kloveyoubye

My little family has a way we end every phone call we ever have with each other... "K. Loveyou. Bye." It's always said as if it's just one word. Kloveyoubye.
 
As most of you know, I started a new job a month ago today. Unlike my last library position, this one requires me to interact with the public & answer the phone. I am so enjoying the patron & staff interaction but the first day I worked, I found myself signing off my first phone call with, "kloveyoubye". I can hardly imagine the face of the patron on the other end of the line. Can you say, "AWKWARD"?
 
Most of my adult life I've lived far away from my family & now as my own children have grown & gone, they too have chosen to follow God's plan for them far from home. Time spent as a family comes farther & farther in between. Not that we don't try. It's just really hard to coordinate everyone's lives & schedules. 
 
This week my heart hurts. I miss the Florida Chapter of the Pelkeys. I miss our son Caleb & his girl. I miss my mama & daddy & my sisters & their families. I wish we could all be together. I wish I could hear our boys banter with my dad, listen to my daughter-in-law share her heart about her life, laugh with my sisters, lay my head on my mama's shoulder & watch my daughter roughhouse with her cousins. I miss all these things.

It's days like this when I long to be stranded on a desert island with these people my heart loves. In this moment I want to scrap the life we've built here & go on the road spending three months here & three months there & there & there soaking every bit of them up. Yes I know this is impractical & far from feasible financially & is quite frankly silly. I also know that God has a much bigger plan for me... & for them. & while it is doubtful that we will ever all live within even an hour of each other; I do find some comfort in knowing that one day I will be able to spend every day with them in heaven.

Till then there will be phone calls & texting & Facebook & Skype & Facetime. Till then there will be long car rides & connecting flights & vacations spent together. Till then there will be kloveyoubye.

"Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives." -1 Peter 2:11-12 (the Message)