leaving and cleaving

sitting outside in the early morning last wednesday after bidding our beautiful stephanie adieu as she pulled out for minnesota, coffee cup in hand and bible on lap, i very subtly became aware of something. my sixth sense kicked in. i picked up my head. quietly and observantly looked around. sniffed the air. something was different. and then it hit me. a new season has quietly begun....fall is falling upon us here in south louisiana. i wonder have you noticed?

today beneath the cypress trees next to the crawfish shed with its various and sundry plastic bins spread upon the ground near the crawfish grading table where i have watched him on countless days going methodically through the days catch, i said a little traveling prayer for my baby boy, gave him a final hug and kiss on the back-side of his neck (the spot where his momma's lips just naturally land) and waved bye as he thundered down the driveway carrying all of their worldly belongings in a huge penske truck on his journey home to his baby :) for wherever she is, there is his home. though my lips quivered just a bit, i held it together. i knew it would not help matters at all and surely dampen his enthusiasm for adventure if i cut loose and blubbered like an idiot. after all, it's not like we'll never see him again....or he'll never return. it's just that he's never been so far from the swamp for so long a time before. and swamp blood flows in this one's veins more than any of our children.

i'm fairly certain he'll never read this but if he was to, i would say the same things he has heard time and time again....so much so that they probably don't mean as much now as they might at some point in the (hopefully) distant future. charlie man i love you. i'm proud of you. i admired the boy you once were and now the wonderful man you have become. you hold a special place in your dear mama's heart that no one else can fill. thank you for always being there to the best of your ability for me and your pop. though there once was a time when we lived without you, we could never now imagine life without you. you are truly a gift from God and we are thankful.

and now steph, i'm fairly certain you'll give this a read. at your bon voyage celebration i wanted to say in front of everyone how proud we are of you. i wanted them to know how you were a part of only a handful chosen for this program. i wanted them to understand the gracious hand of God in carving out this place for you where you are going, and know that this was no arbitrary decision to woo their louisiana boy so far away. charlie's roots go down deeper than this swampy soil....they extend into the lives and hearts of everyone who has had the privilege of being a part of his life....so they feel, tho perhaps a bit unfairly and selfishly, that they have some sort of stake in him? and now that you two are one, i suppose they feel the same way about you. i hope that you can understand that and i think you do. i also want to celebrate with you the fact that God knew the plan all along. in allowing you to search and struggle to find His will you have learned so much and grown closer to Him. so let's lift our glass together and say....His timing is perfect, hey?

and so now's your time mr. and mrs. loup. you are on your own....though never far away because of the love that binds us all together. i wish you the best. i pray that God will hold you in the palm of His hand and teach you all that is in His play book for this next season of your lives. and that you will be good students, watchful and thoughtful to absorb it all as you are conformed into a greater fullness of His image. and prepared for the season after that...for as surely as the fall is falling, there will be another. so pay attention. see you soon! i can't hardly wait :)