy dance when she saw me and gave me a big hug. The daughter was about to run and jump on me when someone got in her way and she had to settle for a simple hug instead. Unexpected welcomes. Unexpected joy. Perhaps there is a fullness of relationships here that I have yet to mine or explore. Perhaps my heart can learn to drink deeply not only in India, but also in the hills of West Virginia.