Halfway Home

I catch my first glimpse of Sound through fog and rain as the ferry speeds its way to the island.  A true Northwest greeting, this rain, followed by days of sun, then rain again.

Listening to the surf, seeing the snowy peaks east and west, breathing in the scent of fir trees and salty air, I am home in this joy wash of creation's majesty.

Sharing precious moments with friends and entering back into my beloved faith community seamlessly as if I had never left, I am content.  Music, worship, and fellowship fill the lonely spaces of my homesick soul.

Yet even as my heart belongs to Whidbey Island, it belongs as well to my home in Bartlesville.  I long for hugs from Benjamin and Joelle, anticipate conversation with Dana and Shawn, and think about the dear folk at Good Shepherd.

I'm in an in-between space, halfway home on an island and halfway home on Sooner Road.  If I could be both places at once, I would.

When the past, the present, and the future are all rolled up in one, then I will finally be all the way home--in heaven.